Penguins in pain after loss

Ouch, that one really hurt.

Yes, the Penguins didn’t do themselves any favors Saturday with their 27-22 loss to Illinois State, but it hasn’t totally ended their season.

The Penguins are 5-3, 1-2 in the Gateway Conference. If they are able to win out and finish the year 8-3, they would be eligible for the postseason.

The only problem is this — at 8-3 and with two losses in the Gateway, the Penguins probably are going to have to rely on the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision selection committee for an at-large berth into the playoffs.

We all know what has happened in the past when the Penguins have left their fate up to someone other then themselves.

Realistically, the Penguins have a monumental task ahead of them this weekend.

After narrowly beating winless Southern Utah two weeks ago and then getting beat up by a .500 Illinois State team, the Penguins can look forward to taking on undefeated and No. 1 ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday at Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the UNIDome.

UNIDome: Iowa’s
Temple of Doom

Nobody likes to play in the UNIDome because the Panthers rarely lose there. It’s kind of like the Penguins playing at Stambaugh Stadium where they just saw an eight-game winning streak snapped by the Redbirds.

The Penguins had won 20 of 21 straight at the Ice Castle. The only blemish before Saturday was against, who else, Northern Iowa.

YSU is 6-15 all-time against the Panthers and they’ve lost the last six meetings. They are 2-7 at the UNIDome and last won there in 1999 (29-20).

Then there is the fact that the Penguins are a pretty beat up football team. Even when you’re healthy, it’s never fun in the UNIDome.

The Penguins are playing without at least four starters. Three offensive linemen they’ve lost for the year while defensive end Blake Halverson may not be back on Saturday.

They have about a half dozen other starting players who are playing at less than 100 percent.

Just to mention a few would include both tight ends Louis Irizarry (hand) and Derrick Bush (shoulder/back); wide receiver Rory Berry (hamstring); defensive tackle Torrance Nicholson (ankle); and linebacker James Terry.

No quit surfacing
among senior leaders

Senior quarterback Tom Zetts is certainly not giving up on this season yet and he’s figuring on passing that message along to the rest of the Penguins this week.

“There won’t be any quit in me and I know the same goes for the guy sitting beside me [senior linebacker Jeremiah Wright],” Zetts said in the postgame press conference Saturday.

“This is something that’s not up to the coaches, this is all up to us,” Zetts said. “If it means spending more time in the film room or more time on the field, then that’s what’s going to be done.

“It was disappointing today, especially being homecoming and all of those Hall of Fame members coming back to town,” he said. “We’ve got to get the ball in the end zone and we didn’t do that today.

“I love Brian Palmer and he’s a great kicker, but we just can’t have him out there four of five times a game kicking field goals that we should have had touchdowns,” Zetts said.

Head coach Jon Heacock also said that he and the coaches have to do a better job with preparations over these next three weeks.

The Penguins will follow up Saturday’s game with Northern Iowa, which will kick off at 5:05 p.m., with another road trip against winless Indiana State on Nov. 3. The Penguins will finish the regular season at home on Nov. 10 against Western Illinois in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Stambaugh.

The Northern Iowa game will be televised over the Gateway Television network and WFMJ-TV Channel 21 will pick up the feed and carry the game locally.

No, the season’s not over, but if the Penguins want to continue playing past Nov. 10, they are going to have to come up with a lot better performance than they’ve put out the past two weeks.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.