Play of YSU running backs, lineman intertwined in practice

April 7, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

By Charles grove

youngstown

The line giveth and the line taketh away. That was the story of the Youngstown State rushing attack during open practice on Wednesday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium.

The offensive line, suffering from lingering injuries, highlighted at times with just the right blocking patterns allowing YSU’s running backs to get into the secondary. Other times false starts had coaches losing the lining of their vocal cords.

“I think it’s all mental,” YSU lineman Cameron Fraser said. “I think we just need to focus up a little bit more than we do sometimes.”

When things were clicking though, senior tailbacks Martin Ruiz and Jody Webb busted big runs during their moments when the younger guys weren’t getting their carries.

“It’s hard to find time for [all the running backs] but we’re not real interested in giving the older guys too many reps,” YSU head coach Bo Pelini said. “This is a time we really want to look at some of the younger guys. We know what Martin and Jody are going to do.”

When members of the duo are getting carries, it gives backs like sophomore Tevin McCaster something to emulate while he creates further chemistry with his offensive line. “What’s really helped me is Jody and Martin,” McCaster said. “I try to mimic their game and do the things they do, but I have to give all the credit to the line. I get with them outside of practice and go over reads and we just have a chemistry between each other.”

Practice ran about a half hour short and Friday’s practice scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. is likely to run short as well. Pelini said he’s happy with the progress he’s seen with the time the team has spent going at it and his first priority is getting through the final four spring sessions with a healthy roster before the annual Red-White Game on April 15.

“I’m not going to wear guys out,” Pelini said. “I thought we’ve made progress this spring and I want to make sure we come out of the next week healthy.”

But for the time being, linemen like Gavin Wiggins say the added reps he’s getting at practice has been more than beneficial, creating a blessing in disguise with all the injuries.

“In game situations this is only going to help us,” Wiggins said. “Normally you’re in for four plays and then you’re taking four plays off. Now it’s like seven plays you’re in and then you take two plays off and then play seven again.”

The practice concluded with the team going through new short-yardage packages and schemes for the first time this spring. The offense shined more often than not in the favorite part of practice for many.

“I love them,” Fraser said. “I’d rather be in those than anything else. We haven’t really done a lot of short yardage stuff in the spring so we wanted to see who could play at what positions in those situations.”

Despite the large number of false starts throughout the day, snap counts caught the defensive line jumping a few times as well, easing the job of a line consistently going up against defensive ends the like of Derek Rivers and Avery Moss.

“We have probably two of the best defensive ends in our league and we go against them in practice every day,” Fraser said. “[Getting them to jump offside] helps a ton because it slows them down a lot. They get to thinking about the snap count and that split second is all you need.”