43
YSU’s Wells changes his approach
Fall back in spring: YSU QB turns back clock to 2014 season
By SteVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
Junior-season Hunter Wells is forgetting sophomore-season Hunter Wells.
Instead, the two-year Youngstown State starting quarterback is going to approach the upcoming campaign like freshman-season Hunter Wells.
Translation: Wells, who will be a junior for the 2016 season, struggled last season as the Penguins starting signal-caller (13 touchdowns, seven interceptions). Really, he took a step back from his freshman campaign (14 TDs, seven interceptions).
In turn, the 6-foot-5 gunslinger — who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a three-man quarterback competition — is channeling his younger mindset.
“I’m gonna approach it the same way I did my freshman year,” Wells said. “I was coming in and I was the new guy. It was like I didn’t have a chance and I just went out there and competed.
“So I’m gonna take it like I’m the third-string quarterback right now. I’m gonna act like I’m not the starter and just prepare more — go out there and just have a different mentality. I’m ready to work and do whatever it takes to be the starter.”
When Wells joined YSU in 2014 under former head coach Eric Wolford, it took only until the third week before he unseated junior QB Dante Nania and became the starting quarterback. He went on to complete 59 percent of his passes and throw for 1,772 yards while being named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s All-Newcomer Team. YSU went 6-4 with him at the helm.
However, as the clear-cut starter last season, Wells completed just 54 percent of his passes for a 5-6 Penguins team. He struggled so much at times that backup Ricky Davis (also a junior this upcoming season) saw action.
“I’ll be the first one to tell you I didn’t have the season I should have had,” Wells said. “And the team didn’t have the season it should have had either. I feel like it kind of reflects.
“I’m not trying to brag myself up, but I have the ball in my hands every play. So if I don’t play good, it’s hard for the team to play good. There were times that other people stepped up when I didn’t and I feel like I need to improve on that.”
He’ll try to do so with a couple veteran quarterbacks breathing down his neck.
While Wells presumably enters the spring as the top QB on the depth chart, Davis — although used mainly as a running-option last season — is certainly in the fold. Then there’s junior college transfer Trent Hosick, a redshirt junior who joined YSU from Arizona Western and was originally a Missouri recruit a few years ago.
“A position is not won in a day,” Penguins coach Bo Pelini said. “Guys will compete and I think having the competition will make everybody better. I think that’s the key.”
Hosick, like Davis, can run as well as pass. Wells, meanwhile, is a traditional pocket passer. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shane Montgomery just wants Wells — who added 20 pounds in the offseason — to play with confidence.
“As a freshman he was kind of loosey-goosey and nothing bothered him,” Montgomery said. “Last year — you’re not always going to play your best and you have to handle adversity — and he got down on himself a little bit and wasn’t as confident as he was the year before. ”
The three quarterbacks split snaps with the first-team offense throughout the first two spring practices. Wells has looked the sharpest, though, completing a handful of long passes while displaying the strongest arm. So far, he appears to have left sophomore-season Hunter Wells in 2015.
“Hunter has worked really hard in the off-season,” Montgomery said “It’s just about being consistent. I think he’s got a good grasp about what we’re trying to do offensively and he’s ready to take the next step.”