Hunter Wells today!!!

[ysuguins4]

He is waaaaaaay better than Hess or any other qb we've had in the last 20 yrs.

Better than Brungard, Ryan, Zetts and Hess?  I'm not ready to say that yet, but I sure hope you wind up being right.  He needs to work on his ball handling skills, but I am very impressed with how calm he is in the pocket.  Will be interesting to see how he responds in his first road game, and now that teams will have more film on him.

[Wick250]

Wells has been very impressive, but let's not place this kid on a pedestal only to complain about him when adversity strikes.  The reality is we have three extremely difficult road games left, and we must win one of them to reach the playoffs.  It is unreasonable and unfair to expect a true freshman quarterback to excel in those environments.  If we are going to pull off an upset somewhere, we will need a complete team effort: the defense playing as well as they did against MSU and SIU, the offensive line dominating like they did on Saturday, and the special teams improving dramatically.  Solid coaching would not hurt either.

[jjysuwin]

I don't think it's fair to make Hunter into the best QB in YSU history.

But for Paladin to blast the kid and say he's terrible and we're lucky we won, is flat out stupid!

We dropped a TD pass of his and had to settle on a field goal. He doesn't bring up that.

As I've stated several times, Paladin is not a YSU fan. Not a season ticket holder. Not a Penguin Club member. Does not cheer when we win.

Someone who does not contribute financially or with emotional team spirit, is not a fan. He's a tire kicker.

[IAA Fan]

Wells has been very impressive, but let's not place this kid on a pedestal only to complain about him when adversity strikes.  The reality is we have three extremely difficult road games left, and we must win one of them to reach the playoffs.  It is unreasonable and unfair to expect a true freshman quarterback to excel in those environments.  If we are going to pull off an upset somewhere, we will need a complete team effort: the defense playing as well as they did against MSU and SIU, the offensive line dominating like they did on Saturday, and the special teams improving dramatically.  Solid coaching would not hurt either.

I hate to say this, as so many things can change; but as of right now: After WIU's loss this past weekend ...we probably need to win 2 of those road games. Unless we finish in first, once of those two wins needs to be a team above in conference standings & coaches poll.

[penguinpower]

He is waaaaaaay better than Hess or any other qb we've had in the last 20 yrs.

Better than Brungard, Ryan, Zetts and Hess?  I'm not ready to say that yet, but I sure hope you wind up being right.  He needs to work on his ball handling skills, but I am very impressed with how calm he is in the pocket.  Will be interesting to see how he responds in his first road game, and now that teams will have more film on him.

Brungard's last year was 1994 correct?  I thought about that but Ryan and Zetts were small and couldn't see over the line.  Ryan would try to force passes that got picked in big games.  I just really like this kid's release and poise in the pocket.  His ball placement has been incredible.

[Pita]

Wanna try this?
The Palain posts.....
IGNORE them....they'll go away

Try it!  You'll like i!  Guaranteed!

[Buddy]

Think Brungard's last year was 95

[DavedS]

Think Brungard's last year was 95

Think you are right--YSU was preseason choice to win title but ended up with terrible season.

[ysubigred]

Think Brungard's last year was 95

Think you are right--YSU was preseason choice to win title but ended up with terrible season.

Brungard was my favorite YSU QB... Thank you Phar-mor!

Phar-Mor was a United States chain of discount drug stores, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and founded by Michael "Mickey" Monus and David S. Shapira in 1982. Some of its stores used the names Pharmhouse and Rx Place (purchased in the mid-1990s from the F.W. Woolworth Company). Low prices were advertised to bring in a large volume of sales with the slogans "Phar-Mor power buying gives you Phar-Mor buying power" and "Phar-Mor For Less." Another common slogan in their TV commercials was "Power buying saves: Save at Phar-Mor."

[DavedS]

He was also my favorite---I was fairly certain that Hess wasn't your favorite.Phar-Mor also had Phar-Mor money listed on their inventories than was actually there--which led to their rapid expansion as well as eventual downfall.

[IAA Fan]

He was also my favorite---I was fairly certain that Hess wasn't your favorite.Phar-Mor also had Phar-Mor money listed on their inventories than was actually there--which led to their rapid expansion as well as eventual downfall.

