Archive for the ‘YSU Football’ Category

These are the games that Division 1-AA players have dreamt of playing for years.  They are David’s shot at Goliath and they are taking place in many stadiums this week.  For Youngstown State, it is their fifth chance at an FBS school in the past five seasons.  The past four efforts have not yielded a touchdown, a monkey the Penguins hoped to get off of their backs this year.

Unfortunately, YSU failed to score a touchdown against a very talented defense in losing to Pitt, 38-3.  At times, YSU showed their potential, and even won the time of possession battle for the game.  Sadly, the winner of a football game doesn’t always have the ball the longest. 

Don’t think less of Youngstown State because of this score.  I can almost guarantee Pitt will beat at least one Big East opponent worse than they did YSU.  The showing for Youngstown State was gutty and heartfelt, but was marred with mistakes and penalties at the most inopportune times.  This team from Youngstown showed alot of fight against a Division-1 favorite to win a conference and perhaps compete in a BCS game.

YSU had the ball first and went three and out.  Pitt took the ball, got a first down, and then was forced to punt.  A good Pitt punt pinned the Penguins on their own 10-yard line where they started their second possession.  The Pitt defense stiffened up and drove YSU back four yards before they were forced to punt.

With great field position on the YSU 41-yard line, Pitt went on the attack with 9:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.  In four plays, Pitt got on the scoreboard when true Freshman Dion Lewis scampered 16 yards for a Pitt score to make it 7-0. 

YSU showed some offensive prowess and ate up the rest of the first quarter with the drive yielding a 48-yard Stephen Blose field goal to make it 7-3 in favor of Pitt with 14:04 left in the second quarter.

Pitt wasted no time responding as Dion Lewis had four carries for 58 yards in a five-play drive accented by his 1-yard TD run with 11:23 left in the half to make the score Pitt 14, YSU 3. 

Pitt went up 21-3 with 1:05 left in the half.  The 8-play, 61-yard drive took 3:08 and ended with Lewis catching a flare pass from QB Bill Stull for a three-yard touchdown.  On the drive, Lewis carried the ball 6 times for 42 more yards.  Lewis carried the ball 15 times for 135 yards in the first half.

Pitt got the ball to start the second half.  QB Bill Stull was picked off by YSU’s Brandon Ross.  After an illegal block on the return, YSU took the ball on their own 39 but could not move the ball and was forced to punt.

After an exchange of punts, Tino Sunseri entered the game as Pitt’s QB.  Sunseri hooked up with Jonathan Baldwin for a 42-yard completion giving Pitt a first-and-goal at the YSU 9-yard line.  The YSU defense held Pitt out of the end zone and forced the Panthers to settle on a 26-yard field goal by Dan Hutchens to extend the Pitt lead to 24-3.

With 24 seconds left in the third quarter, Stull found Dorin Dickerson for a 13-yard TD pass to bolster the Pitt lead to 31-3.  The score capped off a 63-yard drive.  On the first play after the kickoff, YSU QB Brandon Summers was intercepted giving Pitt the ball on YSU’s 35-yard line.  The third quarter came to a close with Pitt ahead by 28 points and threatening to increase the margin with the ball on YSU’s 33.

On third down and 5 yards to go at the YSU 6-yard line, Sunseri found Andre Wright for a touchdown pushing the Pitt lead to 38-3 with 12:05 remaining in the game. 

YSU drove and had the ball for 8:31 but failed to convert the effort into any points as Summers was picked off in the end zone.  Pitt took the ball and basically ran out the clock to end the contest at 38-3.

After the game, Coach Heacock gave his impressions of his teams efforts.  “That team [Pitt] is pretty good and there is a reason they are picked to win the Big East Championship.  I don’t know if we did enough good things to win a game.   We have got to do things to win football games, and I’m not just talking about Pitt.  You have to line up right and do the little things.”

YSU was flagged for nine penalties, to which Heacock referred to as “ridiculous”, stressing how dificult it is to win when you keep digging holes to fall into.

For the Penguins, Kevin Smith carried the ball 17 times for 52 yards.  QB Brandon Summers finished 11 for 22 passing for 113 yards and was sacked six times.  Donald Jones led Penguin receivers with 4 catches for 34 yards.  Sir Demarco Bledsoe recorded 9 tackles, one for a loss.

