Senior Mellott likes YSU’s offensive line

The Austintown native will lead a veteran and deep offensive line in today’s jersey scrimmage at Stambaugh Stadium.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State’s first jersey scrimmage of fall football camp is this morning at Stambaugh Stadium and nobody is more excited about it than senior offensive guard Brian Mellott.

Mellott (6-foot-3, 280-pounds), an Austintown native, is in his fourth season with the Penguins since he transferred to YSU from Ohio University.

After spending one season with the YSU defense, Mellott has moved back to offense where he’s been as standout, seeing action at guard, center and even some tight end. He’s back at a starting guard position this season and will head up a veteran line that also has some of the best depth in years.

“This offensive line has the potential to be very good,” Mellott said. “We are really starting to come together right now and with 14 linemen in the mix this is probably the best depth the team has had since 2006 and that year I was on defense.

“Every year is different, but this year we’ve got the luxury of moving guys around to find the right combinations and It’s going to make a big impact on the team,” he added.

Mellott said the team definitely has something to prove this year, especially after last year’s disappointing 4-8 season.

“I had the opportunity to talk to the team the other night and one thing that I talked about was the four national championship flags that fly over the stadium,” he said. “We really had nothing to do with those flags and we still have to learn what its all about, playing for a national championship.”

Mellott said a lot of talk this year has been about the offense and how it must carry the team.

“But I was talking to Mychal Savage the other day and I told him that I think the defense is going to be the backbone of this team,” Mellott said. “Our defensive line, with him leading the way, is going to be great and I think we have three of the most talented linebackers that we’ve ever had and the secondary is really coming on strong.

“Because there is so much talent and depth on both sides of the ball, we are both going to gain valuable experience as we go against one another this fall in workouts,” he said. “We’ll learn from them and they’ll learn from us and hopefully we’ll become a better football team.”

Mellott said the whole team has gained more confidence just by having Savage back in the lineup.

Mellott was recruited by Ohio out of Fitch High School and was redshirted his first season.

He decided to come to Youngstown State and in 2006 when he took the field for the Penguins it was as a defensive lineman, where he played in seven games as a backup.

He moved over to offense in 2007 and played all 11 games, starting nine, including seven at center. Last year he played in all 12 games, starting two, one at guard and one at tight end.

Off the field Mellott has also been a standout as he’s carried a 4.0 grade point average almost his entire career and has twice been named the Gateway Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award. In 2006 and 2007 he was a first-team Academic All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection.

He was a first-team Division I All-Ohio selection his senior season at Fitch and was named Mack Truck Lineman of the Year. He played in the Ohio North-South All-Star Classic and was captain of the Ohio team in the Big 33 Game.

But today Mellott will try to help his offense keep the red practice jerseys for at least another week when the first of three jersey scrimmages is held.

“We’ve noticed there are three jersey scrimmages this fall, probably the first time that’s happened in a while, but Coach [Jon] Heacock has taken over the defense and we figure he’s just trying to give his side a better chance to get those jerseys back.

“But we all feel that today’s scrimmage is the main one and that’s the one we’re going after,” Mellott said.

mollica@vindy.com