Game preview from the Morehead paper
http://themoreheadnews.com/moreheadstatesports/x250208446/MSU-football-looks-to-rebound-against-Youngstown-StateBy MacKenzie Bates - Sports Editor
The Morehead News
Sept. 6, 2013 — New Morehead State football coach Rob Tenyer and the Eagles are eager to put last week’s 13-10 loss to the University of Pikeville behind them.
This week provides a new challenge, as the Eagles will fly north to face off with FCS Power No. 25 Youngstown State on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.
“I’m not disappointed in our effort and competitiveness,” Tenyer said. “We came out on the short end. Our mistakes stood out and came in critical times but that’s hard to digest. We’re a young football team.”
Last week in the 2013 debut against the Bears, the Eagles were out-rushed 191-107 but had 271 yards in the air on the arm of redshirt freshman Logan Johnson. Johnson completed 33-of-53 passes but had two big interceptions at key points in the game. Tenyer still has confidence in his starter.
“He’s a mature young man and understand his mistakes,” Tenyer said. “We have to fix some things and there’s an understanding of our tempo of our offense and what the philosophy is and that’s getting the ball out quicker. Logan is going to be OK.”
With the ground game still trying to take shape, Tenyer is hoping the running backs will be ready for Saturday, including Rees Macshara, who only had five carries on 28 yards after being injured last week.
“We got away from the run a little bit and tried to get the big play (last week against UPIKE),” Tenyer said. “This week will be tough. They’re big and tough and physical up front. We have to tweak things in the run game to get our guys going.”
The 25th ranked Penguins (1-0) opened the season with a 28-10 win over Dayton last Thursday. This is the first time since 1987 the two teams have squared off against each other when each school was in the Ohio Valley Conference. YSU leads the series 8-6 and has won the two most recent meetings played in Youngstown. Tenyer and his players know the task ahead of them.
“They’re full scholarship and in my opinion, one of the top 10 teams in the FCS,” Tenyer said. “It’s one game to prepare for each side. I want our guys to go up there, compete and play hard and see what happens.”
Tenyer added: “We have to make a major step in improvement from week one to week two. We have a superior opponent in Youngstown State,” Tenyer said. “Both of us have one game to prepare off and what you see is what you get. We’ll both make adjustments.”
The Eagles have one big key, which Tenyer believes is confidence to know that his team can play with anyone.
“Like I said last week, the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will likely be the team that comes out on top,” Tenyer said. “In year’s past we’ve gone into games like this where they think they might not win the game. It’s about going into a game no matter who, where or what time you’re playing. Just go out and compete and have fun and see what happens at the end of the game.”