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Penguins prepare for adversity test
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
For all the positive buzz the YSU football team has created through the first three weeks, it’s easy to forget these three things:
The Penguins were supposed to lose big against Penn State and did.
They were supposed to beat Butler and Central Connecticut State easily and did.
No one really knows how good they are — or aren’t.
“We haven’t had any adversity yet, nothing of significance anyways,” YSU coach Eric Wolford said. “At some point in one of these ballgames, we’re going to be down pretty good at half or something and we’re gonna have to dig down deep and find out what we’ll do.
“That’s when we’ll find out a little more about our football team.”
That opportunity could come Saturday when YSU hosts defending conference champion Southern Illinois, a team that beat the Penguins 28-7 last year en route to a perfect Missouri Valley Football Conference record.
The Salukis (1-2), who were picked first in the preseason poll, lost on Saturday to Southeast Missouri State 24-21. In fact, three of the four preseason favorites lost this weekend, with No. 2 South Dakota State falling to No. 3 Illinois State 24-14 and No. 4 Northern Iowa losing to Stephen F. Austin 22-20.
YSU, which was picked seventh in the preseason poll, has a chance to shake things up further.
“We’re going to come out high intensity, they’re going to come out high intensity,” freshman running back Adaris Bellamy said. “We’re going to play to our level and hopefully they play to their level because we’re not going to give up for nothing.
“To be 3-0 at home is basically our goal.”
For the past month, Wolford has preached the need for home field advantage and is hoping for a big — and loud — crowd on Saturday. YSU had more than 18,000 in its opener and almost 16,500 on Saturday.
“We’re off to a good start,” he said. “We got our crowd going on third down, got a little ‘Hell’s Bells’ [by AC/DC] going, got people standing up. My arms are a little tired from flopping them up and down [asking for crowd noise] but I’ve been doing some extra shrugs so we can get it going.
“On third down next week, we need to be loud and cranking.”
Final thoughts
Wolford said his biggest change from Week 2 to Week 3 was convincing his players to eat less in the pregame meal. Really.
“You know how it is at Thanksgiving dinner, you want to take a little nap,” said Wolford, who said he likes the way his team has prepared in pretty much every other area. “It’s not a buffet. You don’t want to come in there and have that sinking feeling.
“Believe it or not, everything else has been good.”
He thinks YSU’s defensive struggles on Saturday had less to do with Central’s schemes and more to do with execution.
“We were yelling in from the sideline every play they were going to run,” he said. “At some point, you have to get off a block and make a tackle.”
I have to type the phrase “Football Championship Subdivision” with one hand because I’m using the other to hold my nose. Same with “Football Bowl Subdivision.”
Division I and I-AA were clear, concise and everyone knew what they meant, so obviously they needed to be changed.
And while I’m ranting, what the heck was wrong with “Gateway Conference”? Did someone decide a sleek two-word conference name was unacceptable? How in the heck is Missouri Valley Football Conference better? Especially since the league has two teams from the Dakotas and more teams from Illinois (three) than Missouri (two).
OK, I’m done. I feel better now.