YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Moving the football was no problem for Slippery Rock University Thursday night at Stambaugh Stadium.

Stopping the football was.

Youngstown State scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and wiped out SRU's momentum with a critical third-quarter scoring pass on its way to a 51-21 victory in a mutual college football season opener.

The 51 points marked the most the Penguins have ever scored in an opener. They marked the most points a Rock team has surrendered since a 54-28 loss to Clarion in 1996.

"We couldn't get off the field on third down,"SRUcoach George Mihalik said. "And some of those third downs were long ones."

YSUconverted two third-and-8 plays and a third-and-9 during its four scoring drives in the first half. Marcus Mason's second touchdown run of the game gave the Penguins a 28-7 lead with 5:48 left in the first half.

The Rock answered with a 13-play, 80-yard drive of its own when quarterback Nate Crookshank found Luke Wetzel for an 8-yard TD toss with 34 seconds remaining before intermission. Crookshank had thrown a 5-yard scoring pass to Colin Golden to culminate an 86-yard drive in the first quarter.

Slippery Rock High School graduate Travis Sarver scampered 29 yards for a touchdown with 11:08 left in the third period, cutting the gap to 28-21.

The 21 points were the most SRUhas scored on the Penguins in a game since 1991.

"This is the best we've ever moved the ball against a Youngstown team,"Mihalik said.

"They had our defense back on its toes,"YSUcoach John Heacock admitted. "We were reeling."

But the Penguins took the ensuing kickoff and marched 79 yards in 12 plays. On third and 10 from The Rock 21-yard line, quarterback Tom Zetts rolled left and found Da'Michael Horne in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

"That's the biggest catch Horne's going to make for a while,"Zetts said. "We had to respond there, and we did."

The Rock defense failed to produce any impact plays in the game. SRUdid not sack the quarterback, forced no turnovers and had just three tackles for loss.

"Their power game didn't bother us because we go up against our offensive line every day in practice, and they're pretty good,"SRUlinebacker Jerome Whiting said. "But (YSU's) overall speed, that took some getting used to."

Up 35-21, the Penguins pulled away. Mason, a transfer from the University of Illinois, scored his third touchdownof the night on a 48-yard run on YSU's next possession.

A screen pass from backup quarterback Mike Schneider to Brandon Nicholson resulted in a 33-yard score moments after The Rock gave up a safety while trying to punt from inside its 20-yard line.

Leading 51-21 and regaining possession at The Rock 46 with 4:32 left, YSU's quarterback took a knee on three straight snaps before the Penguins punted the ball back to SRU.

Mihalik did not respond when asked how he felt about that sequence.

Heacock volunteered a public apology.

"I want everyone to know I wasn't trying to embarrass or show up anybody there,"he said. "I told my coaches that at that point, I didn't want to take a chance on scoring any more points on that football team.

"I have tremendous respect for George, his staff and his players. They came in here and fought us hard, as we knew they would. Apparently, my decision to try to avoid any embarrassment caused the opposite affect and I apologize. Embarrassing an opponent is not what Youngstown State's football program or myself are about."

Crookshank completed 15 of 22 passes for 194 yards on the night. He completed 14 of his first 17 tosses.

"If we can do this well against a I-AAopponent, we can definitely have success throwing this season,"Crookshank said.

Notes: YSUwas 9-for-13 on third down and scored a touchdown on fourth down near the goal line. ... SRUis now 1-13 against I-AAfoes under Mihalik. The lone win was a 40-7 triumph at Florida Atlantic in 2001. ... Youngstown State has won 11 consecutive season openers, extended its winning streak against Division IIopponents to 28 games and is 11-0 all-time against Slippery Rock.Youngstown St. 51, SRU21

SRU 7 7 7 0—21Youngstown St. 7 21 14 9—51SRU YSU16 First Downs 1837-88 Rushes-Yards 41-237194 Passing Yards 18715-22-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 13-19-0282 Total Yards 4243-2 Fumbles/Lost 0-03-20 Penalties-Yards 4-50

First QuarterYSU — Marcus Mason 1 run (Brian Palmer kick), 6:12SRU — Colin Golden 5 pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), :39

Second QuarterYSU — Monquantae Gibson 3 run (Palmer kick), 14:24YSU — Rory Berry 20 pass from Tom Zetts (Palmer kick), 9:22YSU— Mason 6 run (Palmer kick), 5:48SRU — Luke Wetzel 8 pass from Crookshank (Daniel kick), :34

Third QuarterSRU— Travis Sarver 29 run (Daniel kick), 11:08YSU — Da'Michael Horne 21 pass from Zetts (Palmer kick), 4:51YSU — Mason 48 run (Palmer kick), 1:51

Fourth QuarterYSU— Punt snap knocked out of end zone for safety, 9:45YSU — Brandon Nicholson 33 pass from Mike Schneider (Palmer kick), 6:40

Individual Statistics

Passing: SRU, Nate Crookshank 15-22-194-0. YSU, Tom Zetts 10-13-118-0, Mike Schneider 3-6-69-0.

Rushing: SRU, Travis Sarver 19-66, Nate Crookshank 11-27, A.J. Saunders 4-11, Damarcus Cleckley 2-0. YSU, Marcus Mason 17-101, Monquantae Gibson 10-85, Brandon Nicholson 5-23, Mike Schneider 2-14, Tom Zetts 3-13, Demetrius Ison 1-7, Team 3-(-6).

Receiving: SRU, Paul Favers 4-65, Colin Golden 4-35, Luke Wetzel 3-35, Terry Grossetti 2-21, Frank Cremonese 1-33, Damarcus Cleckley 1-5. YSU, T.J. Peterson 3-47, Da'Michael Horne 3-34, Brandon Nicholson 1-33, Rory Berry 1-20, Marcus Mason 1-15, Monquantae Gibson 1-12, Aaron Pitts 1-12, Louis Irizarry 1-11, Derrick Bush 1-3.