Youngstown State @ Southern Illinois

[ValleyTalk]

Youngstown State @
Southern Illinois

7:00pm/et
WCBC - LIVE
570 WKBN

As I stated on another thread, I feel these next two road games to open up conference play are the two most important games in the Wolford tenure. They are each very winnable and if we want to be a playoff team come November, these are two games we can ill-afford to lose.

It will once again come down to our defense, more specifically our shaky pass defense that has been torn apart the past two weeks. The defense has been bringing less pressure, yet still can't cover a simple slant pattern or pass to the sidelines. Granted, we had four defensive starters out yesterday with injuries, but after 4 years, that is no excuse for Coach Wolford and the staff.

I believe we will be able to shut down their rushing attack, but can we force 1-2 turnovers, specifically interceptions out of Faulkner's hands to take this one on the road?

I glanced at the SIU forum and they are in a similar state of uncertainty as they are unsure as to how their program stacks up against the top tier of our conference.

Last year, the SIU game single-handedly was one of the biggest implosions we've seen at Stambaugh Stadium in years. Kurt Hess had a game that was far worse than the debacle at NDSU, as he turned it over 4 times in the 2nd half as we lost to the Saluki's. That blocked punt that went for a touchdown for SIU was the main dagger in that meltdown. Can Kurt Hess and this team regroup and take one in Carbondale?

Will be very interesting to see. Glad we can watch it live on WBCB.

[ysufan0505]

Huge huge game

[Pita]

The fans at Carbondale are truly great hosts.  Will miss being there this year.
Hopefully we come home with a win.  Road warriors, cheer for me.  I'll be
missing you.

[penguinpower]

Well this is going to be the first real test of where we are.  I hear they have an excellent offense.  I hope the DL practices getting off their blocks and getting some pressure during practice this week.

[paladin]

I don't have a real feel for this game. At this point, YSU is where I thought they would be.  But my pre-season concern nags at me -- the OL isn't that good and the DL has problems too. That's the weak spots. Add in no depth at QB. We have tons of skill players, more DBs, lots of RBs , plenty of LBs and good kickers.  YSU should continue to score but just not as much against against a tougher schedule vs what has been a very weak schedule early on. And I'm afraid that the D won't stop the run  nor the pass as the pass rush is poor and if the DL  isn't healthy, won't stop the run either. The crap  shoot begins.

[penguinpower]

Why can't we get the players we need in the trenches?  Is it that we are young or is it that we don't have the people.  I listened to Hannon on the show last week and he interviewed Bricillo (Spelling?) and he said that he was deep on the OL. 

If they are deep is it that they are too young?  Why can't we get kids on the DL?

[paladin]

Combo of both on the OL. Elkins is the standout.  Sinko is competent. Eisenhuth is young and shows promise. The left side is the crap shoot. I don't see a left tackle and we are weak at LG. Depth ?  lol. I wanna drink what he's having, lol.  There are maybe two young guys that might work out in a couple   of years. The ability level is down from last year.

I see no depth on the DL and questions  on the front 4 who show no real pass rushing strength. And we'll see if they can stop the run. Dayton, Morehead and the Dukes were no match, but then they aren't really FCS caliber.

[IAA Fan]

Yes, so stats to consider:

In total offense, they are #4 in the MVFC ...31st nationally. They are behind YSU (23), SDSU (26) and NDSU (27). They run a lot of plays (306 avg per game) which is #2 nationally & #1 in the MVFC.

They are #1 in the conference is most every team passing stat. #24 nationally. However, they are very poor when it comes to efficiency, so they must run a lot of pattern plays.
Rushing they are #5 in the conference.

On defense, they are about as weak as we are ...neither of us in the top-50 & at the bottom of the MVFC. However, they are #1 in the conference against the run & have been averaging almost 4-sacks-per-game and lead the conference in TTFL.

They protect they protect the QB well ,,,#1 in the conference & #15 nationally. Despite this, they are only averaging about 42 more yards per game passing over the guins. They throw a lot of short-to-medium routes.

Faulkner completes almost twice as many passes-per-game as Hess.

They do have big play potential, but lack a power run game.

The top players to watch:

Receivers: Lance, Pruitt and McKinney.
Rushers: Malcom Agnew
Tacklers: Bryan Presume is a stud. Perhaps the best in the conference
McKinney is explosive on returns.

They average 10 PPG off of field goals.

[penguinpower]

You know it is getting pretty bad on here when we all  agree.

[penguinpower]

Lots of people on gas board picking the home team.  Hard not to argue with that based on the inconsistent play we have demonstrated. This will be a interesting game.  Let's hope all of our healthy  starters are back in the line up and the dl is ready to play.

[Wick250]

On a thread that did not take off for some reason, ValleyTalk called the next two games the biggest in Wolford's tenure.  I agree.  Southern Illinois and Indiana State will finish in the middle of the pack (regardless of how they fare against us.)  We did not pump all that money into coaching salaries and facilities to stay down there with this bunch.  Should we lose, Wolford effectively becomes a lame duck with one year plus left in his stewardship.  How will Wolford and his staff respond to this pressure?  Who knows?

The good thing is that Southern Illinois lost most of their strong defense from last season.  We all remember the turnovers (5) and the blocked punt.  If our o-line and d-line can just match their adversaries, we should be ok.  SIU has impressive offensive stats but, like us, gained them against weak opposition.  Eastern Illinois has a prolific offense, but they play no defense.  SIU did score 34 against Illinois in the opener, but Illinois was ahead 39-17 late in the third quarter.  Did they let down or is SIU that explosive?  I expect the former.  Road games are always difficult, but if we avoid turnovers and get our multiple skilled athletes the ball in space, we should prevail.  For the sake of Wolford, the university, the community, and all of us, we better prevail.  I don't want to relive the final two Heacock years.

[ValleyTalk]

Apparently everyone and their brother missed my thread from yesterday. Please merge the two IAAFAN:
http://ysupenguins.com/forum/index.php/topic,8391.0.html

[penguinpower]

The defense has not shown me that we are capable of winning in Carbondale. Dale Lennon is on the hot seat and they are at home. I feel that the only chance we have is good coverage and big plays by our secondary.  If our DL cannot get pressure with 4 down (playing straight)  I would coach the DB's to take pass interference penalties over allowing big receptions. That way we force their offense to work harder to get into the end zone, and maybe we coould even get a few picks off of the extra plays.

I would also have my DB's hit the receivers when the ball is snapped to prevent timing routs from connecting.

Man I wish we had a DL that could be disruptive with 3 guys like in the old days. It would make it so much easier on our LB's and DB's. They could look like superstars.

[ysufan0505]

I honestly can't say we're gonna win but whatever the result is, it will have a big impact on the rest of the season.

[ysuguins4]

This is the game that cost us the playoffs last year.  We handed them the win with the turnovers and blocked punt.  The team won't forget that, and will come out ready to play.  YSU 31 - 27.