Gateway season opens today

YSU and Illinois State lead all Gateway teams with three non-conference wins.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State opens play in the Gateway Conference today still looking for its first conference championship.
YSU will play host to Illinois State today at 6 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium. Both teams enter league play with 3-1 overall records.
The Penguins joined the Gateway in 1997 and that year won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship, but finished third in the conference.
In 1999 the Penguins again played for the I-AA national championship, losing to Georgia Southern, but could do no better than second place in the Gateway.
The past two seasons have been the most disappointing to the Penguins, who finished sixth in 2003 and tied for fifth with three other teams last year.
YSU and Illinois State are familiar opponents having faced each other 13 times and each year since 1995.
Illinois State holds a slim 7-6 margin in the series, while the series is 3-3 at Stambaugh Stadium. Last year the Redbirds won 30-24 and they also won the last game at Stambaugh Stadium in 2003, 35-25.
Illinois State is coming off a 42-0 victory over Murray State, while the Penguins lost to Pittsburgh, 41-0.
YSU has had good success after coming off a shutout defeat. The last four times the Penguins were shut out, they rebounded with a victory the following week. The last time was in 2002 when they lost 19-0 at Western Illinois and then beat Southern Illinois the next week, 21-9.
Head of the pack
Going into the conference openers the Penguins and the Redbirds sit on top of the Gateway standings after pre-conference play with 3-1 records.
Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Missouri State and Western Kentucky are all 2-1, Western Illinois is 2-2 and Indiana State is 0-4.
Southern Illinois opens defense of its 2004 title at home today against Missouri State in Carbondale, Ill. at 2:30 p.m.
The Salukis have won two in a row, but Missouri State leads the overall series, 16-10.
Western Kentucky will travel to Indiana State for its opener at 2 p.m. in Terre Haute, Ind. The Hilltoppers hold an 11-5-1 lead in the series, including wins in the last nine meetings. The Sycamores' last win came in 1995, 27-6.
Western Illinois will play host to Northern Iowa today at 2:05 p.m. in Macomb, Ill. UNI holds a commanding 22-11 lead in the series and has won the last two games, including a 42-20 win last year.