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YSU notebook
Butting in: Youngstown State coach Bo Pelini got pranked during the Missouri Valley’s weekly coaches teleconference on Tuesday morning. Someone who identified himself as a reporter for the Idaho Statesman asked Pelini, “Who has the nicest butt on your team?” The moderator immediately disconnected the call and apologized. (The league also edited the question out of the archived replay.) “I’ve never heard [anything like it],” Pelini said, cracking up the local media during Tuesday’s press conference at YSU. “It was the craziest thing. I was like, ‘What a way to start the day.’” Pelini laughed off a follow-up question, but on his way out he joked, “No, I will not answer that question.”
Tunnel vision: Pelini’s former team, Nebraska, lost in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday when BYU on a last-second Hail Mary from 42 yards out, spoiling the debut of his replacement, Mike Riley. When asked if he had seen the play, Pelini said, “I did not. I heard about it. That’s the furthest thing from my mind.” Pelini also didn’t pay much attention to the other MVFC games last weekend, including South Dakota State’s 41-38 win over Kansas and Southern Illinois 48-47 loss to Indiana. “I heard some of the scores,” Pelini said. “To be honest with you, I don’t really pay attention much to that I lock in on what we have going. Control what we can control and that’s this football team and getting better every day. A lot of people have fun with that and look at that. I’ll get to see all those games on film as we move forward.”
Injury update: Junior running back Martin Ruiz, who suffered a thigh bruise in the second quarter against Pitt and did not return, is questionable for Saturday’s game against Robert Morris. “You don’t know how long those take sometimes,” Pelini said. “Everyone is a little bit different. He’s a tough kid. We’ll just have to see how the week plays out.” Pelini said there were no other major injuries. “We got a couple guys with a few nicks but nothing long-term,” he said. “We came out of it pretty healthy.” One encouraging sign: senior linebacker Dubem Nwadiogbu, who missed Saturday’s game with a groin injury, is back at practice this week. Nwadiogbu led the Penguins with 104 tackles last season — 13 more than any other player. Junior LB Lee Wright is listed ahead of Nwadiogbu on this week’s depth chart, which is identical to last week’s depth chart.