Archive for the ‘YSU Football’ Category

A college football program is a big step up from a high school football team.  Even at the high school level, not too many freshmen play for the varsity team.  In a freshman-packed defense, Youngstown State University is gaining experience, valuable experience, where many of its members are new to college.  Coach Eric Wolford and his staff have recruited tirelessly to bring in some of the most talented athletes this country has to offer.  Wolford will never use the youth movement as an excuse for losing.

Southern Illinois (2-3, 1-2) expected more this season, just like YSU (2-3, 1-2).  The two teams paths will cross Saturday and one team will feel like they have advanced forward at the final whistle, while the other team will continue to search for answers.  The fact that these two teams share the same record is interesting in the sense that YSU can score and has, all season.  Southern Illinois has a tremendous defense.  The Salukis held North Dakota State, a team averaging 38 points per game,  to 60 yards rushing last week in a 9-3 loss.

“They have improved tremendously on defense”, said Coach Wolford of SIU.  “It should be a very aggressive football game that is filled with unique match-ups.  They have a running back, Jewel Hampton, who you can tell lifts weights and runs very hard.  Their quarterback [Kory Faulkner] does a very good job of managing the game.”

“We’re still upbeat”, said Freshman WR Christian Bryan (above).  “We have had two tough losses in two games we feel we should have won.  In no way, shape, or form, has anyone on this team quit.  When we have somebody down, we need to finish them off, it is like we are missing that sense of urgency.”

Freshman LB Teven Williams also echoed positive sentiments.  “We have the talent to be great, there are just a few little things that need fixed.  We still feel our goal of making the playoffs is attainable.  When we have lost, it’s been on us this season, not anything the other team did.  Against Southern Illinois, we have to control the line of scrimmage and if everybody does their part, we will be fine.”

The Salukis have not lost to YSU in Carbondale since 2001, they have not lost a Homecoming game in nine years, and YSU has not won on the road in the conference under Wolford yet.  Last year, Youngstown State got by Southern Illinois by the score of 31-28 at Stambaugh Stadium.  The dynamic of Shane Montgomery’s offense can make all of those statistics meaningless with a solid performance against Southern Illinois’ powerful defense.   Kurt Hess remains the glue, Jamaine Cook is having an All-American type of year, the line is maturing, and the receiving group has improved light years since Spring. Once this defense matures, beware.

“Everyone has had adversity in their lives”, said Wolford.  “Someone will get a phone call and get bad news today.  Adversity develops character and toughness and builds a stronger mentality.  I would admit if we were being out-schemed, but we aren’t.  We give these guys a game plan and you have got to line up right and get it done.  I have been on the floor many times, but I always get up.  This team will have it’s day and I wish I could say when, and I can’t say when, but I promise, that day is coming.”

This Saturday’s Youngstown State at Southern Illinois football game will be televised locally on WBCB “The CW”. Kickoff for the contest is slated for 3:05 p.m. Eastern Time/2:05 p.m. Central Time.

Armstrong Cable customers can watch the game on Channel 16 while Time Warner subscribers can see the game on Channel 14.  21 WFMJ and WBCB will also televise the Penguins’ games at UNI on Nov. 5 and at North Dakota State on Nov. 12.

As always, the game will be available on 570 WKBN beginning with the pregame show at 1:30 p.m.

Youngstown State seems to be struggling for answers to this point of their season.  For the second conference game in a row, YSU played a very strong second half on both sides of the ball, but came up short, falling 35-28 to South Dakota State.  The loss marks the fourth time the Jackrabbits have got by the Penguins (2-3 ,1-2) since they joined the conference four years ago.

“We settled down a little bit in the second half.  It is very difficult when you take a lead.  We just haven’t arrived yet and we are going to have to make some changes, put some different guys in spots and do something different.”, said coach Eric Wolford.  “There is plenty of blame to spread around, but there is plenty of football left.  We have had so many losses and I have coached a lot of football, and this was a difficult loss.  Give them credit, they played hard.  They recruit too, they have scholarships too.”

