More questions than answers regarding Penguins’ defense

By Pete Mollica

YSU enters Saturday’s game on a six-game losing streak, while Indiana State has dropped its last 23 games.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State head football coach Jon Heacock is trying to put last week’s 54-44 loss to Illinois State out of his mind going into Saturday’s home finale against winless Indiana State.

Heacock can’t figure out what went wrong with his defense that allowed more than 500 yards to the Redbirds and dropped them to 2-8 on the season, 1-5 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

“It was very disappointing,” said Heacock whose Penguins have lost six straight games. “I really can’t explain it. We just didn’t play very well defensively.”

Heacock said that although the Penguins hadn’t seen much of Illinois State tailback Walter Mendenhall on film, there was no excuse for allowing him to run for a career-high 225 yards.

“We really hadn’t seen much of him on film, but we knew he was a Division I transfer so he had to be pretty good,” the eighth-year head coach said.

Heacock said the Penguins did do some things well on offense.

“I was disappointed with the turnovers, but we only gave up one sack and there were some good things there,” Heacock said.

He also felt that junior quarterback Brandon Summers showed that being back in the lineup for the second straight week enabled him to become more comfortable in the position.

“Getting back the week before really helped him against Illinois State,” Heacock said.

Summers tied a school record with four touchdown passes against the Redbirds and finished with 347 yards through the air, fourth best single game performance in school history, but he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

This has been senior week for the Penguins, with 16 players taking part in the final home game at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Thursday, they took part in “Senior Tackle Day.” They will be honored in a pregame ceremony with their families.

The struggling Penguins are hoping to snap the second-longest single season losing streak in YSU history. The Sycamores have been going though similar problems for more than three seasons.

Indiana State (0-9, 0-5) hasn’t won since the 2006 season and holds the nation’s longest losing streak (23 games).

“We’ve watched them on film and you can see that they got better each week,” Heacock said.

“The key for us is how hard we prepare for the game. The focus this week has been on our seniors, but we still have to remain focused on Indiana State.

“Every day, I question myself as to, Are we doing enough to get ready?” Heacock said. “Our practices have been good and it all comes down to preparation during the week.”

Heacock and his staff have made some adjustments in the offense line, moving senior center Brad Samsa over to right guard. Sophomore Justin Rechichar will take over at center.

Samsa and senior tackle Tyler Booth are the only two offensive players who have started every game this season. Junior defensive lineman Crispin Fernandez is the only defensive player to start every game.

Following Saturday’s conference battle with Indiana State, the Penguins will have an open week before finishing the year on the road at Western Illinois on Nov. 22.

“We’ll probably spend a lot of time that week just getting some people healthy again,” Heacock said.

mollica@vindy.com