YOUNGSTOWN —
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Eric Wolford’s rebuilding project at Youngstown State is guided by 16 fundamentals the Football Championship Series program needs to follow if it wants to return to its former glory.
Among them: expect to win.
Don’t worry coach, the Penguins appear to have that one down pat.
Kurt Hess passed for 154 yards and two touchdowns, Andre Stubbs caught one score and ran for another and the Penguins stunned Pittsburgh 31-17 on Saturday night for their first ever victory against a Bowl Championship Series program.
“In our locker room we believed we could do it,” Hess said. “We believe in each other. It’s easily the biggest win of our careers.”
This wasn’t a last-second stunner. The Penguins never trailed, controlling the ball and the tempo with a spread offense that kept the Panthers off balance during a soggy night at Heinz Field.
Youngstown State converted 11 of 16 third downs, never turned it over and held the ball for more than 35 minutes.
“It was a great gameplan,” Hess said.
One that frustrated the Panthers from the start.
Though first-year coach Paul Chryst was brought in to provide the kind of eye-popping numbers he helped produce while calling plays at Wisconsin, he was concerned about a defense that featured seven new starters.
Pitt certainly looked inexperienced while dealing with Youngstown State’s tricky offense. One play the Penguins would line up with five wide receivers, the next Hess would hand it off to tailbacks Jamaine Cook or Andrew Stubbs, or keep it himself.
“Youngstown State’s offense did a good job of staying ahead of us,” Chryst said. “They executed well. They’ve got a good football team and they played that way. They beat us tonight.”
The Panthers could never seem to make a big play when they needed one. Four of Youngstown State’s five scoring drives lasted at least 10 plays.
It was the shortest one, however, that stunned the Panthers.
Leading by four points early in the second half, the Penguins faced a 4th-and-1 at the Pitt 23. Though a field goal would have put Youngstown State up a touchdown, Wolford kept the offense on the field.
The play is called “Penguin,” one the coaching staff devised in the middle of the week just for that specific situation. Hess took the snap and pitched the ball to Cook. Instead of bulling for the first down, however, Cook pulled up and threw a wobbly pass to a wide open Will Shaw. The tight end walked into the end zone to put Youngstown State up 21-10.
The Panthers never recovered.
Tino Sunseri threw for 239 yards and a score for Pitt, but the Panthers had no answer for the Penguins while losing to an FCS program for the first time.
“I don’t want to take anything away from their victory, but that’s not the real Pitt out there,” said Panthers defensive back Andrew Taglianetti.
Pitt hired Chryst in January hoping the former Wisconsin offensive coordinator could bring a sense of calm to a program that went through three coaches in 15 months.
While the straight-talking Chryst has won over the locker room, winning his first game will take a while longer.
The Panthers certainly looked inexperienced as the Penguins put together a series of clock-chewing, game-shortening drives.
Youngstown State scored the first two times it had the ball en route to a 14-10 halftime lead, putting together scoring drives of 79 and 92 yards.
Then the Penguins got bold.
Pitt tried to answer Youngstown State’s score with a gamble of its own midway through the third quarter. Only Isaac Bennett stutter-stepped and never came close on fourth-and-1 from the Penguins’ 21.
“They thought they would just run on us and score whenever they wanted to,” Youngstown State defensive lineman Aronde Stanton said. “We came out with the mentality we were going to stop them no matter what they did, create turnovers and we did that.”
Hess responded by guiding another lengthy drive, capped by a 13-yard burst by Stubbs that gave Youngstown State a 28-10 lead
“That was a championship drive,” Hess said.
Though the Panthers pulled within 28-17 on a 35-yard strike from Sunseri to Joshua Brinson, they would get no closer. Youngstown State added a late field goal for the final margin as the Chryst era began with a thud.
Chryst suspended six players before kickoff for disciplinary reasons, including freshman running back Rushel Shell, the leading rusher in Pennsylvania high school history.
Senior running back Ray Graham returned from a torn ACL in his right knee that cut short his 2011 season to rush for 71 yards on 14 carries, but his fumble in the first quarter cut short a Pitt drive and gave the Penguins all the spark they would need.
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Youngstown State head coach Eric Wolford yells at an official during the team's victory at Pitt Saturday night. Wolford, a Brookfield native, has the Penguins playing at a high level and has fans dreaming of a return to national glory like in the days under coach Jim Tressel. AP
Wolford has YSU playing with confidence
Victory over Pitt made history
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
THEY SAY THAT “The best things in life are free.” Well, one of those “best things” is the annual Herald-Tam O’Shanter Junior Golf Championships every summer.
The event, which has been free to boys and girls in the Shenango Valley since it’s inception in 1949, will be held Thursday and Friday at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Hermitage.
