Bryan: YSU must get physical

October 22, 2014 at 12:08a.m.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

YOUNGSTOWN

Some football players give one-word answers in press conferences. Others give one-sentence answers.

Youngstown State senior Christian Bryan gives one-page answers.

He’s seventh on the team in receptions, but ranks first in sleepless nights after a loss, which is why he’s also first in interview requests. And why he’s the perfect person to talk about the Penguins’ struggles against this week’s opponent, South Dakota State.

“Since I’ve been here, every time we’ve played them, it’s really one thing that just stands out that they’ve done really well — they’ve just out-physicaled us,” said Bryan, who is 0-3 against the Jackrabbits. “They physically beat us. There’s no excuse for that, you know what I mean? They just have had more ‘want’ than us.

“So that’s something that we’re really preaching this week. That it’s not about the talent and everything else. That stuff gets thrown out the window. This is big-boy football, old-school football. We’re coming to hit each other, coming to play physical football and how much do you want it? What type of effort are you going to play with? What kind of heart and desire are you going to play with? This is that type of game. Those are the types of games you want to play in.”

By those standards, YSU has failed miserably in its last two games against the Jackrabbits. In 2012, the Penguins traveled to Brookings on a three-game losing streak and fell behind 41-7 in the opening minutes of the third quarter, eventually losing 41-28.

More famously, YSU carried a two-game losing streak into last year’s finale and lost 42-13 in a Stambaugh Stadium snowstorm.

When asked how long it took him to get over last year’s loss, Bryan chuckled and said, “One thing about myself as a player, I try to be as positive as I can be and just move on, but it was honestly shocking, you know what I mean? And you can just add the other two losses before that with it. It was just absolutely so shocking how we were 8-1, we were on a roll, things just seemed so in sync with us and just to lose those three games and finish it the way we did against South Dakota State, it was just crushing. I just tried to go on with my day and move on, but you just kept finding yourself going back it and thinking about that. It was rough, you know what I mean? Because we had it. We just needed one more and we got no one to blame for myself. It was a long offseason.”

The Penguins (5-2, 2-1 Missouri Valley) trail 10-5 in the series and have not beaten SDSU (5-2, 2-1) since 2007. Their last win in Brookings was in 1974 and they’ve lost the last three games there by double digits.

There’s no secret to snapping that streak.

“We’re going to have to match their physicalness up front,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford, who is 0-4 against the Jackrabbits — the only conference team he hasn’t beaten. “When we make tackles, when we get tackled, we’re gonna have to be physical. When we run routes, we’re gonna have to be physical. Whatever we do, we’re gonna have to be physical. If you’re on the field, you better plan on being physical.”

Wolford said he doesn’t plan to talk about last year’s loss, but that doesn’t mean his players have forgotten it.

“It still lingers even now,” junior defensive end Terrell Williams said. “We gotta think about what we gotta do to win this game, so we can get rid of that bitter taste that we got.”

Getting ready for grass

South Dakota State is the only team in the conference that still plays on grass — the university is building a new stadium that will have turf — and YSU is practicing this week on the grass field at Rayen Stadium.

The Penguins have not played on grass since 2012, when they won at Pitt and lost at SDSU.

“I don’t think we’ve adapted very well, playing on grass,” Wolford said. “We never do it. We don’t do any conditioning on grass, we don’t do nothing on grass. So that’s something that I’m going to commit to, practicing Tuesday and [today] on grass.”

Williams played on a turf field at McKeesport (Pa.) High School, but he said he’s looking forward to a different surface.

“I love grass,” he said. “Grass is cool. I played on turf all through high school, then my first time playing on grass was when we played Pittsburgh my freshman year. I loved it, though.”