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Penguins flop in Indiana
By Joe scalzo
Terre Haute, Ind.
Offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery gathered a group of about 20 players just outside the locker room following Saturday’s 37-35 loss at Indiana State, thanking them for staying together after a rough start.
A few feet away, sophomore running back Jordan Thompson sat on the ground with his shoulder wrapped in ice and his back against the fence.
He was hurt. Everyone else was just hurting.
The No. 24-ranked Penguins (2-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley) took a surprising — and disappointing — step backward on Saturday, falling behind 21-0 before gaining a first down.
The loss — the Penguins’ first at Indiana State in 12 career meetings — puts them in the same position they were in last season, when the good vibes of a home-opening conference victory was crushed by a combination of bad fourth-quarter collapses and ... worse fourth-quarter collapses.
Saturday’s game played out the opposite way. But the result was the same.
“I think this game is gonna be a game where we really find out what our team is all about,” said Penguins coach Eric Wolford, who fell to 0-7 on the road in his two seasons. “I told them at halftime, ‘We’re gonna find out what you guys have got in the tank.’
“They came back and battled and that was encouraging,” Wolford said. “Hopefully we can look back on this game later in the season and say we learned a little bit about alignment, assignment and technique. The fundamentals of football.”
The Penguins dominated the second half, holding Indiana State to one field goal while putting a major scare into the announced crowd of 6,523.
Sophomore quarterback Kurt Hess, who did a masterful job sidestepping pressure and keeping plays alive against ISU’s relentless pressure, led the Penguins on a 12-play, 70-yard drive in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, hitting wide receiver Jelani Berassa on a 4-yard TD pass with 1:21 that cut the deficit to two.
YSU had three timeouts left at that point but opted to attempt an onside kick, not wanting to put the ball back in the hands of Sycamores running back Shakir Bell, who gashed them for a school-record 256 yards on 21 carries with four touchdowns.
But the Penguins never had a chance as kicker David Brown’s attempt went less than the required 10 yards before rolling out of bounds.
“After that sluggish start, it was hard to come back but I kept reminding the team, ‘Keep grinding, keep fighting,’” said Hess, who finished 25 of 41 for 224 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. “We gave them a scare.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted but I’m proud of the way the guys stuck together.”
Bell did most of his damage in the first half, running 10 times for 215 yards and scoring on TD runs of 62, 39, 61 and 51 yards. The win was Indiana State’s first over a ranked team since 1994. It was also gave the Sycamores their first back-to-back victories over the Penguins in school history.
“One of the things we talk about is, Don’t believe the hype,” said Indiana State coach Trent Miles, whose team improved to 3-1, 1-0 and should put the Sycamores in the Top 25 for the first time since U.S. presidents were wearing powdered wigs. “When they tell us we’re great, we don’t believe it and when they tell us we’re horrible, we don’t believe it.
“We know what we are.”
Question is, does YSU? The Penguins have two weeks before their next game to find out.
And if their defense doesn’t improve, they might not like the answer.