YSU trying to find a way when it’s away

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

When YSU center Mark Pratt was playing junior college football in Utah the past two years, it wasn’t unusual for him to bus up to 16 hours for a road game.

Which is why this weekend’s seven-hour bus trip to Terra Haute, Ind., isn’t a big deal.

“I’m kind of used to it,” said Pratt. “We bused everywhere [at Snow College]. The main thing is to keep focused on the ride there.”

As the easternmost school in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, YSU coach Eric Wolford knows travel comes with the territory. Indiana State is the closest school in the conference at 425 miles, while North Dakota State (1,050 miles) is the farthest.

This isn’t new for YSU — the 1991 national championship team played regular season road games in Delaware, Texas, Georgia and Maryland — but there’s also no question that, geographically, the MVFC poses bigger challenges to the Penguins than most other schools.

Rather than ignore it, Wolford has made sure to prepare his players for what’s ahead, so they can do their grumbling ahead of time.

“You can get out all the negative and complaining thoughts — this locker room is hot, this is a long trip, this bed is not very nice,” said Wolford. “This is a business trip. You try to get it all out of the way so that way you already have a vision of what to expect to happen.”

YSU is 0-8 on the road under Wolford — its last road win came in the 2009 finale at North Dakota State — but the Penguins have history on their side this weekend. No YSU team has ever lost on the road to Indiana State.

“All the championship teams in the league win road games,” said Wolford. “It doesn’t matter where we play, it’s still 100 yards.

“We have to play at a certain level. No matter if it’s Michigan State or we’re home or away, we’re expected to play a certain way.”

The Penguins (2-1, 1-0) lost their four conference road games last season by a combined 24 points, but it was the 10-point loss to Missouri State in the first MVFC road game that set the tone for the rest of the season.

YSU jumped out to 17-0 lead in the first 12 minutes. Then the Penguins went more than 26 minutes without a first down, giving up 28 straight points over that span.

But after repeatedly blowing fourth-quarter leads last year, the Penguins reversed that trend in last week’s 34-27 win over Illinois State, forcing the Redbirds to punt on four of their last five possessions.

“There’s not too many starters that played last year on the defense,” said redshirt freshman linebacker Travis Williams, one of six new starters on this year’s defense. “Last year hasn’t really been spoken about as far as the defense because it’s a whole new year and a whole new team.”

MVFC teams won 80 percent of their home games last season and, thanks to YSU’s win last week, they’re 1-0 so far this season.

The Penguins’ other three road games come against arguably the three most talented teams in the conference: Southern Illinois (Oct. 15), Northern Iowa (No. 5) and North Dakota State (Nov. 12).

If YSU wants to prove its a contender for the league crown, winning this Saturday is key.

“We’d love to be an on-the-road team and go 1-0 every week,” said Williams, who was on the traveling team at the University of Miami for a few games last season. “For us, we can feed off their crowd and their energy because we play with a lot of emotion on the field.”

NOTES

Wolford said he expects junior TE Will Shaw (ankle) to return after missing Saturday’s game. He said sophomore CB Donald D’Alesio (shoulder) will likely be out against Indiana State. If so, true freshman Jimmy May Jr. (Warren Harding) will get the start. ... With freshman WR Andre Stubbs (AC joint) out indefinitely, sophomore WR Kevin Watts moved to the top of the depth chart. RB Jordan Thompson will take Stubbs’ spot on returns.