Penguins' outlook is bleak

The good news is that Youngstown State still has five more football games this season. The bad news is that the Penguins may not win any of them if they continue to play like they did Saturday night.
YSU came out like they were really ready to take on the No. 1 ranked team in I-AA -- Southern Illinois.
They stuffed the Salukis on their first drive and then took the ball and drove right down the field to the SIU 7. Then the snake bit again and the Penguins threw an interception that was returned for 95 yards and a touchdown, and for the most part the game was over.
Everybody -- the Penguins, coaches and fans -- just seemed to wilt. There was no life on the field the rest of the way as Southern Illinois just went on to lead 30-0 at halftime and then 37-2 as the final.
I heard someone mention as I was leaving the stadium that this loss put a damper on the Penguins' chances in the Gateway Conference.
Forget about the Gateway; this loss might have put a damper on the Penguins winning another game this year.
Three of remaining five games on the road
YSU has five games remaining, three of them are on the road and none of them will be easy pickings.
They've got Northern Iowa coming to town on Saturday, and the Panthers (1-4, 0-2) probably will be the closest thing to an easy game the Penguins will have from here on out.
But then take into fact that the Penguins have lost six of the last eight games they have played against the Panthers, including all three previous meetings since Jon Heacock has been coach.
Heacock said Saturday night that he and his staff didn't do a very good job of preparing the Penguins for Southern Illinois.
Maybe they didn't, but no one will ever know what might have happened if Tom Zetts' pass to Phil Larmon had been completed on that crucial third down play in the opening quarter, and the Penguins had gone on to score.
I'm not putting all the blame on the coaches. They can only coach, they can't go out on the field and perform for their players.
Maybe the Penguins aren't as good as I thought they would be. It's been disappointing, but just where the blame really lies is unknown.
Some people feel that Zetts has been a disappointment, and if he were a junior or a senior I'd agree, but he's only a freshman playing in his first college season.
And the truth is he's not getting a lot of help.
Pass protectionamong offensive woes
Saturday night, even from the shotgun, Zetts was running for his life every time he went back to pass. He was sacked three times, once for a safety, was forced to run on four other occasions and hurried countless times.
Add to that the fact that the Penguins were taken completely out of their game plan, forced to throw on almost every down.
Even when they tried to run the ball, they were ineffective, although playing without No. 1 tailback Monquantae Gibson certainly doesn't help.
The receivers are good ones, but they can't catch what isn't thrown to them, and with Zetts fighting for his life behind the line,too many passes fell incomplete.
The defense is the scary part of this whole situation, or more appropriately, the lack of defense.
In the last three games, the YSU defense has allowed 1,328 yards by the opposition. That's an average of 442 yards per game -- and they won one of those games.
Big plays by the opposition have hurt, especially Saturday night when the Salukis scored on plays of 57, 47 and 49 yards.
When the Penguins don't blitz, there is no pass rush, and when they do blitz it leaves too many receivers wide open.
There are still five games remaining and a chance to finish with a respectable record, but it won't be easy.
XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.