43
3 more YSU players not with team, will not play
SPOKANE, WASH.
Three more significant players will not be on the field today when Youngstown State University battles to advance to the finals of the NCAA Football Championship Series.
Multiple sources confirmed to The Vindicator that senior safeties LeRoy Alexander and Jameel Smith and junior wide receiver Darien Townsend are not with the team and will not play in today’s FCS national semifinal against Eastern Washington.
Their absence has not been explained by YSU team officials.
Smith and Alexander are the second- and third-leading tacklers on Youngstown State’s defense, racking up 86 and 67 tackles this season, respectively. The duo also has a combined six interceptions.
Townsend is the only YSU wide receiver to start all 14 games this season and leads the team with 525 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Last week against Wofford, Townsend had five receptions for 73 yards to lead the team.
Their absences are in addition to that of senior running back Martin Ruiz, who was arrested earlier this month after a traffic stop in Tallmadge led to firearms charges. That happened under a cloud of speculation this week about as many as five team suspensions. But the school remained tight-lipped all week, citing previous policies on team discipline.
Losing Alexander and Smith will be an enormous hurdle for the YSU defense to overcome as they face arguably the best quarterback-wide receiver duo in the country in Eastern Washington’s Gage Gubrud and Cooper Kupp.
Kupp is a projected first- or second-round draft pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and Gubrud has thrown for 4,807 yards this season and 45 touchdowns.
Those who will be replacing Smith and Alexander on YSU’s depth chart are juniors Jalyn Powell and Solomon Warfield.
Powell, a Warren native, has started three games this year and has 37 tackles, five for losses, one sack and one interception.
Warfield, a Lorain native, has seen less time on the field this year. He has started no games and seen the field in 11, making seven tackles. He has broken up one pass.
Townsend’s replacement on the depth chart is sophomore Robert Byrd. The Fort Myers, Fla., native is 5’8” and 150 pounds and has three catches this year for 27 yards.