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Normal hasn’t been kind to Penguins
It’s been some time since the travel back from Normal Ill., to Youngstown has been enjoyable for the Youngstown State football.
The Penguins haven’t won there since 2006 and have suffered some painful defeats the last four trips.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference rivals will meet again Saturday in Normal. YSU is 3-1 (1-0 MVFC). ISU is 2-3 (0-2).
Since that 27-13 win in 2006 the Penguins have held second-half leads in each of their last four road games against Illinois State, often losing in devastating fashion.
In 2008, YSU held a 37-33 lead in the fourth quarter before the Redbirds scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to come out on top in a 54-44 shootout.
In 2012, the Penguins held a 28-14 halftime lead before Illinois State outscored YSU 21-0 in the second half. It was a similar story in 2014 when the Penguins held a 21-14 lead at halftime, only to be shut out in the second half again. The Redbirds won that matchup 25-21.
“I remember we came out really strong, connecting on a lot of big runs,” former quarterback Kurt Hess said. “I remember offensively just shooting ourselves in the foot in the second half. We couldn’t stay on the field because of mental mistakes.”
But without question the most difficult pill to swallow was the 2010 game. The Penguins were in the midst of a five-game losing streak and battled back from a 35-17 deficit with 6:02 left in the third quarter to take a 39-35 lead with 27 seconds left when Hess ran in for a 7-yard touchdown run.
“I remember thinking they wouldn’t have enough time to score,” Hess said.
YSU even got a sack on the first play Illinois State ran on the final drive but a 33-yard pass was followed up by a 40-yard Hail Mary with one second left to crush YSU’s should’ve-been win. A last-second attempt to return a kickoff failed and the struggles in Normal continued.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Hess said. “The whole team was pretty crushed because we played well enough to win and they stole one from us.”
Now a defensive line coach with the Penguins, Donald D’Alesio was one of the defenders on the field for that Hail Mary.
“It’s not the best memory I have,” D’Alesio said. “It happens. Obviously you wish it doesn’t happen but I don’t think it’ll enter the minds of the players here now because they weren’t here for it.”
The 2014 loss in Normal was the beginning of a poor end to the season as the Penguins were fighting or a playoff spot. The loss was followed up by a home loss to Indiana State (27-24, OT) and a loss at North Dakota State (38-14) to close out the year.
Last year YSU lost to Illinois State 31-29 at home.
“I think they’re just a team that matches up well with us and you can’t get satisfied during an MVFC road game until you see zeroes on the scoreboard,” D’Alesio said.