Yellow fever: YSU needs to cut down on penalties

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YSU head coach Jon Heacock

In their first two games, the Penguins have had 19 penalties totaling 180 yards called against them.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — One thing Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock would like to see happen this week is for his Penguins to cut down on the number of penalties they have been accumulating this year.

Saturday Heacock and the Penguins will make their second road appearance when they travel to take on Northeastern University in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Parsons Field in Brookline, Mass.

In the team’s first two games there have been 19 penalties totaling 180 yards called against the Penguins. Last week in the 38-21 win over Austin Peay at Stambaugh Stadium in the home opener the Penguins were flagged 10 times for 110 yards.

“There have definitely been too many,” Heacock said. “And we have addressed the foolish and selfish ones.”

But Heacock said he sees a trend from the officials who are calling things much closer this season.

“We knew there was a movement on early on in camp when we had officials come in and talk to our kids about rule changes and such,” he added.

“We watch a lot of film and we get many game statistical reports from a lot of games and you can just see that there have been many more penalties called already this season,” he said.

This week’s opponent, Northeastern, has been flagged for 17 penalties and 184 yards in its first two games, including 10 for 117 yards last week in a 17-7 loss to Maine.

“We saw the films on Northern Iowa’s game last week and there were a ton of penalties called in that contest,” Heacock added. “It’s a trend that is going to continue and we have to be aware of it. It’s not something that I object to, but is something that we have to address as a team.”

“Last week Northeastern had a crucial drive stalled with three consecutive holding penalties,” he added. “Those are the things that you have to avoid.

YSU senior offensive guard Brian Mellott, a three-year veteran from Austintown, said he hasn’t noticed a big difference.

“On the offensive line there are things that you have to do, and one of them is to keep your feet moving at all times,” he said. “Usually when you don’t is when you get that call for holding.”

Mellott, who has had a few calls go against him this year, said basically he just has to go out and do his job and if he gets called, he gets called.

Heacock said that he’s not overly concerned with some of the penalties.

“It’s the undisciplined ones that bother me the most,” he said. “You have to remember that we led the Missouri Valley Football Conference in having the fewest penalties called against us last season and we finished 4-8.”

mollica@vindy.com