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ysu football | News and notes
Making the jump: Appalachian State and Georgia Southern will reportedly leave the Southern Conference for the Sun Belt Conference, becoming the latest FCS programs to make the jump to the FBS. “I think it’s great for those guys to have that opportunity,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford, who coached in the Sun Belt at North Texas. “I think that’s a good conference for them.” YSU attempted to join the Mid-American Conference in the 1990s but has not tried to leave the FCS since. When asked if he thought the Penguins could move up, Wolford said, “You know what? I honestly don’t know. I think at times there’s probably some interest and sometimes probably not. The biggest question is whether you could economically do it. It’s a whole different ballgame [at that level]. They’ve got 85 scholarships [compared to 63 for the FCS] and there’s a lot of things that come with it. I know the travel couldn’t be any worse than we have it [in the Missouri Valley]. But we play in a good conference right now that’s well-respected and we embrace that.”
Big family: Kyle Bryant has four brothers (he’s the second-youngest) and the oldest stands 6-foot-8, 380 pounds. His father, Charles, is 6-5 and weighs close to 350 pounds, but his mother, Michelle, is only about 5-5. “I get my shortness from my mom,” said Bryant, who stands 6-51/2. “I could have been a 6-8 basketball player.”
This and that: Tuesday’s practice was marred by bad snaps and fumbles, prompting Wolford to “let them have it” afterward. “I just ripped ‘em,” he said. “We won’t come out and practice like that on Thursday.” ... Sophomore WR Marcel Caver had two long touchdown grabs, beating his man deep each time. “You can see that Marcel Caver can run down the field and catch the football,” Wolford said. ... Wolford again praised junior offensive guard Dana Harris (“He has a chance to be a good football player,” he said) and said junior DT Octavius Brown has been a “pleasant surprise.”