No, Pitt is and shouldn’t be assuming YSU is a gimmee at this point. The YSU game notes are up (hat tip to Chris). You can listen free (apparently) to their internet radio broadcast (you can also go here).
I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that I spent a couple years living and working in Youngstown. It was during the period when now Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel was the football coach and AD at YSU, and they were in constant contention (and winning more than their share) for the Div. 1-AA championship. At that time, the fans were aching to have YSU play some 1-A school. Their dream was Ohio St. just to see their kids on Ohio’s biggest stage, but they often settled on Kent St. or Akron. Plus, they liked their chances better against Kent or Akron. Never happened against OSU.
I bring this up, because YSU football is still a big deal there. They love their Penguins. They are only 75 minutes away from Heinz Field. They may no longer be the biggest power in Div. 1-AA, but this game is still a realization of a long-time goal for many fans — playing a BCS school. Given the tumble by Pitt this year, and a less than stellar match-up, it is very likely that the crowd could be around 50% YSU. Perhaps even higher.
Pitt OL Mike McGlynn is from the area and has plenty of friends and relatives coming to the game.
“I’ve had about 40 people call me already looking for tickets, so a lot of people are coming over for the game. It will be real exciting for me, but it will be a little funny seeing that ‘Y’ on the helmets coming at me from across the field.”
McGlynn, who is from Fitch High School in Austintown, Ohio, said he has been scrambling to find extra tickets to meet the demand but he’s sure that he’ll have no problem tracking them down .
“I already told some of the [freshmen] that have family coming to the game that I might have to buy their tickets,” he said. “It’ll all work out though. There’s some guys from Florida who don’t have family coming to the game for various reasons, so we’ll get it worked out. I might owe some favors by the end of it, though.”
Yeah, extra tickets shouldn’t be much of a problem.
