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Penguins QB status remains mystery
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OOPS: Youngstown State quarterback Brandon Summers (6) spirals out of control against Liberty Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
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READY FOR START: Brandon Summers, a transfer from Toledo, will get the start at quarterback for Youngstown State against Central State in Saturday's game at Stambaugh Stadium.
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Brandon Summers
By Pete Mollica
Starter Brandon Summers suffered a knee in last Saturday’s game in Utah.
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock was happy to announce this week that junior quarterback Brandon Summers did not have a season-ending knee injury in last weekend’s loss at Southern Utah.
But Summers’ status for Saturday’s contest at Missouri State is questionable and a decision probably won’t be made until game time.
Summers, who had been improving at a rapid rate as the starting quarterback since the Penguins opened the season with back-to-back blowout losses, was injured early in the second quarter at Southern Utah. He had to be helped off the field and did not return. Tests taken earlier this week showed that he suffered a sprain.
The Penguins (2-4, 1-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) have six conference games remaining and can still win the championship by winning out.
That’s the only hope the Penguins have of qualifying for the FCS playoffs.
“Our guys know what’s at stake and what we need to do from here on out,” Heacock said.
“They [injuries] obviously affect your team, but at the same time you can’t sit around worrying about it,” Heacock said. “I’ve got to go with the group I’ve got and we’ve got a responsibility to those guys still there.”
Despite all the injuries to the defensive unit, the team has played well in the last two games.
“Those guys played like crazy out there last week,” Heacock said. “Our defense didn’t lose that game, turnovers and mistakes offensively cost us the game.”
The offense, operating behind Summers, played well in the first quarter. The Penguins scored on their first drive and were at the Southern Utah’s 5-yard line on their second drive before fumbling away the ball.
On their third drive, the Penguins were inside the Thunderbirds’ 20-yard line before an interception killed the drive.
Even with time running out at the end of the game and redshirt freshman Paul Corsaro at quarterback, the Penguins drove inside the Southern Utah 20, but Corsaro’s fourth-down pass just missed connecting for a touchdown.
“We’re spending every hour and every second of every day trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together,” Heacock said.
“We are going to have to play very well this week at Missouri State because we are on the road again,” he said. “It’s another long road trip. Last week it was 11 hours from the time we left Youngstown until we got to our hotel. This week it will probably be 10 hours.”
Heacock said there were 12 players who had made the September road trip to South Dakota State that did not make the trip to Southern Utah because of injuries.
“We hope to have a few of them back this week,” he said. “Jabari Scott, Nate Ward and Josh Myers are all expected to get some reps this week.”
Heacock said he has confidence in Corsaro if he’s needed to start against Missouri State.
“Paul got better as the game went on last week as he got more playing time. He still wasn’t pleased with the way the game ended,” Heacock said. “He’s different than Brandon, but he’s still very athletic. He was both all-conference in basketball and football in high school.”
The Penguins are giving freshman Dailyn Campbell, a quarterback from Kenton, some work this week. He will make the trip.
mollica@vindy.com