Mollica: Penguis emphasize fitness

Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock has placed a lot of emphasis this fall on conditioning, putting the team through a lot of running drills to help get them into shape.

And he has been doing it all for some very good reasons.

The Penguins are employing a no-huddle offense this season, which is probably reason number one for the extra conditioning. They need to get on and off the field quickly and to the ball quickly this fall.

“It is really not all that new to us since we’ve been doing it now for a while, but now it will be every down and they’ve worked on it very hard since spring, especially hard over the summer,” Heacock said.

The Penguins also will be using a new offense, a spread formation.

“It is not a power offense like we’ve used in the past, but you will still see a lot of the same plays run off of it,” he added.

Heacock said the decision to go to the spread was because of the quarterbacks he now has to run it.

“We also don’t have that big power back,” he said.

“It is the toughest offense to defend against, because we have the last option from the no-huddle and our quarterbacks get a good long look at the defense,” added Heacock.

Another reason Heacock has stepped up the conditioning is because of the NCAA’s new rule on the game play clock.

The new rule is similar to the NFL’s. At the end of every play the 40 second clock will start. The old college rules featured a 25-second clock, which did not start until the officials marked the ball ready for play. This year only on a change of possession will the 25-second clock be in use.

Dr. Larry Glass, a long time college official who now is an official observer for the Missouri Valley Conference, said the new clock rule will definitely speed up the game.

“In the last two minutes of each half the 40-second clock will be in operation and as soon as a play ends the clock will start,” he said. “Even on an incomplete pass or when the ball goes out of bounds, the clock will start when the ball is marked ready for play.”

“This is going to mean that teams are really going to have to save their timeouts at the end of each half, because if the game clock is running, teams will have 40 seconds to get off the play.”

“You are definitely going to have to have a good handle on the clock in the last two minutes,” said Heacock. “If you are behind and can’t get the clocked stopped you will be in serious trouble.”

This year the NCAA has made a couple of other rule changes.

If a kickoff goes out of bounds, the receiving team will have the option of taking the ball on its own 40-yard line. The previous rule gave the offense the ball at the 35.

The incidental 5-yard face mask penalty has been eliminated. Only the 15-yard face-mask penalty will be called.

A “horse collar” tackle, where the defender grabs inside the back collar of the shoulder pads to pull the runner down, will now be a 15-yard personal foul.

Also there will no longer be warnings for players and coaches who crowd onto the field during the game. The official may assess a 5-yard penalty without warning for the infraction. And after the third infraction it becomes a 15-yard penalty.

Following Saturday’s jersey scrimmage, which was again won by the defense in a close (46-45) outcome, Heacock and his staff began evaluating the films.

“We have to start narrowing things down now and see who is to be getting the reps as we get closer to the opening game,” Heacock said. “These next two weeks we’ll see who will be playing and who won’t.

Quarterback is still the key issue. Junior Todd Rowan has missed a lot of practice with a leg injury, but neither junior transfer Brandon Summers or redshirt freshman Paul Corsaro have really done that much to unseat the former LaBrae High standout.

If Rowan can’t go in the opener, it will probably be Summers who gets the call. He’s seen the most action in practice and has the ability to both run and pass with the new spread offense.

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