They also sold Coke for Phar-less Coke than legally allowed ...and also Phar-less inventory than they reported. 

[Lets_Talk]

In my opinion, the 2 best QB's at YSU since moving to 1AA/FCS were Trenton Lykes and Nick Cochran.

Those of you who remember 86 and 87 will recall that YSU ran a traditional pro style offense. And, in 87, Trenton Lykes led YSU to an OVC Championship and first ever trip to the 1AA/FCS playoffs. Trenton set a then school record for passing yards with 2,452 in 1987, breaking the record he set in 86 of 2,138. This was at a time when offenses were much more balanced run and pass and well before spread offenses. The record stood until 1994, when Mark Brungard broke it by 1 yard (2,452). Trenton set the record in 12 games, Brungard broke the record in 14 games.

The 2,452 yards by Lykes in 1987 is 4th all time in YSU history.
Trenton has the 2nd and 3rd most completions in a single season...216 in 87 and 190 in 86
3rd all time in completions with 543
3rd all time in pass attempts 937
5th all time completion percentage - 57.9%
T4th 200 yard passing games - 10
4th in passing TD's - 40
T1st for 300 yard passing games - 4
2nd all time in avg passing yards per game - 176.8
5th all time in total offense yards - 6,846
4th all time total offense plays - 1,303
ALL time leader for passing yards by a Senior - 2,452
Most completions by a Junior - 190
First Team All OVC in 1987
OVC Offensive Player of Year - 1987

Due in large part to Nick going to OSU out of high school in 88 instead of straight to YSU, people only got to see a small glimpse of what Nick could do as QB. Had Nick gone to YSU right out of high school, he would have been the starting QB by the middle of the 88 season, and then started 89,90 and 91. YSU also would likely have never switched to the option, as that decision was made in large part to Ray Isaac being much more of a threat running than passing. As a 4 year starter, Nick would likely be in the top 5 of every career passing record plus total offensive yards and in the top 5 for many of the single season records for passing and total offensive yards


Nick passed for 2,196 yards and 12 TD's in 1992 while playing in an option offense and having 2 running backs gain more than 1,000 yards in Tamron Smith and Darnell Clark.... Nick was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player in 1992 also a Captain on the 1992 team
2,507 total offense yards in 92, the 4th most in YSU history
15th all time in completions - 169
14th career passing yards - 2,545
16th all time passing TD's - 16
20th total offensive yards career - 2,950
*** Most of the above was accomplished in the 92 season, though Nick did play in 90 and 91 as the backup to Isaac****


I think Demond Tidwell is the most underrated of the QB's at YSU during the 1AA/FCS era. Demond did a nice job as starter in 96(8-3) and 97(13-2 and won an NC). Also, in 94 as a Frosh, he started and played the entire game against McNeese State when Brungard was hurt.

[SoupCity]

Lets_Talk...Tidwell is still my favorite since the 90s.  That was a guy who probably had no business being a YSU QB.  But damn, he was the proverbial game manager and did pretty well.

[IAA Fan]

Good summary Lets_Talk. I think Tidwell had tons of talent. The problem is that Tressel switched us to the pro-set & literally ignored Tidwell. (If I had one bone to pick with him was that change). Tressel apologized during an interview about the lack of preparation with Demond. I also think that Demond had a tough time with Tressel running the ball so much.

Your take on Lykes and Cochran are "spot-on". Lykes was incredible, but most here would not remember him. He took on every challenge and always exceeded my expectations.

Interesting thoughts on Isaac. The thing that most do not realize about Ray is that he was far above YSU (as were many of our late 80's recruits that wanted a part of YSU's move to the MAC). He was bred to be a true Big-8 QB and really was headed in that direction. The issue was that the Big-8 really changed the way they played the game. The era of the big option offense was gone and Ray did not fit-in any more. Tressel aggressively pursued him and told Ray about the plan to build a team in the likeness of GA Southern. So with Ray, we had a QB at the talent level I-AA normally does not see. This can also be said about Cochran

[ysuguins4]

Cochran had a great season in 92, but I can't put him ahead of Issac, because Ray beat him out in 90 and 91.  You may be right about him coming to YSU right out of high school, but he didn't, so we'll never know.