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Penguins still learning to play with lead
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State football team has become the equivalent of a baseball team with a bad bullpen.
Over the past three weeks, the Penguins have coughed up leads of 17 points (against Missouri State) and 10 points (against North Dakota State and Western Illinois).
They lost all three, giving up more than 400 yards in all of them.
“We just gotta keep working; that’s all we can do,” said senior defensive tackle Torrance Nicholson, one of four team captains. “Nobody on this team is gonna quit. It starts with the leadership, it starts with the captains.
“We’re not going to let anybody quit on this team.”
Nicholson was one of the few defensive bright spots on Saturday, recording 31/2 tackles for loss — best on the team this season — to go with eight total tackles in a 40-38 loss to Western Illinois. The Penguins gave up 480 yards in just 24 minutes and allowed the Leathernecks to drive 80 yards in 80 seconds for the game-winning touchdown with a minute left.
YSU held the ball for nine minutes and 55 seconds of the fourth quarter and still gave up two touchdowns.
“It comes down to a little play here or there,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford, whose team has been outscored 67-35 in the second half over the past three weeks. “They say six or seven plays determine a game.
“This team is gonna win. We’re close. We’ve just got to learn how to finish games.”
After what seemed like a program-changing win over Southern Illinois in Week 4, YSU has shown its youth.
The Penguins entered Saturday’s game having played 13 true freshmen, 16 first-time starters and 19 first-time players. Considering they’ve suffered just one major injury since the season started — a shoulder stinger to safety Andre Elliott — those numbers are pretty high.
The youth movement could pay off in the long run — especially at quarterback, where redshirt freshman Kurt Hess has been terrific — but things could get even more painful in the short term.
The Penguins (3-4, 1-3) have four more games, all against Missouri Valley Football Conference foes, and probably have nothing to play for outside of pride.
“We’ve still got four more games left and we’ve got to make the most of them,” said Nicholson, one of seven seniors who started Saturday. “There’s still an outside chance of doing what we need to do.
“We’ve got to come back ready to go.”