YSU’s defense takes a step forward

October 10, 2018 at 12:00a.m.

Front four excelled after Penguins made late adjustments

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State had to make some quick adjustments last Saturday during a 17-14 win against Southern Illinois.

Near kickoff, the team learned that Salukis quarterback Sam Straub was out due to a concussion, which meant a shift to the game plan.

“It threw us through a loop. I went in thinking I was going to do certain things – especially on third down,” coach Bo Pelini said Tuesday. “The flow of the game was one where my plan changed on the fly. The game was different than what I thought it was going to be.”

The team passed the adjustment test. The Penguins (2-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) pressured backup quarterback Matt DeSomer into five sacks and limited him to 105 yards passing.

Shereif Bynum’s two sacks give him a team-best four the season and he’s second in the MVFC in tackles for a loss with

“Shereif is a leader and overall, I think we’ve played well up front. Our front four is playing pretty good football and that’s been a constant over the first month or so,” Pelini said. “Coach [Dom] D’Alesio is a heck of a young coach – a really good football coach – and he’s done a nice job with those guys.

Pelini said the Penguins’ defense took a step forward, but it was still beset by issues with communication and offset by the offense taking a step backward.

“There were a couple times where we weren’t on the same page. Two guys will be communicating or giving themselves hand signals, but they’re not filling the other guys in,” Pelini said. “If we’re all doing the same thing, we can play anyone. If you have two guys doing things differently or seeing something and not communicating it, you’re going to have a problem.

“It didn’t hurt us, but it could have. We were fortunate in some situations.”

The offense is looking to rebound after three trips to the red zone yielded just three points and quarterback Montgomery VanGorder had two interceptions and was sacked three times.

“There were too many mistakes offensively, especially early on it really hurt us,” Pelini said. “We didn’t play very efficiently. Montgomery didn’t play his best game, but we didn’t play very well around him.”

Pelini chalked up most of the offensive woes to missed assignments early on, which hampered the run game.

“We need to take it play by play. We don’t need to think about the whole drive or getting to the end zone too fast,” right tackle Charles Baldwin said. “Do your assignment and it should work itself out.”

The Penguins have an extra sense of urgency to their preparation this week as the team is set to face South Dakota State (3-1, 1-1), the No. 2 team in the Football Championship Subdivision.

“Everybody knows it’s big game this week,” Baldwin said. “Everybody is going to be watching extra film and getting extra work in.”