YSU put the first points on the scoreboard when Jamaine Cook tallied for a seven-yard strike capping off a nice eleven play, 75 yard drive which featured some new wrinkles.  Those new wrinkles included using a three-back set with TE David Rogers lined up in the backfield and Adaris Bellamy motioning out of the backfield.

The Penguins lead would be short lived as the Jackrabbits put up two touchdowns by the end of the quarter to hold a 14-7 lead. Tyrel Kool punched in the first score from a yard out.  On their next possession, Dale Moss hauled in a 27-yard pass from Austin Sumner to give the Jackrabbits the seven point advantage.

In the second quarter, Youngstown State scored when Kurt Hess found Christian Bryan for the first time in the game on a 51-yard completion.  The scoring drive took four plays and covered 75 yards.  South Dakota State managed to put up another touchdown before intermission when Sumner found Brandon Hubert with 16 ticks left on the clock.

Once play resumed, the Penguins came out looking like a different team. Jelani Berassa hauled in a 48-yard pass from Hess to tie the game at 21.  On the ensuing possession, Sumner made a bad read and found the Penguins Sam LB Davion Rogers who returned the pick 27 yards for a score and a 28-21 YSU lead.

In the final quarter, SDSU manufactured an 88 yard scoring drive in 14 plays.  The drive was capped off when Sumner threw his third TD of the day, this one a five-yarder to Aaron Rollin, to tie the game, 28-28.

The Penguins went to work in the fourth quarter of a tie game.  Hess led the offense on a nice drive in which the Penguins converted a fourth-and-two on SDSU’s 41 to keep the drive going.  The Penguins would settle for a field goal attempt by punter Nick Liste , not kicker David Brown, that was unsuccessful.  The 44-yard try sailed just to the right of the goalpost.

On the very next play, Sumner found Rollin with an out-and-up pump fake that froze Jimmy May.  Rollin caught the ball at about YSU’s 25 and trotted in giving the Jackrabbits a 35-28 lead.

YSU got the ball back with 5:55 left in the game.  The drive started on their own 45 yard line thanks to an excessive celebration penalty on South Dakota State’s touchdown, and the actual kickoff going out of bounds.  Cook rattled off 18 yards on the first play to get down to the SDSU 37.  A holding penalty against YSU’s Chris Elkins backed the Penguins up into a 2nd & 16 situation, and the Penguins would fail to convert the opportunity into points.

The Penguins got the ball back with 2:30 left in the game.  Hess, again, led a poised drive down the field, this one with no timeouts.  YSU got all the way to the Jackrabbits 17-yard line but could not convert a fourth-and-ten, losing the ball on downs.

Kurt Hess finished the game 18-34 for 243 yards, was picked off twice and had a couple of touchdowns.  Jamaine Cook finished with 107 rushing yards on 18 carries, he also caught four balls for 40 yards.  Teven Williams had 10 tackles, six solo, for the Penguin defense.

Andrew Johnson, another captain, commented on the loss.  “Words can’t explain it.  We started slow and we are a lot more talented than we were last year.  I can’t really explain it.  We go hard and try our best.”  Johnson finished the game with two sacks.

“We had them”, said Cook.  “We got in some third-and-long situations and Kurt had to try to come out and scramble around to try to make plays.  We have to keep things from falling apart.  As a captain, I am committed to doing that.”

For the Jackrabbits, Sumner was 22-35 for 345 yards.  Aaron Rollin finished with 155 yards on 8 catches.  Zach Zenner led the ground attack with 97 yards on 16 carries.

Youngstown State has some proving to do this week.  In their last game, the Penguins dropped a contest at Indiana State, the first time that has ever happened.  The Penguins have had two weeks to sharpen up their fundamentals and get back into the confident mindset that was to propel this team to loftier goals this year.  YSU can pull off their own first if they can beat South Dakota State this Saturday.  If the Penguins can defeat the Jackrabbits, it would mark their first win since South Dakota State joined the conference in 2008.

