Stambaugh Stadium has not been kind to Youngstown State University football opponents. And Youngstown State has not been kind to Slippery Rock University.

The Rock opens its 2006 season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against a Penguins program it has not beaten in 10 tries. SRUhas lost those 10 games by an average score of 36-12.

In fact, YSUis 50-16 in home games since 1996 — a .757 winning percentage — and carries a seven-game home win streak and a Division I-AA preseason top 10 ranking into this game.

And coaches Jon Heacock and George Mihalik care about none of the above.

"The preseason recognition is nice because it was earned based on last year,"Youngstown State coach Heacock said. "But what you did last year means very little in football."

Mihalik doesn't plan to give his players any history lessons about YSU, and they don't care to receive one.

"The history of this series hasn't come up once all through preseason camp," the veteran Rock coach said. "Like any other game we play, we're preparing to win."

A Rock win would be a major upset. YSUis ranked No. 3 in I-AAby the Football Gazette and No. 7 by the Sports Network. The Penguins are coming off an 8-3 season and a share of the Gateway Conference title.

The Penguins have 38 returning lettermen, including 25 seniors. YSUhas not been ranked among the preseason top 10 since 2002.

SRUis coming off a 5-5 season and has 18 returning starters in its own right. But The Rock has not had a winning season since 2002.

Slippery Rock High graduate Travis Sarver, with barely two weeks of practice time on offense, will start at running back for The Rock. Two freshmen, A.J. Saunders and Damarcus Cleckley, will back him up.

Defensively, no one has secured the starting nose guard position for SRU. Troy Stininger, Jason Curenton, Marty Kern and Justin Hoppe will all see time there Thursday.

"That position is a concern because of how physical Youngstown plays and how they like to run the football,"Mihalik said. "I'm sure they'll try to come right at us, wear us down a little, then pop the big pass play on us.

"They play very disciplined football, and they can play power football."

With a veteran passing game and an inexperienced running game, Mihalik admitted his team may be throwing the ball much more than usual in this game.

"Ideally, we like to be 60 percent run and 40 percent pass,"he said. "What we can never gauge going into this game is how well we'll handle their speed.

"Youngstown is much faster than we can simulate in practice. We won't know how we'll control their speed until we're playing the game.

"I'm very confident that Travis will give us an effective running game. His durability and how many carries he gets will be dictated by the flow of the game,"Mihalik added.

Among the veteran Penguins returning offensively are quarterback Tom Zetts (1,949 yards, 14 TDs passing, 60.7 completion percentage), tailback and University of Illinois transfer Marcus Mason (892 yards rushing), running back Monquantae Gibson (547 yards rushing) and receiver T.J. Peterson (21 catches-352 yards).

The Penguins averaged 382.2 yards per game last year:191.6 rushing and 190.6 passing.

"We strive to be balanced every year,"Heacock said. "There's no replacement for experience, and we've got plenty of that.

"Experience only counts if they keep getting better and learn from their mistakes, though. Our guys have played Slippery Rock before. They know they have to show up Thursday with their chin straps buckled, ready to play a sound game."

YSUreturns four first team All-Gateway Conference players in fullback Demetrius Ison, linebacker James Terry, center Ryan Jewell and cornerback Codera Jackson.

Mason and cornerback Jason Perry are returning second team all-conference players.

Heacock said his team is banged up coming out of summer drills and will not be 100 percent for this game.

The only SRUplayer listed as questionable by Mihalik is backup left guard Grant Hrabovsky, who's battling an ankle injury.

Youngstown State has defeated Slippery Rock University in all 10 of their previous football meetings.<B>Year YSU SRU</B>2005 44 142004 35 132003 45 122000 24 101999 44 141997 33 91996 22 01995 28 121994 52 171991 40 21