These are the games that Division 1-AA players have dreamt of playing for years.  They are David’s shot at Goliath and they are taking place in many stadiums this week.  For Youngstown State, it is their fifth chance at an FBS school in the past five seasons.  The past four efforts have not yielded a touchdown, a monkey the Penguins hoped to get off of their backs this year.

Unfortunately, YSU failed to score a touchdown against a very talented defense in losing to Pitt, 38-3.  At times, YSU showed their potential, and even won the time of possession battle for the game.  Sadly, the winner of a football game doesn’t always have the ball the longest. 

Don’t think less of Youngstown State because of this score.  I can almost guarantee Pitt will beat at least one Big East opponent worse than they did YSU.  The showing for Youngstown State was gutty and heartfelt, but was marred with mistakes and penalties at the most inopportune times.  This team from Youngstown showed alot of fight against a Division-1 favorite to win a conference and perhaps compete in a BCS game.

YSU had the ball first and went three and out.  Pitt took the ball, got a first down, and then was forced to punt.  A good Pitt punt pinned the Penguins on their own 10-yard line where they started their second possession.  The Pitt defense stiffened up and drove YSU back four yards before they were forced to punt.

With great field position on the YSU 41-yard line, Pitt went on the attack with 9:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.  In four plays, Pitt got on the scoreboard when true Freshman Dion Lewis scampered 16 yards for a Pitt score to make it 7-0. 

YSU showed some offensive prowess and ate up the rest of the first quarter with the drive yielding a 48-yard Stephen Blose field goal to make it 7-3 in favor of Pitt with 14:04 left in the second quarter.

Pitt wasted no time responding as Dion Lewis had four carries for 58 yards in a five-play drive accented by his 1-yard TD run with 11:23 left in the half to make the score Pitt 14, YSU 3. 

Pitt went up 21-3 with 1:05 left in the half.  The 8-play, 61-yard drive took 3:08 and ended with Lewis catching a flare pass from QB Bill Stull for a three-yard touchdown.  On the drive, Lewis carried the ball 6 times for 42 more yards.  Lewis carried the ball 15 times for 135 yards in the first half.

Pitt got the ball to start the second half.  QB Bill Stull was picked off by YSU’s Brandon Ross.  After an illegal block on the return, YSU took the ball on their own 39 but could not move the ball and was forced to punt.

After an exchange of punts, Tino Sunseri entered the game as Pitt’s QB.  Sunseri hooked up with Jonathan Baldwin for a 42-yard completion giving Pitt a first-and-goal at the YSU 9-yard line.  The YSU defense held Pitt out of the end zone and forced the Panthers to settle on a 26-yard field goal by Dan Hutchens to extend the Pitt lead to 24-3.

With 24 seconds left in the third quarter, Stull found Dorin Dickerson for a 13-yard TD pass to bolster the Pitt lead to 31-3.  The score capped off a 63-yard drive.  On the first play after the kickoff, YSU QB Brandon Summers was intercepted giving Pitt the ball on YSU’s 35-yard line.  The third quarter came to a close with Pitt ahead by 28 points and threatening to increase the margin with the ball on YSU’s 33.

On third down and 5 yards to go at the YSU 6-yard line, Sunseri found Andre Wright for a touchdown pushing the Pitt lead to 38-3 with 12:05 remaining in the game. 

YSU drove and had the ball for 8:31 but failed to convert the effort into any points as Summers was picked off in the end zone.  Pitt took the ball and basically ran out the clock to end the contest at 38-3.

After the game, Coach Heacock gave his impressions of his teams efforts.  “That team [Pitt] is pretty good and there is a reason they are picked to win the Big East Championship.  I don’t know if we did enough good things to win a game.   We have got to do things to win football games, and I’m not just talking about Pitt.  You have to line up right and do the little things.”

YSU was flagged for nine penalties, to which Heacock referred to as “ridiculous”, stressing how dificult it is to win when you keep digging holes to fall into.

For the Penguins, Kevin Smith carried the ball 17 times for 52 yards.  QB Brandon Summers finished 11 for 22 passing for 113 yards and was sacked six times.  Donald Jones led Penguin receivers with 4 catches for 34 yards.  Sir Demarco Bledsoe recorded 9 tackles, one for a loss.

Pitt Freshman Dion Lewis had 20 carries for 137 yards and 2 TD’s.  QB Bill Stull was 11-16 for 123 yards with 2 TD’s and an interception.  Dorin Dickerson caught 4 passes for 26 yards and had one TD.

YSU will try to regroup and set their attention to Austin Peay in next week’s home opener.

No Responses to “Pitt beats YSU 38-3 In Opener”