“We learned our lesson”, said Coach Eric Wolford on the loss to Indiana State.  “You can never forget about the fundamentals.  When you are not as mature as you would want to be, you just go through the motions and run plays.  No good disciplined routes, no blocking fundamentals… it’s not an excuse, it is just part of maturing, and hopefully we grew up quick and learned our lesson.”

South Dakota State is looking to avoid their first five game losing streak since 2000.  They have had nightmares trying to run the ball, averaging a paltry 2.3 yards peer attempt.  They are having issues with turnovers, stopping the run, and had a key member, QB Thomas O’Brien quit the team two weeks ago.  O’Brien (below) threw a couple of touchdown passes against the Penguins last season.  The three-year starter has been replaced by redshirt freshman, Austin Sumner.

The Penguins offense has been effective in every game this season. Jamaine Cook has racked up 501 in four games.  Kurt Hess has a 9:2 touchdown to interception ratio and has been poised no matter what the situation is.  The defensive line seems to be getting better and the biggest question to be answered on defense is whether or not a freshman-dominant linebacking group and a very young, repatched secondary can respond to a little adversity.

Junior OT, D. J. Main, knows Saturday is a bigger challenge than the records may indicate.  “South Dakota State is a good team and their record is deceiving.  They are well-coached and we will have our hands full.  We have watched a lot of film and when you see a few repetitive things, you get a better idea of what they might do.”

Jackrabbits linebacker Dirk Kool thinks that his team is prepared.  “We looked at films of last years game against Youngstown State and we also watched their game against Indiana State.  From a preparation standpoint, we don’t see much to prepare for that we have not already seen from them.  We have a lot of respect for Youngstown State, and our motivation is just to go 1-0 every week.”

YSU Director of Football Operations, Dan Kopp (above), talked about the obstacles the Penguins have endured leading up to the South Dakota State game.  “We did not tackle or block well against Indiana State and you can not win football games without those fundamentals in place.  South Dakota State has had our number the last few years, so we have a huge task in front of us Saturday.  We can’t afford to give up long touchdown runs on the first play of the game, or for that matter, the first couple of series.  It will be imperative that we start fast.”

Kickoff for Saturday is set for 4 p.m.

Selected as the best and brightest from the college gridiron, The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today the 127 candidates for the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments®, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans in higher education. The 127 nominees also comprise the list of semifinalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.

Youngstown State senior defensive tackle Andrew Johnson (Above, right) is one of 33 Football Championship Subdivision student-athletes who were nominated for the award.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Wednesday, October 26. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2011 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City be honored Dec. 6 during the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.

Goals were set.  Plans were made.  Things can change.  Coming off of a 37-35 loss at Indiana State last weekend, Coach Eric Wolford and his staff have fallen back into a fundamentals approach.  YSU tackled poorly, especially in the first half, in their loss to the Sycamores.  The good news is that it is only one loss and that there is time to regroup.

“It is only one loss and there is a lot of season left”, commented Wolford.  “We have to get back to some fundamental things.  We felt like Indiana State did a couple things fundamentally better than us at a couple of key positions and it showed up.  Unfortunately, four or five plays can define a game, and we found that out the hard way.  So we are spending time this week on blocking, tackling, and technique to get better, and I feel that we have gotten better as a result.”

The Penguins have been immersed by the circus that came to town this week, aka, the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners are using the YSU facilities in between their games against Cincinnati and Philadelphia to avoid the two long plane trips.  However, Youngstown State was turned into Fort Knox for a few days as campus employees were not even allowed to get too close or see too much.

