Messages

1546

YSU Penguin Athletics / Basketball ticket "slight-of-hand" trick

« on: October 08, 2012, 12:41:16 PM »

As if Saturday were not going badly enough, I found my basketball season ticket packet in my mailbox.  The letter urging people to renew was there, complete with the prices and the statement that there will be 14 home games.  The renewal form was there.  Absent was any schedule and thus information about those three ooc garbage home games in December.  So our esteemed athletic department has developed this strategy: have uninformed fans hand in their money before they become aware that 21% of the product that they are buying consists of complete junk.  Classy plan.  Guaranteed to promote good will.

1547

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: North Dakota State defeats Youngstown State 48-7

« on: October 07, 2012, 11:06:56 AM »

On the matter of the defense, there is one thing that we should keep in mind.  Joe Tresey was hired before spring ball but after recruiting season.  Is that correct?  If so, he had no input into the selection of any player on the field, including the jucos.  He is merely playing with what he inherited.  Asking him to mold this bunch into an effective, hard-hitting defense might be like asking John J. McGraw to win with the current roster of the Cleveland Indians.  Not possible.  One thing is abundantly clear.  Wolford must allow Tresey to select each and every defensive recruit: high school, juco, or transfer.  Recruiting "athletes" that can not tackle must end.

1548

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: North Dakota State defeats Youngstown State 48-7

« on: October 06, 2012, 11:25:57 PM »

There is a very good possibility that this NDSU team is special, as in the special Georgia Southern team that crushed us in the 1999 championship game or the special Appalachian team that whipped us in the 2006 semis.  They might steamroll everybody in the league and beyond through the playoffs.  Of course, I shall retract that statement if Indiana State gives them a game next week.

We have six games left: six very winnable games.  Illinois State and SDSU have good records but they have played soft schedules so far.  Indiana State has Bell but no quarterback and Southern Illinois has no offense.  South Dakota and Western Illinois are very poor.  I expect our team to "man up," get their act together, and shake off this debacle.  This advice applies to the fans too, despite how angry and betrayed we feel this evening.

1549

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: NDSU v YSU Lets get it on !!

« on: October 03, 2012, 12:59:54 PM »

Strangely, I think that some over-zealous NDSU fans are placing the pressure for this game squarely upon their own team.  They keep talking about revenge, and quite a few are expecting a blowout.  They don't seem to even accept the possibility that YSU might have a lethal offense that their very good defense will be unable to contain.  Conversely, our players and fans are approaching this game realistically.  It will be extremely difficult and failure is possible, but we are not over-matched in any way.  I just have a feeling the defense will play as they did in Pittsburgh and that the smallest man on the field will play a huge role in the outcome of this contest.

1550

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: 10 NDSU players plead guilty today to voter fraud

« on: October 02, 2012, 03:10:59 PM »

Wolford substantially reduced  the playing time for two linebackers for the crucial Northern Iowa game.  Their "crime" was being late for a team meeting.  Should YSU players be convicted of a crime, regardless of the light sentences, I have no doubt that they would be suspended for a considerable period - possibly for the season.  What type of punishment will NDSU impose?  My prediction: nothing.  In a community where the football team seems to be at the epicenter of life, winning will trump character development every time.

1551

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Horizon League Expansion

« on: September 27, 2012, 04:11:37 PM »

All of these rumors seem to spring from Milwaukee fans who are somewhat delusional about the place of their university in the DI pecking order.  Why would Evansville be interested in the Horizon League now that Butler has departed?  What does Belmont bring to the Horizon League that would justify the ridiculous expense of sending Olympic sports teams to Tennessee each year?  Only Oakland makes sense, but only if they guarantee (in blood) to continue to operate a baseball team.

1552

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Recruiting: Why no commitments yet????!

« on: September 25, 2012, 11:34:55 PM »

My theory is that early commitments are not necessarily a good thing.  The kind of kid that we want is still dreaming of the "Big Time" in late September.  By next January, when that BCS offer does not come, YSU suddenly looks pretty good.  It would be interesting to know how many of our "impact" players committed to us before Christmas, and how many committed after the holidays.

1553

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU wins

« on: September 24, 2012, 11:00:40 PM »

On the radio show this evening, Wolford implied that the two Williams linebackers had their playing times reduced because they were tardy to a team meeting.  Hope he gets that straightened out.  Also, that makes me feel better about the defense than I did 48 hours ago.  With the absence of these two linebackers and the injuries on the d-line, that was not the same defense that contained Pittsburgh.  And we are going to really need THAT defense in the upcoming month.