Pitt Freshman Dion Lewis had 20 carries for 137 yards and 2 TD’s.  QB Bill Stull was 11-16 for 123 yards with 2 TD’s and an interception.  Dorin Dickerson caught 4 passes for 26 yards and had one TD.

YSU will try to regroup and set their attention to Austin Peay in next week’s home opener.

Growing up about five minutes from Pittsburgh in the suburb of Woodland Hills, Luke Matelan can technically call Saturday’s season-opener against Pittsburgh a home game.  Matelan is excited about the chance to play in front of many acquaintances from his recent past.  I recently had a chance to talk with Matelan about YSU, cereal, and civil engineering.  By the way, pronunciation perfectionists, it is (MATT-a-lawn).

Paneech: How does it feel to play against the college you grew up watching on Saturday?

Matelan:  It’s going to be a good homecoming for me.  I get to play in front of my family and friends who don’t always get to make it up here for the games, I’m pretty excited.

Paneech: Why should Penguin fans buy into the notion that things are better this season?

Matelan: It feels like everyone is more together this year.  Last year we had some adversity and people parted ways, but this year I feel like everyone has each other’s backs and we are here for the long haul no matter what happens.

Paneech: Tell me who else recruited you and why you ultimately chose YSU.

Matelan:  Alot of Division 1-AA schools down South were recruiting me.  I chose YSU because I saw winners, and I want to win, so that’s why I came here.  I think we have alot of guys who can do special things here and we just need to put it all together and good things will happen for us.

Paneech: Tell me about your major and what classes you have had that you may have really liked or disliked.

Matelan: I am majoring in Civil Engineering.  I have about a year and a half of schoolwork to complete the requirements to graduate.  The classes are not really that fun, they are alot of work, so you have to make the best of it and enjoy yourself while you can.  Physics is not my favorite subject, but I just deal with it.

Paneech: Does playing football satisfy your phys ed requirements to graduate?

Matelan:  No (laughs), I don’t think so.  We take classes like golf in the offseason to meet the requirements.

Paneech:  How hard is it to keep up with schoolwork during the season?

Matelan:  It gets pretty tough because I am drained when I come back from practice.  I get some food and then I really buckle down and get right to the studies.  It’s tough sometimes, but it is manageable. 

Paneech:  Who is your favorite NFL player and team?

Matelan:  I’ll have to go with the Steelers because I am a hometown guy and I think James Harrison is fantastic coming off of the edge, that guy’s a beast.

Paneech:  Who is your favorite baseball team?

Matelan: I always liked the Seattle Mariners since I was young.

Paneech:  What happened to rooting for hometown teams?  What about the Pirates?

Matelan: We don’t have enough time to talk about the woes of the hometown baseball team right now.

One Word Answers

Favorite Cartoon Character:  I don’t watch cartoons.

Ultimate Vacation Destination: Somewhere in the Carribean on a nice beach.

Favorite Board Game: Scattegories

Favorite Soft Drink: I don’t drink pop.  Just water and milk.

Dream Car To Someday Own:  Some big SUV, like an Excursion.

Greatest Musician of All-Time:  Jimmy Buffet

Best Show On Television:  Burn Notice

One of the best answers I have ever got in my one-word answers follows, I had to print the whole answer.

Favorite Cereal and How Much Do You Eat?  Well, let’s start with the bowl size.  You have probably seen a salad bowl that people get when they eat out somewhere that feeds many people.  I just fill one of those bad boys up with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s always a good pleasure.  I like to snack on that when I get a chance.

In the grand scheme of football, an opening day performance can make or break a team’s entire season.  The past four opening day losses YSU has suffered against Pitt, Penn State, and Ohio State twice left the Penguins scratching their heads.  Walking away with not a single touchdown in those four contests leaves everyone guessing how good a team really is, regardless of the quality or size of the opponent.

The 2009 YSU Penguins football team seems different in so many ways.  Skill position players are experienced and healthy, Coach Heacock has options, the players are hungry, and most importantly, no one cares about those other four openers.  It’s a new season and the positive vibe and authentic yearning to play makes me feel that this game can be alot closer than people will give it a chance to be.

