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Youngstown State picked to finish third in Missouri Valley
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YSU football coach Eric Wolford enters his third season with more expectations — and more national respect — than at any point in his tenure.
Youngstown State picked to finish third in Missouri Valley
BY Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State football coach Eric Wolford enters his third season with more expectations — and more national respect — than at any point in his tenure but he summed up all the preseason attention in one word: noise.
“There’s a lot of hype out there, a lot of noise,” he said. “It’s a good feeling to know we have a good football team coming back and the expectations are high, but really it’s all talk.
“We need to go out and do it.”
Thursday, the Penguins were picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s preseason poll behind defending FCS national champion North Dakota State and perennial power Northern Iowa.
YSU was picked to finish seventh in the 2010 poll (and finished ninth) and eighth last year (finishing tied for fourth).
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve done a fair job of competing,” said Wolford, whose four conference losses last season were by a combined 17 points. “We just haven’t been able to win close games like we’d like. But just like anything worth having, it doesn’t come easy.”
Four YSU players made the preseason all-conference team: junior quarterback Kurt Hess, senior running back Jamaine Cook, senior center Mark Pratt and junior guard Chris Elkins. The Penguins return every starter from last year’s offense, which ranked first in the conference in most categories.
Sophomore linebacker Teven Williams was named honorable mention all-conference on the preseason list — the only YSU defensive player honored.
Wolford expects his defense to play better this fall under new defensive coordinator Joe Tresey, who replaced Rick Kravitz in February.
“I thought we needed a new direction,” he said, speaking on a national conference call Thursday. “I thought we needed more accountability and the players have responded.
“We’re not going to have the opportunity to compete for a championship without playing defense, so that’s something we have a lot of focus on. We have to continue to get better and I see signs of that.”
Wolford has overhauled the roster over his 21/2 years, hoping to rid the program of what he called “a sense of entitlement.”
“[Players thought] because you played at a school that won a bunch of championships, you were entitled to be one [a champion],” he said. “We embrace the expectations here. It’s exciting. But at the same time, you’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand.”
YSU’s players reported Thursday with the first practice today. The Penguins open the season Sept. 1 at Pittsburgh.