YSU, Akron announce 2020 football game

By DAN HINER | February 14, 2019 at 12:09a.m.

Last meeting of

Penguins, Zips

was in 1995

By Dan Hiner

The Steel Tire Trophy will be up for grabs after a 25-year hiatus.

The Youngstown State football team will open the 2020 football season at Akron. The both teams will open the season on Sept. 5 at InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field.

Both schools announced the opener on Wednesday.

The Penguins and Zips first met in 1940 and played 29 straight seasons starting in 1967.

The Penguins won the last meeting 24-10 on Nov. 4, 1995. YSU leads the all-time series 19-14-2. The teams played to a 10-10 tie in 1992 before the Penguins won the last three games between the teams.

It will be YSU’s first game against a Mid-American Conference team since 2003.

In a press release, Akron athletic director Larry Williams said, “We could not be more excited to host Youngstown State to open our 2020 campaign. The rich tradition of football in northeast Ohio just seems to demand this match-up at InfoCision Stadium. I know the atmosphere will be spectacular.”