SDSU better than record might show

By Joe Scalzo | October 6, 2011 at 12:09a.m.

— college football —

YOUNGSTOWN

There’s a temptation for Youngstown State fans this week to look at South Dakota State’s 1-4 record, give YSU a win and start thinking, “Now, what if the Penguins can steal one at Southern Illinois next week?”

That’s a trap, YSU coach Eric Wolford said.

“Don’t be misled by their record, by no means,” Wolford said. “Coach [John] Stiegelmeier is a fox.”

The Jackrabbits have lost four straight, including back-to-back conference losses to Illinois State and Indiana State, but that’s nothing new. South Dakota State started 0-4 last year and won five of its last seven, including a convincing 30-20 home victory over YSU.

In fact, SDSU has been below .500 after five games in five of the past six seasons, only to finish the year above .500 in all but one of them (2010).

“I felt like South Dakota State physically outmatched us,” said Wolford, who considers it the one game from last season where his team was thoroughly beaten. “That’s very difficult to say but that’s the truth of the matter.”

But even Stiegelmeier admits this year feels different.

“We’re down, the football team’s down,” he said. “You can’t take young men that work hard and are committed to lofty goals and not have that [hurt] your spirit.

“Hopefully it’s not permanent.”

The Jackrabbits’ woes are easy to explain. They’re near the bottom of the conference in almost every statistical category, due to an inability to run the ball (last at 76 yards per game), defend the run (213 per game, which is seventh) or take care of the ball (a conference-worst minus-6 turnover margin).

Making things worse, third-year starting quarterback Thomas O’Brien quit the team two weeks ago, leaving a redshirt freshman, Austin Sumner, behind center. Sumner is averaging about 250 yards passing the past two weeks but hasn’t gotten much help from the run game, where the Jackrabbits are averaging just 2.3 yards per carry.

“Their quarterback is more mobile than the starter that quit,” said YSU defensive tackle Aronde Stanton. “As a team, they’re good. Their effort is tremendous. They run to the ball and all the games they lost were to quality opponents and they fought hard to the finish.”

Defensively, SDSU’s strength is at linebacker, where it has three returning starters, including the team’s two leading tacklers: Mike Lien (42) and Dirk Kool (38). Defensive end Andy Mink has also played well, ranking third on the team in tackles (36).

South Dakota State leads the all-time series 7-5 and has won all three Missouri Valley games against YSU since joining the league in 2008. But that streak is in jeopardy this weekend as Youngstown State finally matches up well physically with the traditionally big Jackrabbits and holds a big edge athletically.

“The biggest challenge for us is just trying to play some good football and against a good opponent like Youngstown, it becomes an even tougher challenge,” Stiegelmeier said. “We continue to preach that you choose your attitude and you choose your effort. If there’s a cloud over you, look beyond it.

“If we start on the game on the right foot, we’ve got a chance.”