Wolford peeked ahead to South Dakota State.  “They are going to come out and, obviously, try to run the football against us.  Quite frankly, since they joined the conference we are 0-3 against them.  Last year we closed the gap and only lost by ten, but the year before that, they blew us out.  We have to come out and play some football and can’t afford to get off to a slow start again.”

Andre Stubbs, it was discovered, is out for the year for the Penguins.  He will be given a medical redshirt and start as a freshman again next year.

Jelani Berassa talked about the football camp environment.  “Coach said we have got to get better with our fundamentals.  We are probably going to get together to watch the South Dakota game and continue to work on correcting all of the mistakes we made last week against Indiana State.  We want to be able to look back on that game [Indiana State] as a turning point where we got better because we learned from our mistakes.  We are still very confident.”

“After the game last week, we knew we had to get back to fundamentals”, said Obinna Ekweremuba. “We knew what we had to do in that first half last week and we were not able to execute the game plan.  We believe in our coaches, and we have to do a better job.  You can’t let a running back go 69 yards to start a game, it doesn’t work real well in the end.  Coach Kravitz made some adjustments at halftime and we want that positive momentum to last awhile.”

The Penguins host South Dakota State next weekend.  This is one of the toughest opponents that the Penguins have on the docket from year-to-year and a good week of practice leading up to the contest is imperative for the Penguins to have a shot at winning.

Youngstown State University fought until the very end, but came up short in a 37-35 loss at Indiana State.  The Penguins overcame an awful start trailing by as many as 21 in the first half but were able to attempt an onside kick down only two with just over a minute left in the game.  Unfortunately, the kick never traveled ten yards and the Penguins offense never got back on the field. Shakir Bell had a huge day for the Sycamores and the hole the Penguins fell into in the first half could not be fixed by the final gun.

Bell had 21 carries for 256 yards, a 12.2 average per carry, and scored four times on runs of 62, 39, 61, and 51 — all in the first half.  The 256 yards recorded by Bell are an Indiana State school record.  Bell wasn’t flawless, despite the record, as he coughed one up in the second quarter.  YSU’s Aronde Stanton scooped up the fumble and raced toward the Penguin end zone to score a defensive touchdown that would have cut the score to 27-21.  Stanton, however, fumbled the ball on the ISU one-yard line and it rolled out of the end zone resulting in a touchback and the Sycamores retaining possession on their own 20.

Youngstown State (2-2, 1-1) got a very solid performance from Jamaine Cook.  The junior tailback racked up 177 yards rushing and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Penguin offense. Kurt Hess and Jelani Berassa also hooked up for a pair of scores from four yards out.  Berassa finished the game with 44 yards receiving on six grabs.  Christian Bryan continued to play fantastic football for Youngstown State.  Bryan was the Penguins top yardage wideout, finishing with six catches for 72 yards.  Notably, the Penguins were five of five in the red zone, and Indiana State was two-of-two.

The passing game was also good, leading a nice two minute drive in the fourth quarter to bring the Penguins within two points.  Hess performed like a surgeon on the drive and had a couple of key runs, as well as passes, on the scoring march that would result in a touchdown.  Hess finished the game with 224 yards passing on 25 completions in 41 attempts.  He also gained 21 yards on the ground, but threw one interception.

Indiana State got decent production from others than Bell, mostly in the first half.  The efficient Ronnie Fouch completed 11-17 for 189 yards.  His top two targets were Michael Mardis and Alex Jones, who finished the game with 83 and 81 yards, respectively.  The Sycamores could only score three points in the second half as the YSU defense made some good adjustments at halftime to eliminate the big plays the Sycamore offense enjoyed in the opening sessions.

Nick DeCraker recorded a sack for the Penguins. Josh Garner and Davion Rogers each recorded three unassisted tackles, and Travis Williams had a hand in eight tackles, two solo from his Will linebacker position.  Give the penguins defensive players and coaches credit for really turning things around most of the second half.

Indiana State got a monster effort on defense from Aaron Archie.  All Archie did was sack Hess twice, record seven solo tackles and assist on eleven other stops.