Pitt is fast and has the Big East in their sights.  Their main weapon is their experienced QB, Bill Stull (6’3″, 215, SR).  Stull threw for 2356 yards last season and Coach Heacock respects his abilities.  “He is a veteran, and anytime you are dealing with Senior veterans, they are special guys.  I would be surprised if he doesn’t play a great football game,” said Heacock of Stull.

Pitt will also unveil true Freshman RB Dion Lewis.  Lewis is only 5’8″ but has another gear.  Pitt Coach Dave Wannstedt said that Lewis could touch the ball 30 times per game.

Heacock feels that if a team is going to play to win that they have to enter the contest with the notion that winning is an option.   “It’s a great opportunity for our guys, playing in those venues, but you have to keep things in perspective because of the numbers that those teams have.”

For YSU to be successful they will have to try their best to keep the Panthers defense off balance.  At Monday’s press conference Heacock used deductive reasoning to justify the matchup.  “Like most of the FBS teams, Pitt has talent that runs fast and plays fast, but we feel that we have some folks that can run fast and play fast also.”

The YSU backfield will see a rotation of two, if not three backs with Kevin Smith and Jabari Scott getting most of the carries.  Brandon Summers hopes he can pick up where he left off last season.  Summers will be looking for Donald Jones, Dominique Barnes, and Aaron Pitts to get into open space and make some catches.

Defensively, this Penguins team is so much different than last year.  Mychal Savage is a beast and he’s not hurt.  Crispin Fernandez is an all-conference DT and Mooney’s Taylor Hill transferred back from Michigan to start for YSU.  The talent is there, the timing seems to be there, and if there is one thing that I have not found yet, it’s nerves.

So all of you national sports geniuses and Pitt fans can laugh it up at my expense if I am dead wrong about Saturday.  I am not saying that YSU will win the game, but I refuse to declare they will lose either.  In 2005, I am aware of a 41-0 beating.  This is a new year.  Teams witnessed Appalachian State beating Michigan and know that these wins are possible.  Look for the Penguins to do more than score a TD and break that dry spell against FBS teams.

This weeks YSU Football Profile Player is Kevin Smith.  Smith knows pressure, he replaced Reggie Bush at Helix High School in California.  Coming off of a 2008 injury in which he was redshirted, Smith wants to prove he is the playmaker everyone thinks he can be.  He is one of only 12 seniors this season and believes in this years Penguins squad.

Paneech: How tough was it to try to fill the shoes of Reggie Bush at Helix High School?

Smith: It was an uphill battle.  When Reggie played, he packed the stands and then when I played it wasn’t as full (laughs).  It was fun though, it gave me something to work for.  It was alot to live up to, but it was also a welcome challenge.

Paneech:  Why were you redshirted for 2008, and describe what the injury was.

Smith: I got injured.  I pulled, slash, tore my hamstring.  It looked pretty ugly when you seen it.  I kept trying to come back but couldn’t, so the coaches chose to redshirt me, so here I am.

Paneech:  As one of only 12 seniors, how much of a leadership role have you taken on?

Smith: I definitely tried to step it up.  I’m usually a pretty quiet dude and normally don’t say too much but rather let my playing do the talking.  Coach told us [the seniors] to step it up so I am trying to rally the troops.

When asked if it could be a breakout year, Smith said, “Man, I hope so.  I have worked real hard and will not allow myself not to be the best that I can”.  The September 5 opener at Pitt is something that keeps Kevin awake at night, “It’s all I think about, I dream about that at night, I think we have got the team to do it”.  It will be an opportunity to play on a bigger stage, and Smith thinks he and his mates are going to be ready to surprise some people in Pittsburgh on September 5. 

Part of communications as a major would be to speak or perform in front of large groups.  Smith is a communications major and is minoring in history at YSU.  Never wanting to hog the spotlight or be a distraction, if Smith has the kind of year on the field that he is capable of, he will surely have to deal with being pictured on the scoreboard with some prerecorded short dialogue (pictured).

Paneech: Who is your position coach and how do you like his style?

Smith: (laughing) Sam Eddy.  When I first got here, he was hard on me.  My JUCO (Junior College) coach was easy.  When I got here, Coach Eddy was rough, but then it got easier, I think he had to take some time to get to know me.  He’s just funny, I will watch late in the season when he starts falling asleep in meetings”.

Paneech:  How bad do you miss the beaches of California, or have you taken a new liking to the snow here in Youngstown?

