Gateway openers mostly successful

The Penguins play host to
Missouri State tonight.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State hopes to continue a pair of successful trends tonight when the Penguins play host to Missouri State in the Gateway Conference opener at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Penguins (3-1) have won eight of their 10 Gateway openers since joining the conference in 1997, and they are 10-1 all-time against the Bears.

And, YSU has started five previous Gateway seasons at home and has never lost.

Last season the Penguins posted a 37-10 victory in in Springfield, Mo., after trailing 10-9 at halftime.

Exceeded win total

The Bears (3-1) have already exceeded their win total of 2006 and are coming off a 42-38 victory over Central Arkansas.

The Penguins have won three straight since losing to Ohio State in the season opener. Last week they rolled over Lock Haven 35-3, holding the Bald Eagles to four first downs and just over 100 yards of total offense.

The Penguins and Bears play in one of three Gateway Conference openers today.

The league still has two unbeaten teams — Northern Iowa (4-0) and Southern Illinois (4-0) — and five teams ranked in the SportsNetwork Football Championship Subdivision poll.

Northern Iowa leads the way at No. 3, Southern Illinois is No. 7, YSU No. 10, Illinois State No. 16 and Western Illinois No. 17.

The top conference matchup today will have Northern Iowa visiting Illinois State (2-2) in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Normal, Ill. UNI leads the series 15-8 and won last year’s contest, 38-27.

Sycamores-Salukis

Southern Illinois will visit Indiana State (0-4) in a noon kickoff at Terre Haute, Ind. The contest is the Gateway Conference TV game of the week. Last year the Salukis won 55-3 and have won four straight in the series.

Indiana State fired coach Lou West this week following the Sycamores’ 54-20 loss to Eastern Illinois. Dennis Raetz, who guided the ISU program from 1980-97, was named interim coach.

In the lone non-conference game Western Illinois (3-1) plays host to No. 4-ranked North Dakota State (3-0) at 2:05 p.m. in Macomb, Ill. It is the first meeting between the teams. North Dakota State and South Dakota State join the Gateway next season.