YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Sophomore cornerback Jason Perry did more than intercept a couple of passes Thursday night at Stambaugh Stadium.

He intercepted Slippery Rock University's momentum.

Youngstown State converted both of Perry's thefts into touchdowns - part of a five-TD outburst in the second half - and scored a 35-13 football victory over SRU.

"That first interception definitely captured the momentum for us," YSU coach Jon Heacock said. "It gave us a little confidence, a little breathing room.

"It took a lot of pressure off us."

Before Perry's first interception, The Rock had a 6-0 lead on Ryan Daniel's first-half field goals of 31 and 26 yards.

When SRU faced a third-and-3 at midfield with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. YSU had generated just two first downs in the game.

"Up until that point, they had no confidence," Rock coach George Mihalik said. "They were wondering what was going on."

But the Penguins gained confidence in a hurry.

Perry intercepted Nate Crookshank's third-down pass and returned it 16 yards to midfield. Penguins quarterback Tom Zetts completed a 33-yard pass to Kyle Smith before Josh Cayson scored on a 13-yard run three plays later

Nick Terracina's PAT gave the Penguins a lead they never lost with 7:40 left in the third quarter.

"I threw that pass off my back foot and couldn't get anything on it," Crookshank said. "It was my mistake. That's something I have to work on."

Youngstown State's defense asserted itself again on The Rock's next possession. Matt Briggs sacked Crookshank for a 9-yard loss and Brandon Brown nailed Corey Manfull for a 2-yard loss on a third-down draw play, forcing SRU to punt from its end zone.

Smith's 21-yard punt return set up a quick 22-yard drive, capped by Zetts' 3-yard scoring run.

Perry intercepted Crookshank on SRU's next possession, returning it 34 yards to The Rock 46. Zetts' 30-yard pass to Phil Larmon set up Demetrius Ison's 1-yard plunge and it was 21-6 with 1:02 left in the quarter.

"They just fed off the momentum and put together that flurry," Mihalik said. "They have great athletes and they can do that."

Manfull's 18-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 77-yard drive for The Rock in the fourth quarter and cut the gap to 21-13 with 10:10 remaining.

On YSU's next snap, however, Cayson caught a screen pass and rambled 72 yards for a score.

Manfull lost a fumble inside YSU's 20-yard line with 6:55 left and the Penguins put together an 83-yard scoring drive to secure the win.

"Our defense turned this game around," YSU receiver Matt Rycraft said. "Their big plays got the offense going."

The Rock shocked the Penguins with its domination of the first half. SRU ran off 42 plays to YSU's 19 in the first two quarters, had a 10-2 edge in first downs and a 174-54 edge in yardage at intermission.

The Penguins trailed at halftime of their season opener for the first time since 1987.

"We didn't expect that," Rycraft said. "Yes, we were surprised."

"Slippery Rock just kept the pressure on us, just kept attacking us," Heacock said. "They're going to have a good season.

"They have what it takes to win games: A strong running game and a great defense."

The Rock got as close as the YSU 10- and 3-yard lines on its two field goal drives. The second field goal drive went 91 yards after SRU's Josh Kniess muffed a punt out of bounds at his own 1-yard line.

"If we could have punched one of those two possessions in, it would have been big - a 10-0 lead at halftime," Mihalik said.

"Still, we've never moved the ball like that against Youngstown. Never," he added.

SRU possessed the ball for 37 minutes, 37 seconds and ran 81 plays to YSU's 49.

Kniess enjoyed his second 100-yard rushing game in a row, carrying 26 times for 134 yards.

"This is the best line I've run behind in my life, by far," Kniess said. "Anybody who runs the ball behind these guys has a chance to do something great."

Notes:

SRU H-Back Brandon Richardson had a career-high seven catches for 67 yards before leaving the game in the second half with a sprained ankle. … The Rock fell to 1-12 against Division I-AA teams under Mihalik. … Former California (Pa.) head coach Mike Kolakowski is a co-defensive coordinator at YSU this year. He coached Cal from 1997-2001 and was co-defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati last year. … The Rock travels to Shepherd (W.Va.) for a 1 p.m. kickoff Sept. 11.

Slippery Rock 0 6 0 7-13

Youngstown St. 0 0 21 14-35

Second Quarter

SRU - Ryan Daniel 31 field goal, 10:38

SRU - Daniel 26 field goal, 2:31

Third Quarter

YSU - Josh Cayson 13 run (Nick Terracina kick), 7:40

YSU - Tom Zetts 3 run (Terracina kick), 3:19

YSU - Demetrius Ison 1 run (Terracina kick), 1:02

Fourth Quarter

SRU - Corey Manfull 18 run (Daniel kick), 10:10

YSU - Cayson 72 pass from Zetts (Terracina kick), 9:51

YSU - Matt Rycraft 1 run (Terracina kick), 5:16

Individual Statistics

Passing

: SRU, Nate Crookshank 13-30-116-2, A.J. Ruperto 0-1-0-0. YSU, Tom Zetts 14-16-207-0, Aaron Marshall 0-1-0-0.

Rushing

: SRU, Josh Kniess 26-134, Corey Manfull 12-53, Larvon Hines 3-8, Matt Tack 1-2, Nate Crookshank 8-2. YSU, Josh Cayson 14-92, Matt Rycraft 4-54, Demetrius Ison 4-6, Aaron Marshall 1-2, Regis Edgerson 4-1, Tom Zetts 5-0.

Receiving

: SRU, Brandon Richardson 7-67, Luke Wetzel 2-24, Valdez Hails 2-15, Colin Golden 2-10. YSU, Matt Rycraft 6-16, Kyle Smith 3-66, Josh Cayson 1-72, Phil Larmon 1-30, Mike Roberts 1-16, Demetrius Ison 1-4, Shawn Carlson 1-3.