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YSU receiver Braswell looks to be a vocal leader
By Brian Dzenis
YOUNGSTOWN
After walking the walk, Jermiah Braswell will try to talk the talk.
Intangibles — or lack of them — continue to be the subject du jour with Youngstown State’s football team. The junior wideout was one of the only bright spots in last week’s 43-17 loss to Indiana State. Braswell hauled in a career-best six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. It was the first time a Penguin wideout cleared 90 receiving yards this season since Zach Farrar’s six-catch, 135-yard performance in a 52-17 loss to West Virginia.
The Penguins have previously been called out as unmotivated by head coach Bo Pelini. Braswell, who caught his first career touchdown pass in the 2016 Football Championship Subdivision National Championship, will try and step into a leadership position.
“I’ve been trying to be more of a vocal leader. I haven’t really been a vocal leader this year, which I can get better at,” Braswell said. “On and off the field, I try to be more vocal, get the younger guys in the film room and show them what it takes during the week to be a good football team.”
Braswell is on pace to finish the season as the team’s leading receiver with 16 catches for 259 yards and is tied for the team-lead with two receiving touchdowns. Farrar still leads the team in yards with 307, but has just one catch for 15 yards in the past three games. Braswell started over Farrar in the past two games.
“I’m in the film room more trying to find the little details, anything that will help this team,” Braswell said. “I’m trying different positions and different situations to help this team win.”
Even with three games left in the season for YSU (3-5, 2-3 Missouri Valley Football Conference), the leadership door remains open. For Pelini, the only player who’s performed well in that respect in senior defensive tackle Savon Smith.
“Savon is the guy who is the most vocal, but unfortunately, he’s probably the only one,” Pelini said. “Savon is a competitor and plays his butt off and it’s frustrating for him. He sees it.”
One of the mysteries to be solved for Saturday’s against No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (8-0, 5-0 MVFC) is who is going to be throwing to Braswell and YSU’s other wideouts. Senior Montgomery VanGorder was benched against the Sycamores for junior Nathan Mays and Pelini would not name a starting quarterback. After opening the possibility of playing freshmen to “find someone who can compete” there could be changes at other positions.
“We’ll see how the week plays out. All options are open as far as I’m concerned,” Pelini said. “There’s going to be a role for a couple of different quarterbacks.”
Pelini summed up what he wants out of his team in the final three games: improvement.
“We’ve got three tough opponents starting with the No. 1 team in the country on the road. I want to see effort,” Pelini said. “We’re obviously out of the playoffs, so I want to see how these guys respond. In some instances, it will help make decisions on some guys.
“If you want to be apart of this program, you better show it the next three weeks. I’m going to be watching very intently to see how guys respond.”