Youngstown State has never lost to an opponent in a lower division since its move to Division I-AA in 1981, going 25-0.

The Penguins also have won eight consecutive football openers, outscoring those opponents by an average margin of 34.9-8.9.

Talk about facing long odds.

Slippery Rock University will be facing such odds when it travels to Stambaugh Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against YSU Thursday night.

Oh yeah - The Rock is 0-8 against the Penguins, never coming closer than 14 points by game's end.

"On paper, we're not supposed to win this game," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "And we haven't won. But each year, you keep on trying.

"We're hoping to be able to pull off the upset. That's what we're going there to do. We want to surprise people all across the country. Nobody's giving us a chance to win this game - but nobody gave us a chance to win last week, either," he added.

The Rock didn't win last week, but just missed doing so. A pass interference call in the end zone on a fourth-down play with less than two minutes remaining helped Bloomsburg post a 20-17 victory.

"It was a disappointing way to lose, but I can't complain too much because our special teams cost us nine points," Mihalik said. "We snapped a ball through the end zone and had a punt blocked on our own 25.

"We played well as a team against a very good team. That was encouraging, only this week, we'll be playing against an even better team."

SRU outgained the Huskies 338-191 last Friday.

Youngstown State is coming off a 5-7 season under fourth-year coach Jon Heacock. The Penguins return seven starters on offense and six on defense.

YSU quarterback Aaron Marshall threw for 1,316 yards and rushed for 254 a year ago. His backup, Mike Rycraft, threw for 313 and rushed for 335.

Both are back. Neither is starting Thursday. That honor goes to Tom Zetts, who broke his collarbone early last season and will make his first collegiate start against SRU.

"Tom won the job in spring camp and did nothing this summer to lose it," Heacock said. "He's a good leader, can run the option and is very elusive. He's a typical quarterback for us and he's a 4.0 student, too."

YSU also returns its leading rusher in Josh Cayson (707 yards) and two of its leading receivers in Kyle Smith (29 catches for 530 yards) and tight end Mike Roberts (29 for 300).

On defense, the Penguins' top two tacklers return in linebacker Yancey Marcum (114 tackles-56 solos) and strong safety Mike Bracken (86-47). Bracken had 9½ tackles for loss last year.

Place-kicker Nick Terracina returns after hitting 13 of 17 field goal attempts a year ago, including a school-record 56-yarder.

"We only have 14 seniors, so we're still relatively young," Heacock said. "I'm hoping we play a good football game, take care of the football, be sound in the kicking game and find out who we are."

Mihalik already knows.

"When you think about Youngstown State football, you think about tradition, winning football games, establishing the running game and playing aggressive defense," he said.

"They've seen us, we haven't seen them. We've played a game and they haven't. That's a nice advantage for us."

Another advantage for The Rock is quarterback Nate Crookshank, who threw for 151 yards with three interceptions in his debut last week and is accustomed to Division I-AA football.

The Georgia Southern transfer spent last year at that level.

"He shouldn't be flustered or intimidated at all by that atmosphere," Mihalik said. "He's been there."

SRU's Josh Kniess had 290 all-purpose yards against Bloomsburg, including 179 rushing. Luke Wetzel caught four passes for 91 yards.

Defensively, Mihalik credited defensive back Kevin Johnston with a strong game, along with performances off the bench by Greg Ames, Andrew Sharp and Josh Zeisloft.

"We have the makings of a good football team and I think we're going to have a good year," Mihalik said.

But Heacock doesn't want to see that good year begin Thursday.

"George and his staff have been around for years," he said. "They just keep coaching football and they do it well.

"We have great respect for Slippery Rock University and we're preparing for this game accordingly."