Other Penguins who had some statistics worth mentioning were Jordan Thompson who finished the game with 43 yards on eight carries, scored a touchdown, and caught a couple of passes for seven more yards. Kevin Watts (above) had a couple of catches in the Penguins final scoring drive for 19 yards and also returned three kickoffs for 57 yards.  Nick Liste had six punts for 239 yards (39.8 yards averaged per punt), and kicker David Brown was 5/5 on PAT’s.

Unfortunately, Eric Wolford, who stresses the importance and difficulties of winning on the road, dipped to 0-9 away from Youngstown State.  The win marks the first time that the Sycamores have gotten by the Penguins in Terre Haute after losing their first eleven tries at home.  Be assured that Wolford and staff did not take this loss lightly, and I am sure that the upcoming two weeks of practice will be very hard for the team.

Youngstown State is headed into a bye week but will return home on October 8 to face South Dakota State.

Indiana State has never defeated Youngstown State at home.  The Penguins are a perfect 11-0 when traveling to Terre Haute and hold a 19-2 series lead over the Sycamores.  Eric Wolford lost his only game coaching against Indiana State in Youngstown last season by a score of 30-24 and did not get a win on the road (0-8) last season.  Something has to give and one of the streaks will come to an end this weekend.

Indiana State (2-1, 0-0) opened at Happy Valley, falling to Penn State.  The Sycamores rebounded to win a shootout over Butler and posted an impressive win over an FBS opponent last week, handing Western Kentucky a 44-16 beating.  The offensive weapons that the Sycamores use most are senior Ronnie Fouch at QB, Brock Lough (Sr.) at fullback, and Shakir Bell (Jr.) at tailback.

Fouch is 40-65 in three games for 564 yards and five TD’s.  He has also thrown three interceptions and doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat by running with one yard in three games.  Lough is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and has three touchdowns, including a 45-yard run for six.  Bell has 312 yards on 46 attempts and has busted one for 59 yards.  This is a big play offense that is in every way capable of beating you through the air or on the ground.

Youngstown State is out of the box in an eerily similar way that they were last season.  They are 2-1 and have a conference win under their belt.  Last season, the wheels came off and the Penguins could not record another win after that finishing 0-7.

Jamaine Cook says that the philosophy has changed. “Last year after Southern Illinois, we had the mentality that we were unstoppable and that no one could beat us – we started looking ahead too much.  We came in this season saying that we wanted to be 1-0 every week, making that a goal we could focus on.  We are happy about being ranked #24, but honestly, we are so hungry that we are not going to stop until we hit #1.”

“Indiana State is a very good football team”, said Eric Wolford.  “They have done a great job of recruiting, they are very well-coached, they work and play hard, and they play with aggression and passion.  That is a compliment to their coaching staff, it starts with them.”

“They are a fast team”, said Cook referring to Indiana State.  “They got a win over a D-1 team last week beating Western Kentucky and we have to come out ready to play hard and have a good week of practice to come away with a win.”

Sycamore FB Lough had this to say about YSU.  “They are a good team.  They played the only conference game last week and won, so that makes them the first place team right now.  We are preparing for them just like we prepared for Penn State in a sense that we expect a battle.  We are in good shape and prepared for a very talented team.  We have never beaten them here and are using that as motivation to prepare for them.”

“Our defense came out last week and held a strong offensive team to 150 yards passing – I know it seemed like more, but it wasn’t – and shut them out at the end of the game giving only one first down there at the end.  We needed to win a game like that for our confidence with all of the youth on that defensive unit.”, said Eric Wolford.

“The thing I was discouraged about last week was that offensively, we had a chance to close the game out, and we didn’t do it.  We missed some key blocks and fortunately, it didn’t cost us a game.  If we continue to miss those blocks, it will surely cost us in the future.”

