YSU must find ways to win

The Youngstown State football team doesn't want to hear that it is one of the best 2-6 teams in I-AA.
The Penguins are 0-4 in the Gateway Conference. Despite the fact that they've held the lead in six contests in the fourth quarter, they are still going to have their second straight losing season.
With three games remaining, two of them on the road, there is no guarantee the Penguins will win again this season, considering the way they find ways to lose.
Special teams to blamein Saturday's road loss
Saturday afternoon in Normal, Ill., the Penguins played well enough to win on offense and defense, but this time it was the special teams that let them down and helped Illinois State to a come-from-behind 30-24 victory.
It was bad enough to have the opening kickoff run back 97 yards for a touchdown, but that was early enough to allow the Penguins to come back and they did, but the 52-yard punt return for a touchdown was the real back breaker against the Redbirds.
But it wasn't just on the two returns that the special teams play was lacking.
Seven times the Penguins were back to receive kickoffs in the contest. One was kicked out of the end zone; on one the YSU returner fell down while catching the ball; and on three others the Penguins either bobbled or fumbled the kick.
Four times the Penguins failed to get past the 20-yard line, and of the seven only one got to the 26 -- not great field position.
The Redbirds only had to punt three times, not counting the one time the ball was snapped over the punter's head. The Penguins elected not to field two of those punts and they both rolled dead at the 1-yard line. The third time was on the final play of the game and it didn't matter.
YSU sophomore punter Joe Bishop is one of the best in the conference, but he didn't have his best game against the Redbirds.
He averaged 32.2 on six kicks, well below his average, but he had a 12-yarder and a 23-yarder, which didn't help. His best punt, a 49-yarder from deep in his own end zone, was returned 52 yards for a touchdown.
Examining Zettsand the offense
YSU redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Zetts had a good game, hitting 14-of-28 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked just once. He did throw an interception in the fourth quarter trying to force the ball over the middle to a well-covered receiver.
On that same play sophomore tight end Max King was wide open on the left. Zetts said that he never saw King on the play.
"Those are the type of mistakes a young quarterback like Tom is going to make," YSU offensive coordinator John Klacik said.
Junior tailback Josh Cayson had a tremendous game, rushing for 146 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown, and single-handedly carried the Penguins on their 80-yard touchdown drive to take the lead at 24-20 near the end of the third period.
Cayson carried the ball every down, eight times, and gained all 80 yards in the drive, but he did it behind a young line that was blowing the Redbirds right off the ball.
"I told our line after that drive that that's what they should be doing all the time," Klacik said.
Defense bendsbut doesn't break
The defense, although it was bent at times during the game, never really broke down. The Redbirds had only one good touchdown drive; three other times the Penguins held them down in the red zone, allowing just three field goals.
The Redbirds came into the game averaging 444 yards per game on offense, best in the Gateway. YSU held them to 363, although the Penguins did have trouble stopping junior tailback Brian Thompson, a transfer from Iowa State, who had a career-high 222 yards on 37 carries. Still, he didn't score.
Saturday, the Penguins return home to play Indiana State at 4 p.m. The contest will also be the final home game for the 13 seniors on the roster and hopefully YSU fans will turn out to honor them.
XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.