It has been the premier youth tournament for decades and some of the top players ever to come out of this area have participated. But you don’t have to be a great young golfer to take part. It’s a wonderful opportunity for every youngster to get a free round of golf on a great course, which is in immaculate shape this season. -
Hickory lists 2013 scholar-athlete award winners
Hickory High Athletic Director Barb Dzuricsko recently announced that a total of 213 students (grades 9-12) earned Don McKay Scholar-Athlete awards.
To be eligible, students must maintain an A (93 percent or higher) grade-point-average through the academic year’s third 9-week grading period and compete in a PIAA-sponsored sport.
A total of 375 students competed in athletics this past year, Dzuricsko noted, meaning almost 57 percent qualified for the McKay Scholar-Athlete Award. Since the award’s inception, this is the highest total number of students to earn the honors, she reported. -
SCHOLASTIC NOTEBOOK: Hearns to continue golf career in college; Petty to be honored
RECENT HICKORY High alumna Rosy Hearns will continue her education and golf careers at the State University of New York-Albany. Hickory links coach Craig Antush said Hearns recently signed a letter-of-intent.
Hearns’ Hickory career concluded as one of the finest on the links — male or female — in Mercer County annals. -
Bowlers compete in Senior Games
The bowling portion of the annual Mercer County Senior Games was held Wednesday at Grove City Bowlodrome. That followed horseshoes and shuffleboard competitions earlier in the week.
Following is the rest of the schedule: -
COLLEGIATE NOTEBOOK: Ex-Hickory great Richards has great spring track season
FORMER HICKORY HIGH standout Morgan Richards enjoyed a successful spring season for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte track & field team. The female 49ters won the Atlantic 10 Conference outdoor track & field team title.
“Morgan kept her stride as she transitioned into the outdoor season, running top times in several events among (Atlantic 10) freshmen and on Charlotte’s all-time top 10 lists,” assistant coch Edwin T. Schlichter wrote in a recent e-mail to The Herald. “Morgan finished just one spot (9th) out of scoring at the 2013 A-10 Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase, despite this being her first year ever attempting the event, and running 11:02.22 which was 2nd among all freshmen in the A-10 and 5th all-time for UNC-Charlotte.” -
SPORTVIEW: Hickory tri-athletes deserve special recognition
EVERY YEAR we receive a photo from the Hermitage School District of a group of student-athletes that I am thrilled to receive and run in the paper.
The photo is of Hickory High School “tri-athletes,” boys and girls who participate in sports during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons. But there is more to it than that. Each of these athletes also must maintain an 85 percent B average during the first three 9-week grading periods of the year. -
TIDBITS: Scurpas make college choices; Matthews, Norris, Bonner part of great Clarion recruiting class; Lewis earns national medal
SHARPSVILLE HIGH volleyball standouts Kristen and Paige Scurpa, who are cousins, will continue their education and athletic careers at California University of Pa. and Penn State-Behrend, respectively.
The duo, both of whom were named to the All-State team in Class A by the Pa. Volleyball Coaches Association, led the Blue Darlings to the District 10 title game in November. Sharpsville, Region 1 champs the past 4 years, suffered a 3-1 loss to Cochranton in that match and finished the season 16-4. -
Sharpsville falls in D-10 title game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Monday was a pretty good day for Saegertown High School.
Just mere hours after the Lady Panthers won the District 10 Class A softball championship, the Saegertown baseball team (19-2) captured its third straight D-10 Class AA title with a convincing 10-3 victory over Sharpsville (15-6) at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
“We knew going into the game that Saegertown’s a pretty good team and they’ve been a pretty good team for the past few years,” Blue Devils coach Mike Sikorski said. “I think they’ve been in the District 10 Championship the past four years. They’re a solid team, a very good team. They’re very patient at the plate and when they get their pitches, they hit them.” -
STATE TRACK NOTEBOOK: WM seniors leave legacy of greatness
WEST MIDDLESEX High always has had a proud athletic heritage, and this past weekend’s PIAA Class AA Track & Field championship will only add lustre to that legacy.
According to available archives at The Herald, only the 1954 boys’ basketball team and Coach Bob Morris’ boys’ cross country team from earlier this decade previously had won commonwealth crowns. -
Allen wins 4 gold medals to lead WM to PIAA team title
SHIPPENSBURG — Clay Allen said he had to explode out of the starting blocks for his 100-meter dash showdown with Hickory’s DeShawn Coleman. But Allen — all afternoon — was getting the jump on his competitors during the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships.
By approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shippensburg University, Allen annexed 4 gold medals — 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump, and as part of the sprint-relay. The workload West Middlesex High’s senior exhibited enabled the Big Reds to record the Class AA commonwealth crown. - More Sports Headlines
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
