What-ifs something to ponder

If there is one thing that really irritates me, it is when people start talking about “what if.”

And here I am writing a column about just that.

Youngstown State’s football season to date has been just about all “what if” and there is not much the Penguins are able to do about it.

Saturday’s 42-28 loss to Missouri State brought an end to whatever postseason playoff hopes the Penguins held. Yes, you’re right, the Penguins aren’t mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but they no longer control their own destiny.

With a 2-5 season record, the Penguins cannot qualify for an at-large bid into the playoffs. Even a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference wouldn’t get them in with their record.

Their only chance would be to get a lot of help from the other teams in the conference and somehow luck out and win the title. Those chances are slim and none, especially with the physical condition the Penguins are currently in and considering the remaining conference games, which includes three of the league’s top teams still to play.

Missouri State game play disappointing

Missouri State was predicted to finish among the league’s bottom three teams and they probably still will, although the Penguins could just be right down there with them.

Now the what ifs begin.

There is no doubt that the Penguins, the way they performed, would have started out the season 0-2 no matter who they had or didn’t have in the lineup. The loss to Ohio State in the opener was expected; the loss to South Dakota State wasn’t. It was the Penguins’ worst performance of the year to date.

The win over North Dakota State was surprising, but it showed that the Penguins did have the potential to be a contender in the conference if the injuries would have stopped then. But they didn’t.

YSU’s past three games were all against teams that the Penguins should have defeated. Liberty at home was a game that the offense played well enough to win, but the defense didn’t.

Then there was the trip to Southern Utah and the defense, even though it was greatly patched up, played well enough to win. But the offense, losing its starting quarterback in the second quarter, couldn’t pick up the pieces and that game turned into a defeat.

Saturday, the offense rebounded behind a true freshman quarterback in Dailyn Campbell and produced 28 points, which should have been enough to beat a team like Missouri State in most years.

But the defense just wasn’t there and the Bears rolled right through them for the victory.

Season’s problems started at quarterback

The entire season has been a nightmare for head coach Jon Heacock, now in his eighth season.

His original starting quarterback, Todd Rowan, quit the team after being benched following the first two losses.

Junior Brandon Summers came in and started to spark the offense until he went down with an injury against Southern Utah.

Redshirt freshman Paul Corsaro came on in relief of Summers and did an adequate job and almost pulled out the game at the end in Utah.

Corsaro became the team’s third starter at quarterback this year at Missouri State, but the Indianapolis native didn’t get much going early and the Penguins switched to senior wide receiver Ferlando Williams.

Williams’ problem is that every opponent knows when he’s in the game the Penguins are going to run and he went out after one series on Saturday.

Then came the freshman and on his first snap he reeled off a 24-yard run. He didn’t get them much farther, but on his next two series he led the team to touchdowns.

Granted most of the offense was the running game and the defense did help out somewhat, forcing a turnover that got the ball back to set up the first score.

That touchdown came on a lucky fumble by junior Jabari Scott, his first career fumble. Scott fumbled at the 5 yard line and sophomore Eric Rodemoyer recovered at the 1.

Campbell even scored his first career touchdown late in the quarter, but it all came down to the defense. At the start of the third quarter, The Penguins allowed the Bears to drive right down the field for a score.

Then they allowed two more on the Bears’ next two series and Penguins were back in a huge hole, never to get out it.

This Saturday, the Penguins are back at home, but face one of the league’s top teams in Southern Illinois in a 4 p.m. kickoff.

If Summers still can’t play, Campbell could be the fourth quarterback to start a game this season against the Salukis and that’s never happened before in all of YSU’s football history.

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