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YSU must beat NDSU to stay in playoff hunt
Penguins must win
to stay in contention
By steve wilaj
youngstown
In a perfect Thanksgiving for Youngstown State senior defensive tackle Steve Zaborsky, the Austintown Fitch grad would be joined by a bunch of his Penguins teammates on Nov. 26 at the Zaborsky home in Mineral Ridge.
“Because that would mean we’re still playing after Thanksgiving,” Zaborsky said.
He means in the playoffs.
However, that over-crowded Zaborsky Thanksgiving dinner table is only possible if No. 20 YSU wins its last two regular-season games. And the one this afternoon — against second-ranked, four-time defending FCS-champion North Dakota State at 2 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium — is a tall task.
“I’m glad it’s North Dakota State. I personally wouldn’t want it to be anyone else,” said Zaborsky, one of 11 YSU players who will be honored as part of Senior Day. “That big of a challenge to got out there and do what we have to do, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Since the Bison (7-2, 5-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) established their FCS-dominance within the past five years, the Penguins (5-4, 3-3) are 1-3 against NDSU.
YSU has lost handily the past three years — 38-14 last year, 35-17 in 2013 and 48-7 in ’12 — while its lone win came in Fargo, N.D. in 2011 in a 27-24 upset.
“We’re playing a good football team — we all recognize that,” said first-year YSU coach Bo Pelini, who is facing the Bison for the first time in his career. “It’s the next game, so it’s very important and it gives us a good chance to see where we are.
“I think they execute very well, they’re balanced, well-coached and they play physical. ... I think it’s obvious they’ve been together for a long time and they play the right way.”
Basically, it’s the type of program Pelini is trying to mold YSU into. And maybe, just maybe, the Penguins are catching the Bison at the right time.
While YSU is arguably playing its best football of the season coming off two straight wins, the Bison — although winners of three straight — are being guided by a freshman QB (Easton Stick) after senior starter Carson Wentz broke his wrist three weeks ago.
“The last two weeks, winning the way we did, it just primes us perfectly for this game,” Zaborsky said. “We got everybody on the same page.”
Then again, Stick has been excellent since taking over. Also — although Pelini doesn’t put much stock into scores — NDSU pounded Western Illinois, 59-7, last week after YSU just snuck by the Leathernecks, 23-21, two weeks ago.
“I don’t know, we buried South Dakota and they lost to South Dakota — every week’s different,” Pelini said. “Sometimes it’s not a great indication one way or the other. But I can tell you this, [NDSU] is a good football team — there’s no question.”
Fair enough.
But there’s also this eerie fact: Like the 2015 Penguins, YSU started 4-3 in 1991. To make the playoffs, it had to beat defending-champion Georgia Southern and run the table — which the Penguins did on their way to the program’s first Division I-AA championship.
So should the Zaborsky dinner table be packed on Thanksgiving, it could be the start of history repeating itself 25 years later.
“We take it week by week, but NDSU is always a fun game to play because they’re a top team in the nation,” junior guard Matt Bell said. “If you don’t want to play a top team in the nation, you shouldn’t be playing the game at all.”