Valpo is better, but still not very good

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State will play Valparaiso in its home opener on Saturday and, frankly, there’s just no way to spin this one.

It’s going to be bad.

How bad? Well, consider this:

Just before the Crusaders’ first game, Fox Sports wrote a big feature calling it “the worst team in Division I football” — in the first paragraph.

Valparaiso then went out and gave up 669 yards to a Division III school not named Mount Union. The Crusaders lost 49-35 to Franklin College — their 21st straight defeat.

They’re ranked 246th in the Sagarin college football rankings ... out of 246 teams. (YSU is 153rd. Ohio State is fifth.)

Need more? How about this: YSU coach Eric Wolford was so hard-pressed to come up with good things to say about the Crusaders in his weekly press conference, he was reduced to complimenting them for being competitive with Franklin “until a minute to go in the third quarter.”

Oh, and when praising the Crusaders’ returning all-conference players, Wolford started with their punter.

“Obviously, you know, they had a tough first game,” Wolford said. “The thing that I see clearly when evaluating their team from last year to this year, they’re playing a lot harder.

“They’ve improved, they’re working harder. The score might not have indicated that necessarily, but they’re a team that’s much improved.”

Actually, the score did indicate some improvement. The Crusaders lost 11 games last year by a combined score of 514-100 — including an 86-7 loss to Jacksonville and a 42-7 loss to Franklin.

The 14-point defeat was closer than all but one of last year’s games.

Valparaiso had a running quarterback last year and ran an Oregon-type offense. The Crusaders are now a pass-first team, with redshirt freshman Eric Hoffman at quarterback. Hoffman had an impressive debut, completing 27 of 42 passes for 394 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

“That’s a pretty good night out,” Wolford said.

Defensively, the Crusaders run a Cover 2 shell, preferring to keep plays in front of them to protect against big gains.

“We’ve got to really get in there and get physical with them,” said YSU receiver Christian Bryan. “I think they’re going to be a little softer [than Michigan State] so if we get in there and get physical, we can really set the tone early on.”

Youngstown State competes with Valparaiso in the Horizon League in all sports but football so the schools are familiar with each other. But the main reason the game was scheduled was because YSU needs two non-league home games (for budgetary reasons) and wins over Division II teams don’t count toward the playoffs.

Wins over non-scholarship FCS teams do. (YSU hosts St. Francis on Oct. 22 in its other non-league FCS game.)

So, enjoy Saturday’s tailgating, enjoy the touchdowns and enjoy watching the Penguins snap their eight-game losing streak.

Just don’t expect it to be close.

“There’s a lot of ways you can play it or spin it, but the reality is it’s an opportunity to play another football game,” said Wolford. “We need to win a football game. It’s been awhile.”