YSU hosts short-handed CCSU

September 16, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State has one last non-conference test against Central Connecticut State today before a bye week and the start of Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

It’s a test that just got a little bit easier thanks to some alleged Animal House antics last Saturday.

The Blue Devils (0-2) will be without their top linebackers and leading receivers after New Britain (Conn.) police broke up a house party. Four players and another CCSU student are facing charges of breaching the peace and permitting a minor to possess alcohol.

Linebackers Randall Laguerre and Kenneth Keen rank No. 1 and No. 2 on the team, respectively, in tackles. Laguerre led the Northeast Conference in tackles last with 116 in 11 games. The pair will miss only the game against the Penguins (1-1). Wide receivers Jose Garcia and Chika Chukwu are suspended indefinitely. Garcia has caught both of his team’s touchdown passes this season and is just two yards shy of leading the Blue Devils in that category. Chukwu hasn’t played this year.

Those are losses for a winless Blue Devils team that had had the worst scoring defense (34.8 points per game) in the NEC last year. CCSU’s offense was the second-worst at 22.3 points per game during a 2-9 campaign.

Those numbers aren’t far from where the Blue Devils are now. They’re second to last in scoring offense at 19 points per game and have given up 88 points in two games, good for fifth in the seven-team league.

They took a 50-7 beating from Syracuse to open the season. Last week, the Blue Devils lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter in a 38-31 loss to Fordham.

CCS returns 16 starters — evenly split on both sides of the ball from last year.

Senior quarterback Jacob Dolegala has 310 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two picks through two games after leading the conference in passing yards with 2,934, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. On defense, the Blue Devils return All-American cornerback Jevon Elmore after he missed the 2016 season because he was academically ineligible.