Coach Wolford talked about being ranked. “Obviously, it is nice to be ranked, but that ranking stuff really matters more at the end of the year.  At the end of the day, that is what would matter. I don’t want anything like a ranking causing a distraction this week.”

Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. and the game will be televised on the WB Network.  You can also catch the action on AM-570, WKBN.

The versatility of a few players can put Youngstown State’s football team on top this season.  Few members of the 2011 squad are as versatile as Jordan Thompson.  During the Spring, the coaching staff had the sophomore being switched from tailback to wide receiver.  Weight was lost, routes were run, and experience was surely gained.  The end result, however, has Thompson at #2 on the depth chart behind Jamaine Cook, as a tailback.  The most surprising part of the interview conducted with Thompson was his sincerity to do whatever it takes, from whatever position, at any given time, to help the Penguins win.  Unselfish.

Paneech: How difficult is it when you are an underclassman to get playing time when there are four capable backs with none being more than a sophomore?

Thompson: There isn’t much of a problem.  We all find a way and we know that [Jamaine] Cook is our leader.  After that, we all do whatever we can to help out.  We all know that we can contribute and we are all very competitive.  When we get a shot, we want to do our best, but we know that Cook is our top guy and we are going to follow him and do the best that we can when we get in.

Paneech: You almost got switched to receiver, things happened, and you end up in the backfield again.  Has there been any talk about you maybe going back to help in the receiving group?

Thompson: Not that I know of, you would have to ask some of the powers that be that question.  I just do what I am told.  It was fun learning something new.  The little bit that I did play receiver in the Spring, I was competitive, but was out there running around like a little kid playing pee-wees just trying to get comfortable with it.  When I did it, I worked in the Summer with Jelani [Berassa], Dominque Barnes, and Kevin Watts, who all worked hard helping me out.

Paneech: Last season at this time, it was still a new program.  How much more advanced is the 2011 version of this team?

Thompson: We were good last season, but this year, I feel like we are playing a lot more confidently.  We can pick up new things when we have to at a pretty fast pace.  We are also confident that we completely understand the offense and what is going on around us.  It is natural for us and we feel like we are in control of the game.

Paneech: It seems like everyone who plays college football was the best player on their high school team.  What was your high school career like?

Thompson: High School… I had three All-American’s above me on my team, two were All-State picks.  I was just one of the guys and it was almost a college environment.  Our coach treated the program like a college program so that we, as players, could understand what we needed to do to be ready to play at a college level.

Paneech: Before camp started, you had some free time, what sort of activities do you enjoy doing when football is in the offseason?

Thompson: I Tweet a lot (laughs).  I’ll sit on Twitter, I will play video games, we like to play the NCAA games and the basketball stuff.  I am not a big fan of Madden.  We like to just hang out and we bring the younger guys in to get to spend time with them and get to know them.

Paneech: Here is a scenario.  It is six at night, you are hungry and have very limited choices on campus.  Where do you go and what do you get?

Thompson: If it’s that time of the night and I am on campus, I am usually going to go to Subway.  It is good food, really good healthy food that will fill you up.  If I can get a car, I am usually on 680 headed South to Chipotle as fast as I can get there.  I love Chipotle.  I usually get a burrito, double meat – steak and chicken, a little bit of salsa, a lot of sour cream and a lot of cheese.

Paneech: How is school going?

Thompson: School is going a lot better this year than it did last year.  I am more confident and Coach Wolford and everyone on the staff made me understand what I have to do as a student.  I have an obligation as a student to this university to do my best at everything, and that includes classwork, as well as, football.

Paneech: What is the limit for this team this season?

Thompson: When you find one I will tell you.