Smith: You can never like this weather.  I think about that [California] all of the time.  I wanted to get home for a week before camp, and I’m thinking, man, I wanna go home so bad.  I don’t like snow.

Paneech:  Who is your favorite NFL team and player?

Smith:  All-time favorite player would probably be Barry Sanders.  My favorite team?  I gotta go with the hometown team, San Diego.  I love LT [LaDanian Tomlinson], I love so many different backs that bring something to the game.  Reggie Bush is up there, that’s my boy, but he needs to get back on the field, I ain’t gonna hype him up for no reason (laighing).

Paneech:  Talk with me about Michael Vick.

Smith:  Unless you know what it is like to do time in jail then you can’t judge.  As far as I know, two years in jail isn’t a joke.  He made a mistake, everyone makes mistake and nobody is perfect.  Presidents make mistakes, so why should he be treated any different.

Paneech:  What is it like to have a birthday (November 25th) that sometimes falls on Thanksgiving?

Smith:  I love it!  You sit down and get all this food and then on top of that you get presents.  I think that’s a better birthday than Christmas because your parents would try to play you like, okay, here are two presents, one is for your birthday, and one is for Christmas.  I get that early Christmas gift, and then I get Christmas gifts too. 

Paneech:  What other schools recruited you?

Smith:  The biggest school to recruit me was probably Utah.  There were alot of schools looking at me, some Big Sky, and alot of 1-AA schools.  I thought I was headed to Utah, but it was the same year that Urban Meyer left and went to Florida, and the man who recruited me also left, so that hurt my chances of playing there, so I decided on Junior College.

One Word Answers

Favorite College Basketball Team?   North Carolina

Favorite Fruit?  Bananas

Favorite Vegetable? Carrots

After a loss, I feel…  Mad

After a big win, I feel…  Let’s party

Favorite Musician:  Michael Jackson

Favorite Boxer:  Mike Tyson

Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream:  Chocolate

Kim Kardashian or Beyonce:  Beyonce

Favorite Play To Run:  Zone

Favorite Animal: Tiger

Favorite Holiday:  Thanksgiving

Other Than Myself, The Biggest Difference Maker On This Team Is…  Donald Jones

 

Kevin Smith is an asset to this team in more ways than one.  Not only is he providing leadership by doing rather than saying, but he knows his role and has put the team first.  He has a great personality and was very easy to speak with.  I have a feeling I will be speaking to him after he has a big game at some point in 2009, the question is not which one, but rather, how many.

Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden play different positions for different coaches.  Scott is a Senior, while Gooden is a Junior.  Scott is a Communications Major while Gooden claims he can sell me a toothpick for twenty dollars using tricks he learned in his marketing classes.  The thing these two guys have in common is that they went to the same high school.  Taft High School is in the San Antonio area where both of these guys were standouts, and heavily recruited.  Now Penguins, and adapting to Winter as best they can, they also share the goal of making a statement on the field this season.

Jabari Scott

Jabari Scott was a standout running back while at Taft.  In his Senior season, Scott scored 33 TD’s and had 2493 total yards.  Last season as a YSU Penguin, he carried the ball 55 times and gained 403 yards, that is a 7.3 yards per carry average.  He missed the final four games last year with a leg injury.  “I had a quad injury that kept me out of the last four games last season.  It was very hard for me to move around.  I feel 100% now, I’m ready to go and get some action,” remarked Scott.

Scott was optimistic about the 2009 season saying, “Anything is possible.  I feel like we have a good, strong squad.  As Seniors, we are trying to lead, and I think we are gonna be real good this year”.

I asked Scott how involved he was in the recruiting of his high school teammate Gooden to which he stated, “I talked with the coaches and let them now that he was a pretty good player and that they should go after him”.

” I won’t lie to you, I still get homesick.  It gets too cold up here, I’m not used to all of this snow.  Back home it will go down to the thirties or forties, that’s the coldest it ever gets.  Here [Youngstown] was the first time I ever saw snow and I thought it was crazy”.

Scott said he really doesn’t have a favorite place to eat in this area, he would rather hit different spots.  He is a Communications Major and enjoys the classes that deal with his area of concentration. 

