Penguins face a big crowd on Saturday at Penn State
In 2008, as an assistant coach at Illinois, YSU coach Eric Wolford traveled to Penn State to play a “Whiteout” night game at Beaver Stadium.
In front of 110,000 fans — nearly all of them in white — the Illini lost, 38-24.
“It was probably the best atmosphere I was in, next to the Rose Bowl,” said Wolford, who had helped the Illini make the Rose Bowl the year before. “It was electric.”
This is no small thing. Over his 16-year coaching career, Wolford has been at Michigan’s Big House, Ohio State’s Horseshoe, Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium (during last year’s national championship season, no less) and dozens of other top stadiums.
“It was a unique experience and that’s something to be proud of,” Wolford said of the 2008 game. “Their fans are into the game.”
Saturday’s opener, Wolford’s first as a head coach, probably won’t be quite as noteworthy. YSU lost 37-3 to Penn State in the teams’ only other meeting, in 2006. And while the Penguins are seeking a program-defining upset, the Nittany Lions are likely more focused on their Week 2 game against Alabama not a Football Championship Division team coming off a 6-5 season.
Read the story in Wednesday’s Vindicator.