Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Team has YSU coach frustrated
By Brian Dzenis
YOUNGSTOWN
Failed trips in the red zone, a regressing passing game and the ever-present issue of missed assignments and mental mistakes continue to plague Youngstown State’s football team.
The inability to have every aspect of the team do its job at same time on a consistent basis is wearing on head coach Bo Pelini.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and I’ve never been as frustrated as I am right now. The kids, I know the want-to and effort is there,” Pelini said Tuesday. “We have to keep coaching better and stay the course.
“It’s not an X-and-O problem, it’s an execution problem. They’re not executing and it’s our job to get them to execute.”
In Saturday’s 36-7 loss to South Dakota State, the Penguins (2-4, 1-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) trailed by nine at the half, but then fell apart in the second half.
“Early in the game, I thought we were executing pretty well, even with some mistakes,” Pelini said. “We were just moving up and down the field, then we get to first and 10 and then someone busts an assignment, turns someone loss and it’s second and 15.
“It’s killing drives,” Pelini said. “You don’t need to do anything extraordinary to win football games. It’s doing the ordinary things consistently. That’s what we haven’t been able to sustain.”
The inconsistency of the team is taking a toll on the players as well.
“I think when we get out there, people just start losing their minds. People are nervous. They’re worried about making plays,” senior defensive tavkle Wesley Thompson said. “As long as we stay within what we’re supposed to do, it should work.”
Another type of mental mistake is also come into the picture — trying to do too much.
“With we’re at, we’re trying to turn things around and making mistakes,” Thompson said. “We’re trying to overcompensate for how the season has gone so far.”
An example of this is quarterback Montgomery VanGorder’s recent run of results. His ability to avoid mistakes and sacks that endeared himself to the coaching staff in fall camp through the first three games hasn’t been there in the Penguins’ last three contests.
He has six interceptions and has been sacked seven times in the last three games.
“I think he reverted to some old habits,” Pelini said. “In the past few weeks, he’s been looking at our routes rather than looking at the coverage and going through his reads.
“He did that well in the first couple weeks, but you can’t stare at our routes. Let the coverage tell you where to go with the football.”
Pelini’s offensive frustration didn’t end with the quarterback. The offensive line also took some stick.
“Too many mistakes. We just don’t block them and those things can’t happen,” Pelini said. “If you get beat physically, OK.
“There was a time when [SDSU’s defensive linemen] beat our tackle and it’s a good play for them, but times where we target the wrong guy or does something inexplicable. It’s killing us.
“It just can’t happen. Our execution stinks. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.”
The Penguins face South Dakota on Saturday, marking another chance for the team to beat its inner demons.
“I know the kids are frustrated. I know we’re better than how we’re playing,” Pelini said. “