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Pelini mum on future as season nears its end
Penguins host Northern Iowa in home finale Saturday
By Brian Dzenis
YOUNGSTOWN
The big picture remains on the back burner with Youngstown State’s football team.
Things like Bo Pelini’s future as the head coach and giving looks to younger players with the playoffs out of the picture are not at the forefront.
The Penguins (3-6, 2-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference) have two games left in the season and winning those are the priority. Pelini, who is in the final season of a four-year contract, declined to answer when asked if he wanted to return to YSU.
“I don’t talk about that until the season is over. I never have and I never will,” Pelini said. “It’s not how we do business and we’re all on the same page.”
Pelini called out the team’s effort and energy after a 43-17 loss to Indiana State on Oct. 27 and on Tuesday, he said he saw improvement in those areas in last week’s 17-7 loss to No. 1 North Dakota State. Now the challenge is maintaining said effort when No. 22 Northern Iowa (5-2, 4-2) comes to Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday.
It is the Penguins’ home finale.
“In my mind if we were able to play that way with that kind of energy and effort, we could be sitting here with our record flipped or at 7-2, but we’re not,” Pelini said.
“We’ll find out in the next two weeks what this team is. Are we what we’ve been or are we what we were last Saturday?”
A cooler head prevailed for another element of his postgame attitude after the loss to the Sycamores — finding players to compete, even if they are freshman.
The Penguins’ depth chart saw little change last Saturday, save for Nathan Mays starting at quarterback over Montgomery VanGorder.
Even though there’s new NCAA rules allowing players to play in up to four games, Pelini has been reluctant to take advantage in favor of sticking with veterans.
“We’ve played younger guys here and there on special teams, but it depends on the situation. Sometimes you don’t do a guy a favor if he’s not ready,” Pelini said.
“We stick to what we’ve always done. It does give you some leeway on special teams and early on in the year. It hasn’t changed much. You have to do what gives your team a chance to win each and every week. You can’t overthink it.”
One example of a player utilizing the new rules is kicker Grant Gonya.
The freshman from Hudson replaced Zak Kennedy on Oct. 20 against South Dakota, but sat out last week’s game against the Bison.
Doing so allows him to kick in the final two games while preserving his eligibility.
CLOCK MANAGEMENT
If Pelini had a do-over last week, he said he would have kicked a field goal at the end of the first half against NDSU.
Trailing 7-0 with 23 seconds left until halftime, the Penguins had the ball at the Bison 12 facing a third-and-10.
Mays completed a pass to Samuel St. Surin and it appeared to be a first down. Although TV replays showed the chain gang signaling a first down, the Penguins were half a yard short and Mays spiked the ball for a turnover on downs.
“In my mind, we were taking a shot at the end zone. Not in my wildest dreams would we be a half-yard short of a first down. In hindsight, we called a route for the end zone and they jammed us up. We were a little bit short,” Pelini said.
“It was a little bit of a gamble that didn’t pay off. In hindsight, we should have kicked on third down.”