Indiana State has never defeated Youngstown State at home.  The Penguins are a perfect 11-0 when traveling to Terre Haute and hold a 19-2 series lead over the Sycamores.  Eric Wolford lost his only game coaching against Indiana State in Youngstown last season by a score of 30-24 and did not get a win on the road (0-8) last season.  Something has to give and one of the streaks will come to an end this weekend.

Indiana State (2-1, 0-0) opened at Happy Valley, falling to Penn State.  The Sycamores rebounded to win a shootout over Butler and posted an impressive win over an FBS opponent last week, handing Western Kentucky a 44-16 beating.  The offensive weapons that the Sycamores use most are senior Ronnie Fouch at QB, Brock Lough (Sr.) at fullback, and Shakir Bell (Jr.) at tailback.

Fouch is 40-65 in three games for 564 yards and five TD’s.  He has also thrown three interceptions and doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat by running with one yard in three games.  Lough is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and has three touchdowns, including a 45-yard run for six.  Bell has 312 yards on 46 attempts and has busted one for 59 yards.  This is a big play offense that is in every way capable of beating you through the air or on the ground.

Youngstown State is out of the box in an eerily similar way that they were last season.  They are 2-1 and have a conference win under their belt.  Last season, the wheels came off and the Penguins could not record another win after that finishing 0-7.

Jamaine Cook says that the philosophy has changed. “Last year after Southern Illinois, we had the mentality that we were unstoppable and that no one could beat us – we started looking ahead too much.  We came in this season saying that we wanted to be 1-0 every week, making that a goal we could focus on.  We are happy about being ranked #24, but honestly, we are so hungry that we are not going to stop until we hit #1.”

“Indiana State is a very good football team”, said Eric Wolford.  “They have done a great job of recruiting, they are very well-coached, they work and play hard, and they play with aggression and passion.  That is a compliment to their coaching staff, it starts with them.”

“They are a fast team”, said Cook referring to Indiana State.  “They got a win over a D-1 team last week beating Western Kentucky and we have to come out ready to play hard and have a good week of practice to come away with a win.”

Sycamore FB Lough had this to say about YSU.  “They are a good team.  They played the only conference game last week and won, so that makes them the first place team right now.  We are preparing for them just like we prepared for Penn State in a sense that we expect a battle.  We are in good shape and prepared for a very talented team.  We have never beaten them here and are using that as motivation to prepare for them.”

“Our defense came out last week and held a strong offensive team to 150 yards passing – I know it seemed like more, but it wasn’t – and shut them out at the end of the game giving only one first down there at the end.  We needed to win a game like that for our confidence with all of the youth on that defensive unit.”, said Eric Wolford.

“The thing I was discouraged about last week was that offensively, we had a chance to close the game out, and we didn’t do it.  We missed some key blocks and fortunately, it didn’t cost us a game.  If we continue to miss those blocks, it will surely cost us in the future.”

Coach Wolford talked about being ranked. “Obviously, it is nice to be ranked, but that ranking stuff really matters more at the end of the year.  At the end of the day, that is what would matter. I don’t want anything like a ranking causing a distraction this week.”

Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. and the game will be televised on the WB Network.  You can also catch the action on AM-570, WKBN.