Family reunions at OSU today

By Pete Mollica

The Penguins and Buckeyes will collide at noon before almost 105,000 fans.

COLUMBUS — Youngstown State’s football team has won 11 of its last 12 season openers. The one they lost was a year ago here against Ohio State, 38-6.

The Penguins and the Buckeyes will meet for the second time today at noon at Ohio Stadium before a crowd expected to be close to 105,000. The game will be televised live over the Big Ten Network, which was recently picked up locally by Time Warner.

A year ago, the Penguins made a fine showing against the nationally-ranked Buckeyes, holding Ohio State to 147 yards rushing on 41 attempts and the Buckeyes’ top running back, Chris “Beanie” Wells to just 46 yards on 16 carries.

The Penguins offensively did not score a touchdown and have yet to score a TD in three games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. Their only scores last year were a 21-yard field goal by Brian Palmer and a 41-yard kick by Stephen Blose.

Palmer, now a senior, will miss today’s game with a herniated disc in his back and Blose, a sophomore, will handle all the kickoffs and placements.

The Penguins are 19-21-1 all-time against FBS teams, and the Penguins have lost five straight since beating Kent State in 2000. Since 1990, the Penguins are 15-2-1 in season openers and 39-26-2 all-time, while they are 10-18 in openers on the road. YSU head coach Jon Heacock is 6-1 in his openers.

There will be a couple of family meetings today on the field, as YSU’s senior fullback Ben Lane is the brother of Ohio State senior defensive back Shaun Lane. The two are Hubbard High graduates.

Heacock again will be united with his older brother, Jim, who is the Buckeyes co-defensive coordinator.

Last year, when the two teams played before 105,038 fans, it was the largest crowd ever to watch a YSU game.

The Penguins go into this season ranked No. 12 in the preseason SportsNetwork FCS poll, while the Buckeyes were ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press and No. 3 by USA Today coaches poll.

The Penguins were 7-4 a year ago, but dropped three games by less than a touchdown, which kept them out of the playoffs.

Following today’s opener, the Penguins will be on the road again next week when they open Missouri Valley Football Conference play at South Dakota State, one of two new entries in the conference this year.

It will mark the first time the Penguins have opened the season with two straight road games since 1993. They will play six road games this year, the first time since 1987.

Girard-native Jordan Rader, a senior tuba player for the Ohio State marching band, will get the honor of dotting the I when the band plays out Script Ohio at halftime.

mollica@vindy.com