PUSKAS: Cold offense, hot Pelini combine to hurt YSU

Bo Pelini’s collar was about the only hot thing the Youngstown State football team had going for it in the fourth quarter Saturday.

The Penguins’ offense? Not so much.

After taking a 24-10 lead against four-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State through three quarters, YSU did nothing with its final four possessions.

The fourth quarter went like this for the Penguins:

Three plays, four yards, punt.

Three plays, zero yards, punt.

Three plays, two yards, punt.

Four plays, -11 yards, game over.

The Bison, meanwhile, were busy bovine, chipping away at the deficit and eventually getting within four, 24-20, in the closing moments.

That’s when a critical pass interference call went against YSU, giving NDSU a first-and-goal at the Penguins’ 6-yard line.

The call — described at best as “questionable” by multiple observers — set up Easton Stick’s go-ahead touchdown run and and set off Pelini.

The Penguins’ first-year coach drew two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the final 30 seconds. The flags cost YSU 18 yards and, combined with a sack of quarterback Hunter Wells, moved the Penguins from their 30 to the 4 in the closing seconds. The penalties ruined any chance YSU might have had to attempt a game-tying field goal and NDSU, which trailed all the way until nearly the end, won 27-24.

The way YSU’s offense played in the fourth quarter, the penalties might not have made a difference.

But thanks to Pelini’s meltdown, we’ll never know. And the Penguins might have missed out on a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

The least anyone can ask of a team or coach is to give themselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. YSU was right there when the fourth quarter began at Stambaugh Stadium. By the time it ended, the anemic offense and Pelini’s tantrum combined to ensure the Penguins had no chance.

The finish called to mind similar fourth-quarter breakdowns under Eric Wolford, Pelini’s predecessor. Wolford’s Penguins often shrank in the moment when presented with a number of opportunities for Novembers to remember. Most often, it was Wolford’s defenses that couldn’t make a key stop.

Pelini’s Penguins seem to be the opposite, with an offense that shrinks in the moment. They couldn’t extend a drive — any drive — against the Bison in the fourth quarter. On one of them, wideout I’tavious Harvin juggled and dropped a deep pass from Wells that likely would have been a touchdown, perhaps supplying the cushion YSU needed.

The offensive issues are a classic chicken-egg argument. Is the problem offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery’s play-calling or execution on the field?

Good question. Either way, the Penguins often seem to tighten up when it counts. That didn’t just start Saturday. It’s been an issue all season. There have been multiple moments of what George Costanza would generously call “shrinkage” when YSU needed to extend a possession.

But despite three consecutive fourth-quarter punts and an unfortunate pass interference penalty, the Penguins might have been able to force overtime had they better conserved time on NDSU’s final possession and if Pelini hadn’t gone out of his way to vent at the officials.

I remember writing a column in 1997 about how Jim Tressel represented the calm in the eye of the hurricane after a YSU comeback in the playoffs against Villanova. Tressel often was, well, even presidential in the moment. It seemed to serve him and his teams well.

Pelini clearly is never going to be that calm, but in certain moments — like the one immediately after that pass interference call — he might want to consider the ramifications of an ill-timed meltdown. With his reputation preceding him, Bo is not likely to get the benefit of the doubt from an officiating crew.

This time, it might have cost the Penguins a chance to extend the game and their season.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.