Messages

181

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Men's basketball

« on: December 02, 2022, 11:57:49 PM »

Ironically, our women found themselves in the exact same situation in the last thirty seconds on the same floor this evening. With the game tied, the play that Barnes drew up did not work. So when it was obvious that things had gone wrong, one of our players did something remarkable.  She actually called timeout with three seconds left on the shot clock instead of firing a wild shot. Imagine that. Using a timeout to escape a jam.  Barnes drew up a new play, we got the ball into Ritz, and she scored what would be the winning basket.

I don't know how Calhoun can face his players after his coaching blunders on Thursday.

182

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Men's basketball

« on: November 28, 2022, 12:07:37 PM »

The team that played pathetic defense for the first 13 minutes at Western Illinois will finish in the second division of the Horizon League.

The team that played fantastic defense for the last 7 minutes of the first half at Western Illinois will contend for the Horizon League title.

Playing defense is hard.  It is not any fun. It requires dedication and commitment to your teammates.  Does this team have those traits?  We start to find out during the toughest league road trip starting on Thursday.

183

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Football Offseason Discussion

« on: November 23, 2022, 10:21:13 AM »

Prior to this season, a quarterback who was a traditional passer had little reason to consider YSU.  First Pelini and then Phillips seemed committed to "dual threat" quarterbacks. With the insertion of Davidson into the lineup, that has now changed. YSU now could be attractive to a strong passer as Phillips has proven he will use a balanced offense.

The biggest mystery for next season is the status of the running backs. Nobody will replace Jaleel, but can any of the five freshmen running backs on our roster demonstrate that they can play in this conference?

184

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Why they would choose us for the playoffs

« on: November 21, 2022, 07:40:24 PM »

Wick,

I gave your suggestion to Viverito as a reform.

Thanks Power.  Even if they just released power rankings starting in November that would make the process more transparent, as well as covering the committee's back side.

185

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Why they would choose us for the playoffs

« on: November 20, 2022, 05:28:04 PM »

Reading these comments, the only thing that surprised me is that some of you are surprised. The NCAA selection committee has been a corrupt institution for decades. The NCAA organization really does not care about IAA/FCS football.  They know this system is flawed but have failed to fix it for generations.

If the NCAA were interested in running an honest playoff, they need do only three simple things.

First, eliminate the conference ADs and staff the committee with about five retired, well-respected football people who no longer had any institutional affiliation.  And pay them well for their service.

Second, publish for all to see the criteria that will be used for at-large selections.  And stick to that criteria.

Third, and most importantly, how the five-man committee release a power ranking of all teams with a .500 or above record after the games on the first Saturday of November.  And make it clear that the at-large bids will come from that list.  You may or may not like your position, but you would know exactly where you stood. And the possibility for corruption would dramatically decrease.

That is what the NCAA would do if they cared.  They don't.

186

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Why they would choose us for the playoffs

« on: November 19, 2022, 05:26:32 PM »

To be honest, our odds entering today at 7-4 didn't look great, but some things are happening in our favor...

1. Villanova blocked a punt with under 2 minutes left and shocked Delaware 29-26. Delaware would have had 8 wins had they won, they are stuck at 7.

2. Montana is getting absolutely slaughtered against their arch rival Montana State right now. The Bobcats are up 48-14 in the 4th quarter. Remember the year YSU beat Pitt and started 4-0, then proceeded to lose 4 in a row, before finishing with 3 wins and ending the campaign with 7 wins... did we make it in? No. Well Montana started 5-0 and is on the verge of ending this season going 2-4 down the stretch.

3. Western Carolina just beat a 7 win Chattanooga after scoring a TD on 4th and goal at the 1 with under a minute left. Chattanooga lost 3 of their 4 final four games.

4. YSU did with 5 of their last 6 games to get to this point... call them weak or not.. but this is the VALLEY.

Excellent points. Unfortunately, this is the year that the jealous athletic directors on the committee from weak conferences take their revenge against the MVFC.

187

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU PSU

« on: November 16, 2022, 07:40:07 AM »

Excellent effort. Led several times in the second half.  Down by only six with under four minutes left. Like the men it will take time to build cohesion between the returners and the transfers. If that happens, we will be very good.

