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Penguins battle Michigan State but come up a little short
Photo
Youngstown State’s Jamaine Cook (35) tries to elude Michigan State defender Johnny Adams (5) during the Penguins’ season opener Friday in Lansing, Mich. YSU fell to the Spartans, 28-6.
By Joe Scalzo
EAST LANSING, MICH.
Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford doesn’t believe in moral victories.
Too bad. He got one Friday night.
The Penguins kept their national showdown Michigan State close for 31/2 quarters and put a small scare into the 17th-ranked team in the country before falling to the Spartans 28-6 in front of more than 75,000 fans on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
“I think the encouraging thing is last year we played a half of football and this year we played a little bit more,” said Wolford, whose team lost to Penn State 44-14 in last year’s opener. “I think we’re getting closer but unfortunately in this game, close doesn’t count.”
The 22-point margin of defeat was Youngstown State’s smallest since the Penguins started playing BCS teams in 2005, besting last year’s margin. It also marked the second straight year that YSU scored a touchdown in a “guarantee game,” after being held to four field goals in the previous five BCS games.
But ...
“We expected to win,” said Wolford, whose team was a 34-point underdog. “I know there’s no one else in America that expected us to win but we expect to win. That’s one of our fundamentals of success.
“They’re a great football team. Big Ten champs [in 2010], darkhorse [this year], no question. Very talented. Very well-coached. That’s clear. But that’s [winning] why you play this game.”
Using a ball-control offense that chewed up nearly 20 minutes in the first half, YSU trailed just 14-6 at halftime. And Penguins were behind just 21-6 with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter after Michigan State kicker Dan Conroy missed a 27-yard field goal.
But on YSU’s ensuing offensive play, QB Kurt Hess was picked off by Spartan safety Isaiah Lewis at the Penguins’ 30, returning it 13 yards to the 17.
“That’s a throw I can’t make and a read I can’t make,” said Hess, who completed 17 of 35 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. “I would take it back but those things happen and I have to learn from them.”
Four plays later, Le’Veon Bell scored on a 3-yard TD to end the scoring and the suspense.
Junior running back Jamaine Cook carried 17 times for 76 yards and true freshman Christian Bryan caught six passes for 45 yards to lead YSU. Sophomore Jelani Berassa, who redshirted last fall with a torn ACL, added two catches for 8 yards, including a 10-yard TD midway through the second quarter.
“It felt real good, playing a big-time team on television and getting my first touchdown,” Berassa said. “I was real excited for me and my team.”
Kirk Cousins completed 18 of 22 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown and B.J. Cunningham caught nine passes for 130 yards and a TD for MSU.
“I think we have a chance to have a good football team as long as we get these mistakes corrected and we work hard every day and do the things you need to do to be a good football team,” said Wolford. “But there’s no moral victories. I want to make that clear. You either win or you lose.
“We came out on short end of stick and hopefully one of these days we’re going to win one of these games.”