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YSU’s defense doesn’t rest
Youngstown State vs. Valparaiso
Gallery
The Youngstown State offense had a record-setting performance on Saturday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium as the Penguins defeated Valparaiso 77-13 in the 2011 home opener.
But the Penguins will get a big test against Illinois State this weekend
By Joe Scalzo
Youngstown
Midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against Valparaiso, YSU freshman linebacker Davion Rogers — all 6-foot-6, 215 pounds of him — ran down the field on kickoff coverage, where he eventually came across one of the Crusader blockers.
He shoved him over. Barely broke stride.
Then he saw another one. Shoved him over, too.
Then he saw kick returner Andrew Cassara, squared up, enveloped him and threw him to the ground.
When asked about it afterward, Rogers started grinning.
“Oh yeah, that’s every play,” said Rogers, a Warren Harding High graduate who is one of the team’s starting linebackers. “Didn’t matter if it’s the first quarter, fourth quarter, I’m going to come down fast and I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to make plays.”
While the Penguin offense has grabbed most of the headlines this season — beating a team 77-13 will do that — the more important story has been the performance of YSU’s defense and special teams.
After giving up 30 or more points in their final seven games last year, the Penguins have been much stouter through two games this fall, holding a powerful Michigan State offense to 28 points in the opener and holding Valparaiso to two first downs in its first seven possessions.
And outside of a blocked extra point and missed field goal in the opener, they’ve been strong on special teams, particularly kick and punt coverage.
“We’ve got a lot of great players this year,” said Rogers, who originally signed with Michigan out of high school. “And we’re still young, which shows we’re going to be a great team in the years to come.”
Question is, are the Penguins a good team now? Saturday’s Missouri Valley opener against Illinois State will help answer that.
The Redbirds handed YSU its most gut-wrenching loss last season — no small feat, by the way — when QB Matt Brown completed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tyron Walker with 0.7 seconds remaining for the 41-39 victory. Both players are back this year and the Redbirds (1-1) are coming off a 52-21 pasting of Morehead State.
YSU is 10-10 all-time against Illinois State and Saturday’s game, and the following week’s road contest against Indiana State, should be a good barometer of whether the Penguins are capable of competing for a playoff spot, or if the growing pains will continue.
“Even though we do have a lot of youth, they understand what the expectations are,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford, whose goal is to go 6-0 at home this year. “They understand how we’re expected to play.”
Sophomore RB Adaris Bellamy said the team has embraced those expectations.
“Our goal is to go undefeated every week,” he said. “We want to get the Penguins back on top, like everyone knows we should be and like everyone knows the Penguins used to play.”