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Penguins feeling better as South Dakota looms
youngstown
After a weekend off, there should be a rejuvenated Youngstown State football team on Saturday playing against South Dakota at Stambaugh Stadium.
The main nagging injuries the Penguins racked up the first three weeks should be healed by kickoff as quarterback Ricky Davis, tailback Jody Webb and right guard Brock Eisenhuth are all expected to play.
“The off week lined up perfectly,” Davis said with the timing of his concussion against West Virginia. “The off week allowed me to have two weeks off.
“I was a little rusty but I had a really good day my first day out last week so I think I picked up right where I left off and I feel good.”
The rejuvenation couldn’t come at a better time as YSU prepares for the first week of eight straight conference games.
YSU head coach Bo Pelini said on Tuesday the key to conference success during a two-month slate of games with no more off weeks will be the mental toughness of his team during preparations.
“It’s going to be a grind,” Pelini said. “There are going to be days when they walk in the door where they don’t feel like it that day.
“It’s hard and you’ve got to push through. They’ve got to trust that we’re going to pull back when we need to and to trust the schedule.
“You’ve got to overcome human nature and find a way. The teams that do that are the team that will achieve.”
Anytime the South Dakota Coyotes play you can expect the scoreboard operator to be busy. South Dakota is scoring 39 points per game but they’re also giving up 48 points per game.
But the Penguins are quick to point out many of those points aren’t the fault of what many would assume is a weak defense.
“There’s a lot of points given up on them but at the same time a lot of those points come from their offense committing turnovers,” left tackle Justin Spencer said. “We’re not going to look past them because they give up a lot of points.”
The key to the Coyotes’ offense is quarterback Chris Streveler. The junior is leading the team in both passing (169 yards per game) and rushing (115.7 yards per game).
At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, the YSU defense will have to deal with not only a running quarterback, but a large running quarterback.
“It’s almost like playing a wildcat type offense with a guy who can throw a little bit,” Pelini said. “He’s tough.
“He can run and he’s shown good speed on the outside a couple times on some long runs. It’s not like your normal quarterback who runs the ball. He’s going to run the ball like a tailback.”
With Davis back to running the offense, Davis and Pelini have said there’s been a stronger emphasis on Davis realizing when he needs to slide to avoid tackles and when to fight for yardage.
“I think it’s a case of understanding the game,” Pelini said. “If you’ve got a first down and you’ve got three guys coming at you, why take that hit?
“But if I need another yard and it’s third down I don’t expect to see a slide. You’ve got to be smart and understand the situation.”
While the team is all focused on South Dakota, Pelini and his staff did take some time during the off week preparing for a few future opponents to try to get ahead with some free time.
“I spent middle to end of last week kind of looking ahead to a few opponents,” Pelini said. “I’m trying to make the most use of my time and I took a little peek down the road but once we got back to Saturday I was back on to South Dakota again.
“There’s only so much preparing for a team you can do when they’ve only played three games.”
YSU is having a red out for Saturday’s game, which means the team will be wearing all red uniforms. But that’s the least of Pelini’s concerns.
“They can play in their underwear for all I’m concerned as long as they play good,” Pelini said.”