1. If Saturday's post-game press conference was Eric Wolford's last as Youngstown State's head coach, he handled himself well.

After saying the normal gracious things about North Dakota State — and say what you want about Wolford, but he has never failed to praise his opponents — he was asked by a NDSU reporter if he worried about his job. (Side note: That reporter actually interrupted me as I was about to ask that question, which surprised me. It's not an easy question to ask.)

Here was his answer:

"I think my whole life, and I've been doing this over 20 years, when you coach the offensive line as your starting job, you coach every day your hardest and that's all you can do. You always have concerns about your job. I don't make those decisions. That's the reality of it. All you do is bust your tail to make sure the kids are disciplined and doing what they need to do to get better so you can close the gap on the premiere teams. Sometimes that's easier said than done."

As a follow-up, I asked if he wanted to be here next year.

"Oh yeah, I love Youngstown," he said. "My wife and I have embraced the community and taken it in. It's home for me. It's really frustrating when it's your home and you're unable to get things done in the manner of what some of your friends and your supporters want it done. That's part of the business. We're all measured on wins and losses. That's the reality of it. That's part of the game."

2. My gut feeling is they'll make a change and they'll do it quickly. I think Wolford still had a chance to keep his job this weekend but he either needed to beat North Dakota State or come really close. That didn't happen. YSU had three first-half turnovers, fell behind 28-0 at halftime and looked overmatched from the start.

3. Ultimately, it's athletic director Ron Strollo's call. But, obviously, Jim Tressel is the type of person Strollo is going to consult before making a move like this.

Tressel's biggest job right now is to boost enrollment and he knows as well as anyone how much of an impact a winning football team can make. And you better believe it's not sitting well that YSU has made the playoffs one time since he left in 2000.

4. When Strollo decided to replace Jon Heacock after the 2009 season, he already had a list of candidates in mind weeks before it happened. (And Heacock knew he needed to have a playoff-type season to keep his job, so it's not like he was going behind his back.) You don't make those kinds of moves without an idea of which coaches you might want to target.

Obviously, there's a wish list out there for most YSU fans, but those guys are on that list for a reason — a lot of other teams are going to be interested, too.

5. One more point I want to emphasize: While I think YSU will make a change and should make a change, that doesn't mean I don't like Wolford personally.

In fact, it's just the opposite. From a media standpoint, he's as good as it gets, at least until this year when the stress/expectations started to affect him a little.

Wolford is personable, he's honest, he's accessible, he's respectful (I've never heard him belittle a reporter for a bad question) and, well, he's fun.

Jon Heacock was an extremely popular guy at YSU — and for good reason — but from a media standpoint, he was uncomfortable in that spotlight. Wolford isn't.

That doesn't mean he's perfect and there are some valid criticisms of the way he handles himself in interviews, but here's the bottom line: If he had won more games in November, nobody would have cared.

If this is his last season, I'm going to miss covering him.

6. Now, will he miss being covered by me? That's another question. Reporters can be pains in the neck.

7. If Wolford isn't the coach next season, his replacement won't get a one-year grace period. This team is built to win now. YSU loses 11 seniors but there is a lot of talent coming back. It's not unrealistic to expect the new guy to make the playoffs.

8. Entering Saturday's games, there were six Missouri Valley teams with a chance to make the playoffs. With YSU and Indiana State losing, I'd expect four to make it: North Dakota State (which looks capable of winning its fourth straight national title), Illinois State, Northern Iowa and South Dakota State.

Radio analyst Chris Sammarone brought up a good point on the radio broadcast: The MVFC needs to win playoff games. Not just North Dakota State.

It's one thing to go 23-1 in August and September, but this league needs to prove it's more than a one-team league when it comes to November and December.