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Butler didn’t do it
Penguins show off depth in the backfield
Barnes’ punt return helps Wolford get first victory
By Joe scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
The score was a little too close and the game a little too competitive and, with all the upsets littering college football through the first two weeks, you could forgive yourself for wondering whether Youngstown State had let Butler hang around just a little too long on Saturday.
Then Dominique Barnes decided he’d seen enough.
With four minutes remaining in the third quarter and YSU clinging to a 10-point lead, Barnes fielded a punt at his own 14, shimmied past a couple tacklers and tore up the left sideline, finally stopping when the second-longest punt return in school history was over.
“That kind of knocked the wind out of our sails,” Butler coach Jeff Voris said.
That return, combined with a punishing ground game and a bend-but-don’t-break defense, helped the Penguins beat the Bulldogs 31-7 and give head coach Eric Wolford his first victory in front of 18,025 fans at Stambaugh Stadium.
“It’s special,” Wolford said. “The biggest thing for me is, it’s completely different being a head coach. You win a game 31-7 and that competitor in you wants to win 50-0.
“But wins are hard to get. I see that already. We’ll take it and move on.”
Butler, a non-scholarship FCS team, was playing its first game against a full-scholarship FCS team since losing to Florida International 42-0 in 2002. But with 17 starters back from a conference championship team, the Bulldogs weren’t intimidated by YSU and kept it close for almost three quarters.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” said Voris. “I thought we showed we deserved to be on that field.”
Butler trailed just 17-7 at halftime and started the third quarter with a 12-play, 65-yard drive that ended with David Lang missing a 28-yard field goal. The Bulldogs got the ball back two minutes later but Luke Matelan sacked Butler quarterback Andrew Huck on a third-and-4 at the YSU 44, forcing the crucial punt to Barnes.
“We needed a big play,” said Barnes, who also had an 80-yard touchdown reception in last week’s loss to Penn State. “I got some good blocks from my punt return unit and I ran to the open space.”
It was the second-longest return in school history, trailing the 92-yarder by Ray Rohan against Central Michigan in 1965.
“I told him for two weeks we were going to get him a touchdown on a return,” said Wolford. “I wanted to get it last week but he got it today.
“It gave us a lot of momentum.”
Freshman tailback Adaris Bellamy added a 25-yard TD run — YSU’s third of the day —in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to end any lingering suspense.
“We’re real happy for Coach Wolford,” said true freshman safety Donald D’Alesio, a Mooney High graduate who got his first career start. “Our goal is to be undefeated at home and today we took the first step.”