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YSU faces UNI today
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s probably not a good sign when part of a press conference is spent asking players whether Northern Iowa is the school’s biggest rival.
For one thing, the answer to that question should be clear by now. (But isn’t.)
For another, CC Sabathia vs. a Snickers bar is a bigger rivalry right now than YSU-UNI.
“I don’t know if I can say it’s a rivalry just because I always envision the rivalry game as a game that goes back and forth,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford. “One team wins a couple, the other team wins a couple.
“Right now, I don’t think they consider us any rival.”
The Panthers (4-3, 3-1 Missouri Valley) have won nine straight against YSU, all of them against former coach Jon Heacock. Three of those losses were by one point, including a heartbreaking 21-20 defeat at home two years ago.
Overall, UNI is 18-6 against the Penguins, but lest you think Heacock was the only coach to struggle with the Panthers, consider this: Jim Tressel went 3-4 against them and Bill Narduzzi (the only other coach to face them) went 3-5.
Heck, even the 1997 national title team lost to UNI.
“They’ve basically had our number,” said Wolford.
But when Panthers coach Mark Farley thinks about the Penguins, he doesn’t think about the winning streak. He thinks about the Youngstown State tradition.
“There’s strength in the name,” said Farley, who has been UNI’s coach since 2001 after serving as an assistant from 1989 to 1996. “I’ve been around this division awhile and I remember Coach Tressel and what he did in those years and I have a very high regard for Youngstown.
“When I envision Youngstown, I always envision a traditionally strong program.”
Earlier this week, senior cornerback Brandian Ross and senior receiver Dominique Barnes were asked if UNI is the Penguins’ biggest rival. They both said yes, adding Southern Illinois to the mix.
“They’re the biggest rival, yes,” said Ross. “ Ever since I’ve been here, it’s been implanted that we just don’t get along, just like cowboys and indians. We don’t like them, they don’t like us.”
Added Barnes, “I think it’s a rivalry and it’d be a big, big win for us, too.”
Until that happens, though, it will only be a one-way rivalry.
“Right now, just about everybody we play is our rival until we get back to where we need to be,” Wolford said.