1. Now that YSU has wrapped up the pay-the-bills portion of its schedule, what do we know?

    a. YSU isn't as good as a bad Big Ten team but is much better than partial-scholarship FCS teams.

    b. The offense is still pretty darn good without Kurt Hess.

    c. This year's defense isn't as good as this year's offense, but it should be better than last year's defense.

    d. Joey Cejudo is a very good kicker. The rest of the special teams, including Cejudo's punting, has ranged from mediocre to shaky.

    e. There's still a lot we don't know.

2. After Saturday's win, defensive end Derek Rivers said he thought Saint Francis was the best of YSU's three FCS opponents.

I disagree. I think Duquesne was clearly the best — the scoreboard backs that up — and yet I don't think the Dukes could beat any of the teams in the Missouri Valley. That's why so many of Saturday's postgame press conference questions were a variation on this one: "Did your schedule prepare you for Missouri Valley play?"

I loved Eric Wolford's answer: "I don't think anything, unless you're playing a bunch of Big Ten teams or something, gets you ready for our conference."

Even if you're 100 percent behind Ron Strollo's decision to schedule lower-level FCS schools — I'm not, but I understand that view — we can agree on this: YSU would be better-prepared for the MVFC schedule if it had played better teams.

3. Does this mean this year's team is doomed? Far from it.

Last year's team played a similar schedule, although the FBS game was in Week 3 and YSU didn't have a bye before MVFC play, and the Penguins managed to win their first five conference games.

Like last year, the first MVFC game is key. YSU went on the road last season and rallied to beat Southern Illinois. It was a confidence-building win against one of the better teams in the MVFC.

This year, the Penguins start at Missouri State. The Bears are 3-1 and, like the Salukis last season, they look to be an above-average MVFC team.

An opening win would be huge for YSU's confidence and, maybe, its playoff hopes.

4. One of the big questions entering this season was, "Who are the playmakers on defense?"

Last year's defense didn't really have any. This year's defense might, starting with Rivers and weakside linebacker Dubem Nwadiogbu.

As a freshman last year, Rivers was mostly used as a situational pass rusher, but even in limited duty, you could see his potential. He was the one edge rusher who scared people, but he needed to work on his run defense and add more pass-rushing moves.

"I came in with my first step being really fast," he said. "What I really did was improve my hand placement and my strength.

"Now they use me as an every-down guy. I'm out there to ball just like everyone else."

Rivers had two sacks against Saint Francis. He has four of YSU's five sacks this season. He has six tackles for loss, also a team-high. And he's just scratching the surface.

Rivers, a Kinston, N.C., native who came to YSU from Fork Union Military Academy, is listed at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and, believe me, he looks it. His biceps are cartoonish. Nothing against YSU, but you can't help thinking, "How is this kid not playing in the ACC?" He could be a monster in two years.

As for Nwadiogbu, he looks like a totally different player than he was last year. After earning a starting job in 2012, he tore his ACL and still wasn't fully recovered last fall. But this year, he looks like the type of playmaking linebacker YSU hasn't had since 2011 when then-freshman Davion Rogers was swallowing up slot receivers with his giraffe-like frame.

Nwadiogbu is second on the team in tackles (his 33 are one behind Julius Childs) and second in tackles for loss (four).

5. Not that most of you care, but Nwadiogbu is also one of the team's best interviews. On Saturday night, he said he got too amped up for games last season, so this year's he's been staying low-key by listening to some of his dad's old-school favorites like Barry White and Ray Charles before the game.

How can you not love that?

6. YSU could use another playmaker on the defensive line and you can't help wondering if defensive end Vince Coleman would have been that guy.

After a nondescript 2013, Coleman had a really nice spring camp. But http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/aug/02/ysu-roundup-more-news-and-notes-from-sta/?newswatch" target="_blank">he ended up leaving the team just before training camp after his family ran into some financial trouble.

7. Davion Rogers, by the way, remains the most physically gifted player I've seen in my five years covering YSU. If he was driven to be great, I think Rogers could have been a second-round draft pick. But he wasn't and he ended up leaving the team. http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/nov/20/warrant-issued-in-shooting/" target="_blank">He was hospitalized in a shooting in Warren last November.

8. It's amazing to think that, three years ago, YSU was starting three freshmen linebackers and only one of them is still with the team.

Middle linebacker Teven Williams was kicked off the team before spring camp and Travis Williams mostly plays special teams now. Travis might be the second-most gifted player I've covered at YSU and you can still see him blowing up blockers on kick coverage. But he's just not consistent enough.

9. I haven't said much about the offense, but I've really been impressed with WR Jelani Berassa, who had three touchdowns against Butler. He looks like the 2011 version of himself.

That 2011 offense was probably the best of Wolford's tenure and Berassa was a big reason why. At 6-foot-4, he's built like a big possession receiver but he's athletic enough (when his knees are healthy) to take the top off a defense.
Between him and Andrew Williams (also 6-4), you've got two matchup nightmares for opposing teams.

10. Prediction time. I think the Penguins will go 8-4 with a 5-3 mark in the league. I think they'll make the playoffs. I think they'll lose in the second round of the playoffs and I think Wolford will sign a multi-year extension.

I always say, August is a time for optimism.

September too, apparently.