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YSU stumbles in second half
By Joe Scalzo
NORMAL, ILL.
Youngstown State’s 35-21 loss to Illinois State on Saturday looked all too familiar.
If the Penguins aren’t careful, the same will be said about this November.
Like their 2012 meeting at Hancock Stadium, the Redbirds outscored the Penguins 21-0 in Saturday’s second half to rally for a crucial Missouri Valley Football Conference victory.
“They out-toughed us,” said junior wide receiver Andrew Williams, who caught six passes for a career-high 158 yards. “They out-physicaled us up front.
“We’ve just got to play better ball.”
Illinois State’s talented quarterback, Tre Roberson, completed 16 of 24 passes for 178 yards, a touchdown and an interception for the Redbirds (8-2, 5-1), who took over sole possession of second place in the MVFC.
Roberson also ran 12 times for 79 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown run with 2:47 left that sealed the victory.
“That quarterback is deadly when he gets out of the pocket,” YSU senior safety Donald D’Alesio said. “That’s something we focused on. We just didn’t execute like we wanted to.”
ISU back Marshaun Coprich added 25 carries for 144 yards — 125 in the second half — and receiver Cameron Meredith made eight catches for 101 yards. Meredith’s 29-yard TD on the first play of the second half gave ISU the lead for good.
“Between those three guys, that’s a pretty good chunk of yards,” YSU coach Eric Wolford said. “And they were able to convert some third downs at key points in the game.”
Illinois State finished 8 of 11 on third down and the Redbirds’ defense shook off a shaky first half to hold the Penguins to just 86 yards over the final 30 minutes.
“They were moving guys around, jumping into a 50 front and probably creating a little bit of confusion,” Wolford said of the ISU defense. “We’ve got to execute better. It was a good learning experience.”
YSU continued its season-long struggles on special teams as senior Joey Cejudo had 45- and 50-yard field goal attempts blocked and also shanked a seven-yard punt that set up ISU’s first touchdown drive.
“He struggled kicking the ball all day,” Wolford said of Cejudo. “He kicked the ball low [on the field goals] and I don’t know if he mis-hit the punt, but he struggled all day.”
Hunter Wells completed 14 of 26 passes for 236 yards and two TDs for YSU (7-3, 4-2 MVFC), but 206 of those yards came in the first half. Martin Ruiz added 18 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown.
The Penguins failed to pick up a first down on their last two drives, going for it on fourth down each time. The first — and most crucial — time came with just under four minutes left with YSU facing a fourth-and-4 at its own 31. The Redbirds swallowed up a fourth-and-4 swing pass to Ruiz and Roberson ran for the TD two plays later.
“I had confidence in our offense,” Wolford said of going for it. “In big games, you can’t be afraid to let it hang out there.”
Wells was intercepted on the latter fourth-down attempt and Illinois State could have scored in the final two minutes, but opted to take a knee twice inside the Penguins’ 5.
YSU can still make the playoffs for the first time since 2006, but with a road game at North Dakota State looming in the finale, next weekend’s home game against Indiana State might be a must-win.
Like last year, a three-game losing streak to end the season would be fatal.
“You can’t let one team beat you twice,” Wolford said. “We had a good talk in the locker room about regrouping and making sure everyone is ready to play.”