GATEWAY CONFERENCE Penguins nursing injuries for Saturday

Youngstown State visits No. 6-ranked Western Kentucky.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State goes into its Gateway Conference season opener Saturday not in the best physical condition.
The Penguins meet No. 6-ranked Western Kentucky Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Zetts took a pretty good pounding last Saturday in the Penguins' 27-17 win over Liberty and was pretty sore this week, but will start against the Hilltoppers.
The same could be said for sophomore tailback Monquantae Gibson, who has had three straight 100-plus yard rushing games.
Jewell out
The Penguins will be without sophomore starting center Ryan Jewell, who sustained a shoulder injury on the first series of last week's game.
Jewell's injury is not as serious as first thought and he may be ready to return when the Penguins play host to No. 1-ranked Southern Illinois on Oct. 9.
Sophomore John Foster will start in Jewell's place on Saturday, with starting guard Tony Limongi listed as the backup center.
Also missing from Saturday's lineup will be sophomore fullback Demetrius Ison, who was injured two weeks ago against McNeese State. Sophomore Regis Edgerson has been moved to fullback and will start there Saturday.
Nick Forro, a junior, will be the backup fullback, although this week the Penguins had moved linebacker Seth Job over to get some work at fullback.
Must play better
YSU coach Jon Heacock knows that his team must play a lot better the next seven weeks against the Gateway opponents.
"We're doing a lot of good things," Heacock said. "We've made progress; now we have to prove on Saturday that we're ready. I think we are ready."
Heacock praised the play of Gibson and of Foster last week.
"Monquantae's on a roll right now," Heacock said. "He's done a great job and he's a good football player.
"Saturday's performance was a tribute to Foster's character," he added. "He got one-the-job training last week."
Heacock also praised his special teams for their recent play, which has included three blocked field goals.
"We work hard on those things all week long in practice," he added. "The only way you can explain it is that it takes a special effort by those teams."
Defense struggles
One thing that must improve is the Penguins' defense, which gave up over 400 yards against Liberty.
"They [Liberty] had three plays that netted over 100 yards, you take those away and it wasn't all that bad," Heacock said.
Heacock knows the Penguins have their work cut out for them Saturday.
"Western Kentucky is a heavy play-action football team and most of their big plays come off play-action passes," he said.
"They lead the nation with a plus-12 turnover margin and they have two of the best linebackers in the conference. They are playing very well and I don't know if last week's cancellation will help or hurt them," he said.
"Physically it will help them because it gives them another week to heal," he said.
Saturday's contest will be televised live by WFMJ-TV (21) and as always will be broadcast live by WNIO-AM (1390) and WBBG-FM (106.1).
mollica@vindy.com