YSU strives for more than big paycheck

August 27, 2014 at 12:09a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

You can call Saturday’s matchup between Youngstown State and Illinois a money game or a paycheck game.

Senior wide receiver Christian Bryan thinks of it as a winnable game.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “There’s not a football game that I go into that I don’t believe we can win. I really hope everyone else on the team believes that and I know they do. Of course, we do.”

For the 10th straight year, Youngstown State will play a big-time FBS opponent and for the 10th straight year, the Penguins will pick up a big-time check.

YSU will earn $560,000 from the Illini, which is less than last year’s payday from Michigan State ($650,000) but more than 2012, when Pitt paid out $400,000, only to get beat 31-17.

That’s still the lone FBS win for YSU since it began scheduling money games in 2005.

“Yeah, people say it’s a money game but we don’t go up there with an attitude that we’re going to collect a check and go home,” said Bryan, who started and caught two passes in the 2012 upset. “We go up with the attitude that we’re gonna win this game.”

The Penguins are 0-6 against the Big Ten, having lost twice to Penn State (2006, 2010), Ohio State (2007-08) and Michigan State (2011, 2013). This is expected to be YSU’s final game against the conference, which no longer wants to schedule FCS teams.

That’s a double whammy for the Penguins, since Big Ten teams are generally closer geographically and tend to pay opponents more.

“I like Big Ten teams,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford, who served as Illinois’ offensive line coach in 2007 and 2008. “This is Big Ten country. These kids relate to that.”

YSU will play at Pitt in 2015 and 2017 and at West Virginia in 2016. (The Penguins were originally supposed to play Ohio State next year but the Buckeyes backed out after the conference decision.)

The Mountaineers will reportedly pay out $500,000 in 2016, which is $150,000 less than YSU earned from its two Ohio State games. Still, it’s a crucial payday for the Penguins, whose football budget in 2012-13 was a little more than $3.7 million.

FBS games also give the Penguins a big boost in exposure — Saturday’s game will air on the Big Ten Network — and in recruiting, particularly when they win. Like most full-scholarship FCS programs, YSU’s players grew up believing they deserved a FBS scholarship and enter the game hoping to prove it.

“It’s a chance to put our program on the map,” senior safety Donald D’Alesio said. “If we go out there and compete with them or have the chance to beat them, it’s on [cable], a lot of recruits can see that. We’re not the big-time BCS programs of college football.”

Last season, YSU lost 55-17 to a Michigan State team that finished with 10 straight wins, beating Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game then knocking off Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Illinois, which went 4-8 last year, won’t be that good. The Illini opened last season with a 42-34 win over Southern Illinois, which lost to Youngstown State a month later.

A YSU win would certainly qualify as an upset, but not a shocking one.

“One of our fundamentals for success is expecting to win,” senior TE Nate Adams said. “No disrespect to our opponent — we respect everyone we play — but we go into every game with the attitude of expecting to win, which is different than wanting to win.

“We’re going to go in Saturday’s game with that mentality and we’ll see the outcome at the end of the game.”