GATEWAY CONFERENCE YSU quarterback carousel leads to Green

The senior transferrered from Bethany College last year.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock said he would make some changes after the Penguins struggled through the first two games of the season.
Following the 28-14 loss to McNeese State on Sept. 7, Heacock said all positions on the team were open.
Last week the coaching staff took time to re-evaluate the team. As of Monday that evaluation resulted in about a half-dozen lineup changes for Saturday's Gateway Conference opener at Western Kentucky.
The first road game of the season will kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live by WFMJ-TV (21).
The most noticeable change in the lineup will be at quarterback, where senior Justin Green is scheduled to get the start.
Green (6-foot, 177 pounds) from St. Clairsville, transferred to YSU last year from Bethany College, where he was a part-time starter.
He has seen limited action, but guided the Penguins to an 87-yard touchdown drive on their final possession against McNeese State, connecting on 2-of-3 passes for 26 yards, with a long of 18 yards.
Other moves
Senior Colby Street, the starter in each of the first two games and Luis Gonzalez, a junior transfer from Cincinnati, have been relegated behind redshirt freshman Aaron Marshall, who was one of the starting wide receivers in the first two games.
Marshall, who was redshirted last year and served as the scout team quarterback, came out of spring practice as the No. 1 quarterback, but was switched to wide receiver the first week of fall camp.
There were also changes made on the offensive line. Junior pre-season All-American Nick Roberts of Champion has been moved from right guard to center and junior Will Sanders will take over Roberts' spot at guard.
Senior wide receivers Jerald Burley and sophomore Philip Larman will return to the starting lineup after recovering from injuries.
The only other change on the offense is that junior tailback Josiah Doby has been moved to fullback and will be in the backfield with senior tailback P.J. Mays.
Injury
Defensively there will only be one change among the starters and that's because of the injury to starter Jake Godec.
Godec, a sophomore cornerback from Pittsburgh, will miss this week's game and will be replaced by junior Sherod Holmes of Stockton, Calif.
Holmes will be backed up by freshman Justin Reams of Miami, Fla., who was just switched to cornerback from tailback.
The Penguins also lost junior defensive back Pat Reece of Marion, for the season with a broken ankle.
mollica@vindy.com