The Youngstown State football team cracked the preseason top 25 by being ranked 21st in the FCS Coaches Poll which was released on Monday afternoon.
The Penguins are coming off a strong 8-4 campaign is one of four Missouri Valley Football Conference teams in the top 21. North Dakota State is ranked first, South Dakota State is 10th and UNI is 15. Southern Illinois sits right outside the top 25 at No. 27.
YSU held its fourth practice of the fall on Monday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium. A perfect day made for a strong session by offense, defense and special teams. The Penguins worked on a variety of special teams situations throughout the day.
To cap the workout, quarterbacks Dante Nania, Ricky Davis and Hunter Wells teamed up to march the offense down the field for a touchdown during the two-minute drill. Wells capped off the drive with a three-yard run in the final seconds.
Wells was hot during the 7-on-7 portion of the workout and all three quarterbacks took turns working with the top offense in the team session.
The Penguins don full pads for the first time this fall on Tuesday. The workout is set for 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.
Penguin Club memberships and season-ticket packages are still available to support the team. For information on Penguin Club memberships contact Tom Morella at tmorella@ysu.edu and for details on season-ticket packages call the Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.
RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREV
1 North Dakota State (18) 15-0 636 1
2 Eastern Washington (6) 12-3 615 3
3 Southeastern Louisiana (1) 11-3 542 6
4 New Hampshire 10-5 510 5
5 Montana 10-3 505 8
6 Coastal Carolina 12-3 447 7
7 Towson (1) 13-3 438 2
8 Jacksonville State 12-2 425 12
9 McNeese State 10-3 424 9
10 South Dakota State 9-5 332 14
11 Eastern Illinois 12-2 314 4
12 Fordham 12-2 305 10
13 Villanova 6-5 287 NR
14 Sam Houston State 9-5 277 13
15 Northern Iowa 7-5 263 NR
16 Chattanooga 8-4 238 25
17 Tennessee State 10-4 237 17
18 Furman 8-6 188 21
19 Montana State 7-5 170 20
20 Maine 10-3 169 11
21 Youngstown State 8-4 162 19
22 William & Mary 7-5 159 NR
23 Bethune-Cookman 10-3 136 16
24 Richmond 6-6 118 NR
25 Northern Arizona 9-3 116 15
Others receiving votes: Samford 95, Southern Illinois 59, Harvard 42, Charleston Southern 39, James Madison 30, Princeton 24, Southern Utah 20, Alcorn State 16, Liberty 16, Delaware 15, South Carolina State 15, Cal Poly 14, Missouri State 12, Sacred Heart 10, Wofford 8, Central Arkansas 7, Alabama State 6, Lehigh 6, Eastern Kentucky 4, Holy Cross 1, Illinois State 1, Jacksonville 1