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YSU doesn’t want to look past CCSU
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
Week One had Penn State. Week Two had the home opener. Week Four has the defending conference champion.
And Week Three? It has a team from Connecticut.
“I assure you we will not be looking ahead to league play,” said Wolford, whose team will play host to Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. today. “We can’t dare take anything for granted.”
The Blue Devils, who won the Northeast Conference last year, will play YSU for the first time in football but the schools know each other well. From 1994-97, both schools were members of the then-Mid-Continent Conference.
They’re a partial scholarship FCS team, with about 30 scholarships to spread among the players. (YSU, by contrast, has 63.) Consequently, they’re a little bigger and more athletic than Butler, a non-scholarship team YSU beat 31-7 last week.
“They’re a confident group,” Wolford said of Central. “The most unique thing is, six times last year they were down at halftime and came back to win.
“That means they know how to handle adversity.”
Central (1-1) went 9-3 last year, including 7-1 in its conference, and has 12 starters back this fall. After an opening loss to New Hampshire, the Blue Devils scored 38 unanswered points to beat Division II Bentley 45-14 last week.
Like YSU, Central is a run-first team. Senior Everette Benjamin (6-2, 225) will get the bulk of the carries but the Blue Devils will play as many as three backs at a time. Starting quarterback Gunnar Jesperson is a threat to run and throw.
“I expect them to come out and formation us, try to get us out-gapped and create confusion and take advantage of us that way,” said Wolford.
Defensively, they use a 4-3 front and like to blitz, which should give YSU’s receivers some opportunities to beat man coverage.
Like last week, the Penguins will enter the game as heavy favorites but senior center Justin Rechichar knows from experience not to overlook an opponent.
“I can remember a couple years back we played Liberty and some of the guys may have looked past that game,” he said, referring to a 31-28 loss in 2008. “We’ve gotta take it one game at a time.”
Still, with defending Missouri Valley Football Conference champion Southern Illinois looming next week, redshirt freshman quarterback Kurt Hess admitted it’s tempting to look ahead.
“A little bit,” he said. “I caught myself thinking about it [Monday]. One of my friends texted me and I was telling him about the game.
“It’s a little hard but I think we’ll stay focused. Coach Wolford keeps us focused.”