15 Things To Know About Jordan Thompson

1. He is 6’1″ and weighs 220 pounds.
2. He is from Cincinnati, Ohio.
3. His favorite movie is Friday Night Lights.
4. His favorite color is red.
5. His biggest phobia is losing.
6. His worst habit is sucking his thumb.
7. The worst class he has ever taken at YSU is an environmental science class.
8. The best class he has had at YSU is his business calculus class.
9. His favorite thing to drink is cool blue Gatorade.
10. His favorite candy is Reese’s Cups.
11. He has some Marvin Gaye on his ipod due to the influence of his mother growing up.
12. He is motivated by seeing everything as a hurdle in front of him that he needs to clear to get where he wants to.
13. His favorite cartoon character growing up was Bugs Bunny.
14. He likes Youngstown because the people make it easy to call this home.
15. His favorite meal of the day is dinner.

Youngstown State University took a small step towards its big goal today when they cracked into the FCS Coaches Poll at #24.  Eric Wolford has said that the standard here is to win championships and being ranked for awhile will assure a playoff berth.  The Penguins look to avoid the pitfalls of an eerily similar 2010 to this point.

After winning the conference opener against Illinois State last season, the Penguins dropped seven straight.  YSU travels West to face a much-improved Indiana State team this weekend.

2011 FCS Coaches Week 3 Poll (September 19, 2011)

Team (No. 1 Votes)                Record                      Points               Last Week

1. Georgia Southern (25)             2-0                              697                               1

2. Northern Iowa (3)                    1-1                               666                               2

3. Appalachian State                  2-1                                642                               3

4. Montana State                        2-1                                 615                               4

5. William & Mary                       2-1                               568                               5

6. Delaware                                2-1                                515                               7

7. Richmond                              3-0                                514                               9

8. Wofford                                 1-1                                  488                               8

9. Montana                                2-1                               462                              11

10. James Madison                    2-1                              383                              14

11. New Hampshire                    1-1                               369                              12

12. North Dakota State               2-0                              359                               6

13. Southern Illinois                    1-1                               342                              15

14. Chattanooga                        2-1                                  314                              17

15. Jacksonville State                2-1                               284                              16

16. Lehigh                                  1-1                                235                              19

17. Stephen F. Austin                 1-2                              220                              13

18. McNeese State                     1-1                                190                              22

19. Massachusetts                     2-0                                171                              25

20. South Dakota                       2-1                                165                              23

21. North Dakota                        1-2                               136                              NR

22. Eastern Washington              0-3                            117                              10

23. Liberty                                 1-2                                 83                               20

24. Youngstown State                2-1                        70                               NR

25. South Carolina State             1-2                               69                               21

Others receiving votes: Sam Houston State (66); Murray State (63); Southern Utah (51); Central Arkansas (45); Jackson State (38); Indiana State (33); South Dakota State (32); Weber State (12); Cal Poly (10); Coastal Carolina (10); UC Davis (10); Jacksonville (7); Holy Cross (7); Tennessee Tech (7); Sacramento State (7); Eastern Kentucky (6); Old Dominion (6); Bethune-Cookman (4); Pennsylvania (4); Dayton (3); Central Connecticut (1); Duquesne (1); Villanova (1);

For the first time in his career, Youngstown State sophomore quarterback Kurt Hess has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week. Hess threw for a career-high 293 yards and tied a school record with four touchdown passes in the win over Illinois State.

Against the Redbirds he threw two first-quarter touchdown passes, ran for one and passed for another in the second and connected on his school-record-tying fourth in the third period.

He threw for a career-high 293 yards completing 21-of-29 passes. He had touchdown throws of 10, 20, 25 and 44 yards in the game and 35-yard completion on a third-and-8 with 2:13 left in the game helped seal the win as ISU was not able to get the ball back the remainder of the game. He is the eighth quarterback in program history to throw four touchdown passes in a game.

Other Missouri Valley Conference Players of the week were CB Larry Carter of Indiana State (defense); WR Dale Moss of South Dakota State (newcomer) and PK Cory Little of Indiana State (special teams).

YSU returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Indiana State. Kickoff for the contest against the Sycamores is set for 2 p.m.