YSU feeling giddy after SD win

October 24, 2018 at 12:08a.m.

Penguins positive in preparing for Sycamores

YOUNGSTOWN

When the Youngstown State University football team executes a game plan, good things happen.

The message was reinforced in last Saturday’s 29-17 win against South Dakota, where the Penguins stifled the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s best passing attack and rushed for 295 yards.

“I think we needed a win like that to pick us up and carry us forward,” senior tight end Chris Durkin said Tuesday.

YSU (3-4, 2-2 MVFC) found its focus nearing a critical point in the season. After playing Indiana State (3-4, 1-3 MVFC) on Saturday, all of the Penguins’ remaining games are against FCS Top 25 opponents. They will have to win out to have any kind of postseason argument.

Coach Bo Pelini was encouraged by last week’s performance.

“We played better. I think the kids got to a point where they got fed up with themselves, with each other and how we were playing,” Pelini said. “We had better focus and we performed at a higher level.

“You have to have a sense of urgency when you’re in the situation we’re in and I think we have that,” Pelini said. “It’s nothing magical to play good football.

“You have to be efficient and you have to handle yourself,” Pelini said. “You can’t make mental errors, you have to be accountable and you have to do your job.”

For the offense, Durkin cited more simple game plans have helped keep the errors down.

“It’s normal schemes we put in, like days one through three at camp. We try not to be too complex,” Durkin said. “I feel like it makes our quarterback think less, O-line has to think less. The less we have to think, the more we can go out and play and I feel like that helped us last week.”

On defense, simply limiting missed assignments paid dividends. The Penguins held Coyotes’ QB Austin Simmons to 158 yards passing, zero touchdowns with an interception DJ Smalls returned for a touchdown. The defensive line collected three sacks.

“Pass defense is an 11-man job,” senior safety Avery Larkin said. “The pass rush is a huge help, but we still had to cover down and do our job.”

Larkin, who has spent time at nickel and cornerback during his career, had to step in for an injured Chrispin Lee at safety.

“Avery has been huge for us the last couple of years. He made a great play [last Saturday] when one of our corners got beat on a double move,” Pelini said. “Avery is dependable and doesn’t surprise me. That’s a godsend to have somebody like that.”

INJURY UPDATES

Quarterback Montgomery VanGorder did some light practicing today but his status for Saturday against the Sycamores is unknown. Pelini said he was still undergoing more tests after leaving last week’s game feeling “loopy,” in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Christiaan Randall-Posey could return this week from a neck injury after sitting out last week. He was stretchered off the field on Oct. 13 against South Dakota State.

Safety Chrispin Lee exited the second half last week’s game with an unspecified injury and could return this week.