YSU at Missouri State in-Game Thread

[Petey]

Held them to 7 at their place!!..........Like what I see!!

GOOOOOOOOOO  GUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ysufan0505]

Nania has a strong arm. Problem is, he cannot see over the O-Line, which makes him run around and scramble, which makes him miss wide open guys down the field. He's not particularly fast, and does not really make good decisions running the ball either... Idk, not saying we CAN'T win with Dante, but the offense needs some work. Montgomery needs to get his head out of his A** and stop running east and west so much. And how about hitting our big TE Adams??? Like to see him involved more. A win is a win. Love the defense right now! Go Guins.

[ohiofootball]

Defense wins championships!

[DavedS]

Nania has a strong arm. Problem is, he cannot see over the O-Line, which makes him run around and scramble, which makes him miss wide open guys down the field. He's not particularly fast, and does not really make good decisions running the ball either... Idk, not saying we CAN'T win with Dante, but the offense needs some work. Montgomery needs to get his head out of his A** and stop running east and west so much. And how about hitting our big TE Adams??? Like to see him involved more. A win is a win. Love the defense right now! Go Guins.

Totally agree--especially about Adams--he's a weapon that needs to be used.

[ohiofootball]

The O left a lot of points on the field. TD called back for holding, missed field goal and tipped pass for an interception in the red zone. Score should have been at least 27-0 and everyone is happy today

[DoubleE]

The O left a lot of points on the field. TD called back for holding, missed field goal and tipped pass for an interception in the red zone. Score should have been at least 27-0 and everyone is happy today

no the offense left alot more points on the field then that. It should have been 28-0 at the half

[SoupCity]

At the end of the day, a win is a win.  What this one showed YSU was that the defense has a very good chance of no longer being a liability.  As a matter of fact, it can provide the lift that the offense WILL need throughout the season.  They made big plays the entire game and that goal line stand (even though MSU eventually scored), was HUGE.  This game actually took me back to the 90s (although I hate that we refer to that time frame so often).  I believe like most of you, a strong defense can make this team special. 

Offensively, it's a project.  Everyone knew that it would be.  I agree that it seems the 2nd half of games become even more predictable (as it did a lot during the previous 4 years).  But, I'm not going to dog on Nania, I think he can be a great game manager, given the opportunity.  Contrary to what some think, I believe he has a very strong arm.  This coaching staff needs to really develop his strengths.  I also agree with everyone on the TE position, why isn't the ball thrown their way more often. 

Yesterday was a great measuring stick for YSU.  Was MSU as good as advertised?  My thinking today, probably not.  But let's face it, they've beaten better competition than YSU has at this point.  Hopefully this win will prove to be the stepping stone that Wolford and YSU needed. 

[Wick250]

We are now big Missouri State fans.  We need this to be considered a quality win.  We need to hope that Harris really is a proficient quarterback.  Our defense made him look like just an athlete who was playing out of position.  I was amazed at the pressure that we generated and our ability to prevent him from hurting us with his legs.

As others have mentioned, the big problem with Nania is his lack of height.  That was most evident on that deflected interception inside the red zone.  As 0505 just suggested, he is not really very fast.  I expected at the least a runner who could harm a defense if he was flushed out of the pocket (like a Jeff Ryan.)  We have not seen that....at all. 

[FOOTBALLFEVER]

Ysufan0505 Just nailed it!! Hopefully coach Montgomery can get it figured out. If not Defenses in the conference will have a field day!!

[penguinpower]

Nania has a strong arm. Problem is, he cannot see over the O-Line, which makes him run around and scramble, which makes him miss wide open guys down the field. He's not particularly fast, and does not really make good decisions running the ball either... Idk, not saying we CAN'T win with Dante, but the offense needs some work. Montgomery needs to get his head out of his A** and stop running east and west so much. And how about hitting our big TE Adams??? Like to see him involved more. A win is a win. Love the defense right now! Go Guins.

My sentiments exactly

[paladin]

Height isn't the issue. YSU had  a lot of 6', 6'1 QBs and none had problems seeing over the OL. Nania has several problems -- he isn't always accurate when rushed, doesn't always throw a good spiral to catch and tends to look down a receiver telegraphing where the ball is going    . However, he holds a ball rather than being rushed to throw it up for grabs and is athletic when he pulls it down to run with it. Here again however, he lacks the anticipation to do that, being slow to make that decision or react.  But the coaches have confidence he will do what they want in managing the game to limit mistakes and turn-overs.  Since there isn't a good QB on the team, this is the next best option.

I tried to tell everyone after last season they would face this in the QBs and how it would limit what they do on O with the run game being the game plan and limit the pass game to controlling the  ball with mostly short throws.  There was one play where the OL gave him great protection and he didn't get any pressure and he hit the WR on an accurate long ball for the TD that got called back. No pressure, a good route by the WR and he'll SEE that play everytime and hit it. Is that TALL enough ? lol

FRankly, anyone thinking that a true 6'5 skinny  FRosh is going to be better should be willing to lose a couple of games  to find out he ain't ready. Since the coaches are more concerned with actually winning games than some clueless fans, I don't think you see Nania pulled for a deer in the headlights !   

[penguinpower]

Paladin I don't think height is the issue either. With Zetts it was an issue.  However the play calling has been terrible in the second half of most games.   What's up with that?  Montgomery needs to pull his head out of his ass

[paladin]

While watching the game on TV, I got the impression that YSU thought its OL was handling the DL of MSU and if you look at the stats, that's true. There can be stretches in a game where 1.) to run off clock you keep it on the ground or 2.) are guessing that the OL can still get yds on the DL. They ran it up the middle ( I think at the LB bubble) and it kept getting shutdown. I like ( and they do too) the OGs ( Brock & Colucci). I'm not sold on the C. That's the weak spot on the OL. But it may have been the spot they thought they could run.  THey were giving the ball to Ruiz ( your best back) with the best hands ( fumbles) on the team running simple plays. Ball control, clock management, field position and a good D game was their thoughts going down to the end. No one wanted to risk  anything keeping it vanilla. I thought MSU would  be better and maybe they are ,but  it didn't look it.  They won, on the road ,against a ranked team and almost pitched a shutout. Works for me.

[seanbryan3]

YSUFAN505 i think.. I agree my man with the TE! It's like we don't have one, and Nate is an athletic and talented football player! Nice to get him involved. I still love drag routes with receivers as well, we don't run many, actually we never throw the ball in the middle of the field, wish we did sometimes.

[ysufan0505]

YSUFAN505 i think.. I agree my man with the TE! It's like we don't have one, and Nate is an athletic and talented football player! Nice to get him involved. I still love drag routes with receivers as well, we don't run many, actually we never throw the ball in the middle of the field, wish we did sometimes.

Yep, would be nice to have Nate going down the seams and Bryan who is very sure handed coming across the middle. Where is any of that? And we need to get Wheary back, who is quick and can run some good routes.