188

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Mo State Week

« on: November 10, 2022, 11:08:43 PM »

I see that the game is on ESPN3 not ESPN+. Is it going to be on regular tv?

No. This will be the Game of the Week telecast in the MVFC. No local station is allowed to carry the game; ESPN monopoly.  However, if you subscribe to any cable or streaming service that includes ESPN, you do get access to ESPN3 online.

189

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Mo State Week

« on: November 09, 2022, 01:50:25 PM »

On the road against a mobile quarterback who is an effective passer. Sounds like a nightmare!  But if you look at the conference-only game stats, MSU has some issues:

They are tenth in rushing at just 111 ypg.
They are ninth in total defense and last in passing defense (274 ypg.)
In six games, their quarterback has been sacked 22 times, last in the league. (13 for us by comparison)
Their defense has produced only 7 sacks in those six games (14 for us by comparison)

Let's hope that our players can rise to the occasion in the most important November game in six years.

190

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Bracket prediction by Hero Sports

« on: November 08, 2022, 02:01:25 PM »

All of the "experts" that make these brackets are projecting us to lose this week or next.  These same experts are telling you how weak the MVFC is this season, ignoring the fact that the MVFC is still the top-rated FCS conference (although the usual large margin of superiority is gone.) I agree that we get pushed aside at 7-4.  8-3 (6-2 in league) is the suddenly attainable goal.  Who would have thought that in August?

191

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Win out We are in!!! YSU controls its fate for playoff push!

« on: November 06, 2022, 10:37:39 PM »

That’s why I struggle with how FCS is put together. They can get an auto bid and I guess they spend half the money and have a High school stadium.  Makes no sense

I could be wrong but once upon a time some of these leagues did not get an auto bid, correct? Only when the field was expanded. I guess it is smart of some of these teams/leagues to spend so little but still have the excitement of making the play-offs. But the reality is that they have very little chance of winning it all.

According to the NCAA bylaws for FCS, the number of auto bids can never exceed the number of at-large bids. So when the NCAA granted auto bids to teams from the Pioneer League and the NEC, they also increased the number of at-large spots.  That is the main reason the tournament has now grown to 24.  So having these teams from the weak conferences participate is actually good for us and other members of the power conferences. The MVFC, CAA, and Big Sky almost always gobble up the extra bids.

192

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Illinois St vs Youngstown St. Game day thread

« on: November 05, 2022, 10:09:26 PM »

To put this accomplishment into perspective, Ohio State played in the same vicious wind in Chicago and scored only 21 points against lowly Northwestern. That makes our drive into that wind in the closing minute even more impressive.

A special Penguin thank you to the Illinois State player that was called for holding as they attempted to run out the clock.  If not for your generous gift, we would have got the ball back with about 26 seconds left instead of 66.

Since we won I will bring this up.  As several mentioned during the game, that was a pathetic technical broadcast. Illinois State University should be ashamed to hire such an obviously incompetent production crew.

193

YSU Penguin Athletics / Still Relevant in November

« on: November 01, 2022, 11:58:37 AM »

For the first time in six years, we are playing football games that mean something down the stretch. The team that we witnessed on Saturday is capable of winning out. But the big question....the only question....is this: can we take that confidence and intensity on the road?  Carbondale in 2021 or Macomb in 2022?

194

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: SDU week

« on: October 28, 2022, 02:24:02 PM »

It's always hard to judge how many folks are in the loges and I sit on the East side.

How many folks are usually in them?

Loges have been rather packed.

According to the university site, there are now 26 loges after the coaches and media migrated to the east side. They are always sold out. It is safe to add at least 1,000 to the number of fans that are outside in any game.

195

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: SDU week

« on: October 27, 2022, 11:12:48 AM »

It is hard to be confident after we just struggled to beat two bad teams. Here are a few things that could work in our favor this Saturday.

Like us, South Dakota is a bad road team. I base that on previous years, not their brutal 2022 schedule.

When a team benches its three-year starting quarterback in the middle of a game, it might be a sign of systemic problems.

Davidson was terrible for most of the game last week.  Yet he made all the plays under pressure in the final three minutes.  That showed us something.

As bad as they are, both Indiana State and Western Illinois have a talented wide receiver, a commodity that we can't guard. The leading receiver for South Dakota is one of their running backs. That is probably a very good thing.