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By JOE SCALZO
By Joe Scalzo
PITTSBURGH
Around 9:10 on Saturday night, less than five minutes after Youngstown State had polished off the type of victory that trends on Twitter and defines a program, a group of Penguin assistants piled into the Heinz Field elevators, yelling, high- fiving and — in Glenn Davis’ case — praying.
“Thank you, Jesus,” he said, looking up.
Just outside the YSU locker room, longtime athletic director Joe Malmisur (aka “The Man who hired Jim Tressel”) summed up the 31-17 win over Pitt this way: “That was the best victory I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
Youngs-town State recorded its first win over an FBS team since 2000 in impressive fashion, decisively outplaying a Big East program that had beaten the Penguins by a 79-3 margin in the teams’ previous two meetings.
Oh, and it paid YSU $400,000 for the privilege.
Two and a half years ago, YSU’s current athletic director, Ron Strollo, bet big on an Ursuline High graduate named Eric Wolford, believing the first-time head coach could return YSU to the type of glory seen during the Tressel years.
After two seasons of heart-breaking losses and often difficult change, it appears he made the right choice.
“It means a lot to the program,” said Strollo, a team captain on Tressel’s first national championship team in 1991. “Obviously, this is something that — when we brought Eric on board — we had dreams and aspirations for.
“I’m just so happy that we’re going to be able to bring Youngstown State, our campus and our community, this type of win and visibility.”