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YSU loses 10-point lead, game to MSU
YSU loses 10-point lead, game to MSU
By JOE SCALZO
SPRINGFIELD, MO.
At the game’s biggest point, the best player on the field Saturday made the game’s biggest play.
Unfortunately for Youngstown State, he was on the other team.
Clinging to a three-point lead with a little more than four minutes remaining, Missouri State quarterback Cody Kirby faced a third-and-12 at the YSU 43. He rolled right, planted and fired a deep pass just as Penguins defensive lineman Torrance Nicholson delivered a big blow.
The ball lofted in the air and came down right in the arms of Bears receiver Jermaine Saffold, who was striding into the end zone with two steps on YSU’s secondary.
Touchdown. Ballgame.
“That’s what the good ones do,” said Nicholson following a 35-25 loss in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Plaster Field. “That’s what separates the good ones from the average ones.
“The average ones start running and get happy feet. He stayed in and kept at it and won them the game.”
That touchdown pass put the finishing touches on a dominating final three quarters for the Bears (2-2, 1-1), who rallied from a 17-0 first quarter deficit one week after falling to Illinois State in double overtime.
“It’s kind of one of those funny ones,” MSU coach Terry Allen said. “I don’t think we could have played any more poorly [in the first quarter]. Fortunately, we had a lot of perseverance from our football team.”
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Penguins (3-2, 1-1), who were coming off what could have been a program-defining win over Southern Illinois last week.
Now the Penguins are left to wonder what happened.
“We got humbled,” said running back Jamaine Cook, who had 167 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns. “We kind of beat ourselves.
“I think penalties killed us. We shot ourselves in the foot and that eventually determined the game.”
YSU committed nine penalties for 106 yards and also had two turnovers, both coming in a 90-second stretch late in the third quarter that turned the game.
After a MSU punt buried the Penguins at their own 2 with 3:37 left in the third, YSU’s redshirt freshman quarterback Kurt Hess fumbled the snap and the Bears’ Howard Scarborough recovered in the end zone to cut the deficit to 17-14.
Three YSU plays later, on a third-and-6, Hess was intercepted by MSU’s Adam Beauchamp, who returned it 40 yards for the touchdown to make it 21-17. MSU never trailed again.
“All the sudden we went from playing in a morgue to playing in a fired up Plaster Stadium,” Allen said.
After four solid games, Hess finally looked like a freshman, completing just 13 of 33 passes for 165 yards, two interceptions and two sacks.
At one point, the YSU offense went more than 26 minutes without a first down, stretching from the beginning of the second quarter to the end of the third.
“I think we got some pressure on him,” Allen said. “We were also changing up our defenses quite a bit and got them away from their rhythm.
“He’s a good player but he did look a little bit more like a freshman today.”
His counterpart, Kirby, looked like a senior all-conference player, completing 24 of 39 passes for 298 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.
“He’s a good football player,” YSU coach Eric Wolford said. “Heck, everybody knew it.
“He’s probably the best quarterback in the league. He stepped up today and made some big plays.”