Never mind losing an 18-point lead in the opening game. That's in the past.

The Slippery Rock University football team now must prepare for a game just five days later at Youngstown State, a program it has never beaten.

"My concern is the short turnaround and the fatigue factor," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "We have no injuries, but we're tired and sore.

"The second half of this game could get ugly from a stamina standpoint. That's what I'm worried about."

Coming off a 40-24 loss at Bloomsburg, The Rock provides the opposition for Division I-AA YSU's season opener at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Penguins, usually an annual NCAA playoff contender, are coming off a 4-7 season, its second consecutive losing campaign under fifth-year coach Jon Heacock.

"We're here to win," Heacock said. "It's not an excuse, but we had a lot of first-year starters last year and we struggled with that.

"Now we have a lot of guys back who started three or four games last year. I'm excited about our depth and I'm excited about our talent."

SRU took a 6-0 lead into halftime against Youngstown State last year before the Penguins rallied to a 35-13 victory.

Now the Penguins are more experienced, including at quarterback, as Tom Zetts completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,822 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions as a freshman a year ago.

YSU also returns its top four running backs: Monquantae Gibson (680 yards), Josh Cayson (674), Regis Edgerson and Demetrius Ison.

Wide receiver Kyle Smith caught 28 passes for 444 yards last season and enters Thursday's game with at least one catch in 22 consecutive games.

"I was really impressed with the season Zetts had last year," Heacock said. "We had injuries to our offensive line and running backs, and he still produced. We're looking for big things from him this year."

Mihalik said his squad will face more players with more speed this week than it saw against Bloomsburg.

"Youngstown always has great team speed and quickness, especially with its running backs," he said. "That's a concern, because our films showed that we had 18 missed tackles that cost us 180 yards rushing against Bloomsburg."

The Huskies rushed for 360 yards against The Rock last week.

Heacock said Mihalik and his staff will correct that problem.

"I have so much respect for George and the coaching staff over there," he said. "They've got a solid tradition and some very good football players.

"(Running back) Josh Kniess is an excellent player, and we know all about (running back) Corey Manfull because he was on our recruiting list at one point. And Nate Crookshank threw the ball extremely well last week."

Crookshank passed for 311 yards and receiver Paul Favers had seven catches for 127 yards Saturday.

"We need to do a better job running the football, but we know we have two backs who can get the job done," Mihalik said.

"Josh didn't have a lot of room to run last week, but the way we threw the ball … teams will have to respect that because if they're gonna give it to us, we're gonna take it."

YSU returns its top two tacklers in linebackers Jeremiah Wright and Marty Hutchinson. Defensive end Brandon Brown had four sacks a year ago.

"They're not used to losing over there and they'll want to come out and make a statement against us," Mihalik said. "We gave them a fight last year and I think we're a better football team now this time a year ago.

"We're going in there looking to win a football game. There is no other way to look at it."