Thoughts on Youngstown State's 14-7 win at Missouri State:

1. If someone had told you before Saturday's game that the Penguins would only score two touchdowns, would get shut out over the last 40 minutes, would commit three turnovers, miss a field goal and get a punt blocked, you would have started drinking at breakfast.

But for the first time in Eric Wolford's five seasons, he has a defense capable of winning a game when the offense is sputtering.

"If you play defense," YSU radio analyst Chris Sammarone said, "you can win every game you play."

2. Wolford's teams are 14-0 when they hold opponents under 20 points, but that's misleading because it's almost never happened against good teams. Here's a list of those wins:

2014: Butler, Missouri State.

2013: Dayton, Morehead State, Duquesne, Western Illinois.

2012: Pitt, Valparaiso, South Dakota, Western Illinois, Indiana State.

2011: Valparaiso, Western Illinois.

2010: Butler.

Obviously, Pitt stands out. But the rest of the list includes seven non-scholarship or partial-scholarship teams and five teams that finished in the bottom half of the league.

I don't know if Missouri State will contend in the MVFC this year, but the fact is, the Bears were averaging 32 points and close to 450 yards in their first four games, including 23 points against Oklahoma State. The other three games were against full-scholarship FCS schools.

The Penguins also pass the eyeball test. They just look better than Wolford's other ones.

3. The most encouraging part? Youngstown State's defensive line.

The Penguins struggled on the defensive line last season — that's probably putting it too nicely — but they've been one of the team's biggest strengths this year.

Sophomore defensive end Derek Rivers is turning into a monster and the other defensive end, Terrell Williams, has gone from invisible (last year) to disruptive. The Penguins had four sacks and eight tackles for loss against the Bears, which is more impressive when you consider MSU had three offensive linemen that were voted first team all-conference in the preseason, not to mention a mobile quarterback.

"I was really impressed with the defensive line play today," YSU coach Eric Wolford said. "I thought they were very disruptive. That's where it all starts."

Defensive coordinator Jamie Bryant has shown a greater willingness to blitz than Joe Tresey or Rick Kravitz but YSU can still get pressure with its front four. That's only happened in spurts under Wolford, like the latter stretch of the 2011 season, when Daniel Stewart was playing well. Now it's happening consistently.

4. Junior safety Tre' Moore has made a big impact since he entered the starting lineup against St. Francis, although he started flashing against Butler. He led the Penguins with 11 tackles and two interceptions against the Bears and he's proven to be a big hitter. The previous starter, Jameel Smith, would make some flashy plays but Moore looks like the better player so far.

"Tre' is a good player, we just had to get him to do the right things consistently and be focused," Wolford said. "I'm really proud of him. He's always had the talent. We needed to get him in the right situations where he can show his talents and obviously he did that today."

5. After the game, I saw safety Donald D'Alesio (who has dropped a couple interceptions in his career). "Looks like you guys finally found a safety who can catch the ball," I said.

He laughed.

"They stopped throwing at me," he said.

D'Alesio's dad, Donald, goes to every game, home or away. Both D'Alesios are among the nicest people you'll ever meet.
When I talked to father before Saturday's game, I asked him what he thought.

"I think this is going to be our year," he said.

So far, so good.

6. Wolford said something interesting when I asked him about taking a deep shot on the game's first play.

"We need to take more shots," he said. "When people are loading up trying to stop you from running, you've gotta let the ball fly a little bit."

Two thoughts on this. First, although Shane Montgomery calls the plays on offense, why not overrule him (or at least suggest more deep passes)? Isn't he the head coach?

Second, he's right. I don't know if Dante Nania is the long-term answer at quarterback, but you're not going to find out by running 41 times and throwing 16 (including an 11/2 ratio in the fourth quarter), at least not when you're running into eight-man fronts.

Nania brings a running threat that Hunter Wells doesn't have, but he can pass, too, especially when he has a pair of 6-foot-4 wide receivers like Jelani Berassa and Andrew Williams.

YSU should let him.

7. And why not throw to the tight end more often? Nate Adams and Jacob Wood aren't just good blockers.

8. The biggest problem with moving Jamie Bryant to defensive coordinator is he can no longer coach the special teams.

YSU's special teams had another rough day on Saturday, giving up a blocked punt and missing a 39-yard field goal. On the plus side, the coverage units were pretty good. But if the Penguins don't give up that blocked punt, the Bears probably don't score. And if Cejudo nails that 39-yarder late in the third quarter, the game is probably over.

Outside of last season, Wolford's special teams have struggled. This year is no different.

9. This has nothing to do with anything, but 15 minutes before the plane even took off for Youngstown on Saturday night, defensive lineman Eric Myers was slumped against the window with his head on a pillow and his eyes covered by a sleeping mask.

Wish I could do that.

10. Saturday was a weird day in the Missouri Valley.

Illinois State blows out South Dakota State. Northern Iowa loses to Indiana State. North Dakota State had to rally in the fourth quarter to beat Western Illinois.

Over the first month, we learned that the MVFC was the best conference in the FCS.

On Saturday, we learned it's not quite as top-heavy as everyone thought.

Stay tuned.