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YSU faces trap game with South Dakota
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
With big games looming against unbeaten Illinois State and North Dakota State, there might be a temptation for Youngstown State to overlook today’s opponent, South Dakota.
Won’t happen, senior center Stephen Page said.
“In past years, we’ve definitely had trouble with that [looking ahead],” said Page, a Newton Falls High graduate. “Last year, we were worried about North Dakota State before we were worried about Northern Iowa and all that. Coach [Eric] Wolford has really made that a point of emphasis. To be in the moment.
“We’re on a roll right now but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves.”
After two straight wins over ranked Missouri Valley teams, the Penguins (6-2, 3-1 MVFC) face the league’s worst team in South Dakota (2-6, 0-4), which has lost all four of its conference games by double digits.
The Coyotes rank last in the MVFC in scoring offense (18.4 points per game), scoring defense (34.1 ppg), total offense (349.9 yards per game) and total defense (435.0 ypg). Those numbers are even worse in conference-only games.
But South Dakota has played YSU tough in the teams’ previous two meetings, falling 13-10 in 2012 and 38-34 last year. And the Coyotes played well in their non-conference schedule, falling to No. 4 Montana 28-20 and beating No. 22 Northern Arizona.
“We’ve had grind-it-out games with them every time we’ve played them, so I wouldn’t expect anything else this week,” Wolford said.
“Every team’s dangerous right now in our league. That’s been our mindset from the beginning.
“Any team can beat any team in our league on any given Saturday.”
That’s not entirely true — South Dakota could not beat North Dakota State on its best day, as last week’s 47-7 drubbing to the Bison proves — but it’s been true for the Penguins under Wolford.
On Oct. 11, YSU lost to the league’s second-worst team (Western Illinois, which is 1-4 in the MVFC) and YSU fans still remember the 2011 loss to winless Missouri State in the regular season finale, not to mention last year’s three-game losing streak to end the season.
Wolford is 5-7 all-time in November, with the lone bright spot coming in 2012 when the Penguins went 3-0 in November after going 0-4 in October.
“That’s the past,” Wolford said. “We don’t dwell on the past. We don’t talk about it. The past has no bearing on the future.”
Fearsome forecast
Today’s forecast is calling for 38 degrees and rain for the 2 p.m. kickoff, which is no big deal for the Ohioans and Pennsylvania natives on YSU’s roster (not to mention the players on South Dakota’s roster), but will be a little chilly for the Penguins’ warm-weather natives.
“For people [from Ohio] and from PA, I don’t think it should be that big of an adjustment because we’ve been playing in it since pee-wee football,” said junior tackle Trevor Strickland, who hails from Clyde, Ohio. “But I think the people from Florida, it’s gonna be a tougher adjustment for them.”
YSU has 20 players from Florida and 15 from other warm-weather states like California, Georgia, North Carolina, Southern Carolina and Virginia.
“Cold weather is part of the game,” Wolford said. “I think 23 NFL teams [actually 19] are in the snow belt. The playoffs are in the snow belt.
“So if one day you’re lucky enough to get picked up by the Green Bay Packers or the Cleveland Browns or something like that, you better know how to play in the cold.”