1554

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: NDSU or UNI

« on: September 24, 2012, 12:45:05 PM »

I'm looking at the big picture here.  Beating NDSU again in Fargo will be difficult (but well within our capabilities.)  A UNI win next Saturday might be better for us.  Should we then fall to NDSU in two weeks, that would leave the three schools deadlocked in the league standings.  Should NDSU beat UNI and then beat us, we could wave goodbye to the autobid and the very high playoff seeding that will accompany it.

1555

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: YSU wins

« on: September 23, 2012, 11:40:13 AM »

Hess was magnificent, as was Cook, Shaw, and the rest of the skill-position athletes.  But let's not overlook the unsung heroes: the offensive line was brilliant.  They opened holes against a stacked box, and they picked up most of the Northern Iowa blitzes. 

As for the defense, did anyone notice the absence of the two Williams (#3 and #6) at linebacker for much of the game?  Also, DeKraker played very little on the d-line.  At times the defense had the character of a make-shift unit which might account for some of our issues there.  And the favorite whipping boy of some, D'Alesio, broke up two critical passes: on third down with the score tied at 35 which forced UNI to punt, and naturally on the last play of the game.

Against Pittsburgh, Albany, and UNI we have outscored the opposition in the fourth quarter and closed out the games.  That is a refreshing change from the two previous seasons.   

As far as crowd noise, all we need to do is put in place a plan some of us talked about last year.  Put a crowd mic in front of the band and have them play between plays.  Fans will respond to chords from the fight song blaring on the public address system much more than to canned music or the pleas of a p.a. announcer.

1556

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Northern Iowa Week

« on: September 17, 2012, 01:07:49 PM »

Reports indicate that Northern Iowa sustained serious injuries to two starting linebackers on Saturday.  That cannot hurt our chances.  As YSUGO suggested, they probably intended to move up their safeties and force us to throw.  Now they might be absolutely forced to take that course in order to support their second string linebackers.  We should enjoy one-on-one coverage for our receivers all over the field.

1557

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Post Game Albany thoughts

« on: September 16, 2012, 11:28:32 PM »

Pioneer, good observations.  I will not make excuses for our lackluster performance, but anybody who has played a team sport knows that it is nearly impossible to operate at the highest level for every game.  Playing flat and still winning is an important step in the maturation of this team.  Consider two other games that took place in Ohio on Saturday.  California is to Ohio State what Albany is to YSU.  Same kind of flat performance but still a positive result.  I'm sure that OSU fans (of which I am clearly not one) are more paranoid than ours have been over the past day.  Or how about Cincinnati.  They followed up their win over Pittsburgh with a lackluster performance against a bad Delaware State team.  Just learn from the mistakes in this game and move on.

1558

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Northern Iowa Week

« on: September 15, 2012, 11:31:53 PM »

The biggest problem on our football team is the complete lack of a pass rush from the front four.  The Albany quarterback was real comfortable back there for most of the game.  I am also displeased with the play of our secondary, but no secondary can lock down receivers beyond a certain time frame.  I saw little or no blitzing today, but we better start to do that next week....a lot.  Northern Iowa also has an inexperienced quarterback, but he has three times the talent of the kid from Albany.  Let him get comfortable and it will be a very miserable night.

1559

Site Issues, Updates and Additions / Re: Can we put basket ball in its own thread please?

« on: September 11, 2012, 07:54:15 PM »

Why is this an issue?  Indy clearly listed "basketball recruiting targets" in his heading.  If you are not interested, just don't read it.

1560

YSU Penguin Athletics / Re: Albany

« on: September 10, 2012, 12:39:19 PM »

Ruler,

Thanks for the information.  We won four national titles during the 90s with very strong defenses.  But defense has been an issue the past two years, and we are desperately trying to improve it.  Sounds like your power running game will provide us with an excellent test and barometer on our progress.  We did force Pittsburgh to throw more often than they wanted, and we would certainly like to force your young qb into a similar situation.

On the other hand, this is the best offense in YSU history.  It features probably the best FCS offensive line in the country, an outstanding junior qb who started as a freshman, multiple talents at running back, receiver, and tight end.  Power, speed, depth...it has the whole package.  If you can contain this offense, you will breeze through the NEC and send a big message to the CAA.