Penguins look to rebound

As the Youngstown State football team waited on its charter plane following Saturday’s loss to Missouri State, one of the Southwest Airlines flight attendants got on the loud speaker and said, “None of us really liked Missouri State to begin with.”

It was a rare light moment on a very quiet plane ride home from Springfield. (Another one came minutes later when the flight attendant said, “If we could pretend to have your attention” just before the safety speech. You’ve gotta love Southwest.)

Missouri State was coming off a double overtime loss to Illinois State and the thought was if YSU could jump on the Bears early, the Penguins could roll.

Then they took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

Then the ceiling caved in.

YSU picked up a first down on the third play of the second quarter. It didn’t get another first down until 1:17 left in the third quarter, a span of more than 25 minutes. By then, the Penguins were trailing 21-17.

Some of the offensive problems were due to penalties, some to turnovers (including two in a 90-second span that resulted in MSU touchdowns) and some to the defense’s inability to get off the field. (The Bears had two 14-play drives in the second quarter alone.)

After the game, MSU coach Terry Allen said the team’s focus was on stopping YSU’s potent run game, which the Bears did for the most part. Jamaine Cook rushed for 167 yards, but 71 of those came on one run. Take away that play and the Penguins averaged just 2.5 yards per carry on their other 38 rushing attempts.

The Bears also did a good job disguising coverages and confusing YSU freshman QB Kurt Hess, who, for the first time all year, looked flustered. This might be one of those games that speeds Hess’ development — it’s a safe bet he’ll spend a lot of time in the film room this week — but it wasn’t much fun in the meantime.

Hess didn’t get much help from his receivers, either, as several of them dropped passes or committed costly holding penalties on outside runs. (Senior WR Dominique Barnes, arguably the Penguins’ best player, was practically invisible, catching one meaningless pass on YSU’s final drive.)

YSU coach Eric Wolford made a switch on the line, moving Chris Gammon in at right tackle in the second half and hinted after the game there may be more depth chart changes on the way.

The Penguins also missed senior safety Andre Elliott, who was out with a shoulder stinger. Safeties Donald D’Alesio (a true freshman who led the team with 11 tackles and forced a fumble) and Will Shaw (a sophomore transfer who was third with eight tackles) filled in well, but it would be nice not have to rely so heavily on newcomers. (And it’s never a good sign when your leading tacklers are safeties.)

Ultimately, the Penguins aren’t yet talented enough to play poorly and win. But they’re good enough to contend for a league title in what appears to be a wide-open Missouri Valley Football Conference. Only two of the nine teams are still unbeaten and one of them, Western Illinois, lost its final 10 games last year.

“What a league,” said conference commissioner Patty Viverito, as she hugged Allen after Saturday’s game. “Has it ever been this wide open?”

If it has, it’s been awhile. And don’t think Wolford doesn’t know it.

After Saturday’s game, as he was going through airport security, someone told Wolford, “Well, you can’t do it all in one year.”

He smiled.

“We’re gonna try,” he said.

Final thoughts

I had the pleasure of sitting next to former YSU athletic director Joe Malmisur for the first time on Saturday and, man, that guy is a trip. He lives and dies with every play.

My favorite moment came when Missouri State’s center snapped the ball past QB Cody Kirby, resulting in a 16-yard loss.

“I like that play,” Malmisur said. “I hope they run that again.”

Former YSU radio analyst Dick Hartzell was famous for bringing a stopwatch to games so he could measure a punter’s hang time. Turns out, he also brought the stopwatch on planes to make sure it took off between 28 and 32 seconds.

(Apparently if it takes much longer, you’re in deep, deep trouble.)

I spent three months as an intern at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2001, but I sometimes forget how southern Missouri can be, particularly cities like Springfield, which is only an hour north of Arkansas.

It’s the state’s third-biggest city, but you still see 35-year-olds named Mildred and hear people ordering soda (instead of pop) with hillbilly accents while you’re drinking “Ozarka” brand bottled water.

And while I knew spelunking was big in Missouri, I hadn’t heard of “mudding,” which is when you go so far in the cavern that mud is up to your neck.

Unless you’ve been drinking too much Ozarka, you’ll probably skip mudding. But if you’re ever in Springfield, visit the world famous Andy’s Frozen Custard. It’s like eating Handel’s, but with a silky texture.

Joe Scalzo covers YSU football for The Vindicator. E-mail him at scalzo@vindy.com.