Jabari was recruited by some bigger Texas schools but opted to play at YSU.  “I was recruited bu SMU, Tulsa, a few other Division 1-AA schools as well.  I chose YSU because i had some falls in high school with grades, and YSU was my best choice [academically].  It’s tough to practice and go to classes during the season, you have to get the girls out of your mind and just focus on school and playing football”.

Scott referred to his position coach (Sam Eddy) as a nice guy and a good coach who has helped him progress into a better student-athlete.  He also praised the Dallas Cowboys as his favorite NFL team, but cited Warrick Dunn as his favorite player.  

Scott has all of the seasoning to be special this season.  He is healthy and happy and really thinks that this team can perform beyond expectations and surprise the doubters.  He was very serious with most of his answers, unlike his colleague, Nick Gooden, the other Texan in Youngstown.

 

Nick Gooden

Nick Gooden said Jabari Scott played a big role in his recruitment from Taft High School.  “He [Scott] came back home on a Thanksgiving or Christmas break and we were in the process of distributing tapes to different teams and I was like, Jabari, take this tape back to Coach Heacock and see what he says.  So he played a big role, he was kind of the middle man”.

Gooden, a Marketing Major, said his favorite class was English with Dr. Cook.

In 2008, Gooden did not see the field much.  2009 shows more opportunity and Gooden is doing all he can to prepare himself.  “I’m working hard and staying in the playbook.  I’m really trying to get a hold of everyone’s positions because that was my struggle last year”.

Gooden compared Youngstown to San Antonio.  “Back in San Antonio, we have a big Mexican population. so we would always eat alot of Mexican food at any occasion.  Up here [Youngstown], it’s like we eat spaghetti and Italian food for every occasion”.  Gooden also remarked that authentic Mexican food and Taco Bell are very different and that he does not frequent the fast food chain.  He also said he would choose David Robinson over LeBron James if he had to pick, staying loyal to his Southwestern upbringing.

When asked about the cold Winter months and snow, Gooden chuckled and said, “I got used to it a little last year.  My first year. I was down, no sun for five months.  It was kind of weird for me”.

When I was doing my Gooden research, I stumbled across his Facebook page, which said he absolutely loved Freeze Pops.  When I asked Gooden, he laughed hard and said he thinks he has some in his freezer right now and referred to himself as a ‘fiend’ of the frozen treats.

Gooden’s position coach is Mike Kolakowski, who he referred to as simply ‘Coach K’.  “He gets on me, but I need a coach like that.  He’s crazy though”.  ‘Coach K’ is prepping Gooden for the opener against Pitt, which Gooden is anxiously awaiting.  “I’m ready to play at Heinz Field.  I never played against Pitt before, only Ohio State, so I think this will be a good game and think we stand a good chance”.

In his spare time, Gooden said he is keen on studying the game Black Jack.  “I got the strategies, so when I can play legally someday, I think those strategies will work”.  He also spends spare time watching the History Channel.  If he could go to a zoo and bring home a pet, Gooden said, “I would bring home a lion.  I have got a lion tattooed on my arm and I feel like I am a lion sometimes, see the mane?”

Jabari Scott and Nick Gooden can really step up to make a difference for the YSU Football Penguins this season.  With the September 5 opener fast-approaching, the hard work they are putting in will hopefully pay off for both guys.  It doesn’t matter whether YSU has the ball, or is on defense, there is gonna be a guy from Texas making an impact either way.

Aaron Pitts is one of twelve Youngstown State University Seniors on the 2009 football team.  He has lettered the past two seasons and is looking forward to 2009.  The Marion Harding product is 6’3″ and weighs 195.  The thing that impressed me most about Pitts was his love of college.  If YSU Football pieced together an academic challenge team and I got to pick who would be on it, Pitts would probably be my first pick.  He is an accounting major.  In 2007, he received the Gateway Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award.  I got to talk with Pitts after a recent YSU practice.

Paneech: As a two-year letterman, you bring some experience to the team, what kind of expectations do you have for this year?

Pitts:  We had a disappointing season last year.  I got to go to the Final Four in 2006, and I want to go back and win a National Championship, definitely. 

Paneech:  Tell me what it is like to be one of only twelve seniors.

Pitts:  We are very outnumbered as far as how many of us [seniors] that there are, but sometimes they say it’s not the numbers but rather the type of people that you have who are the leaders.  I think we have a real tight-knit senior group and that we will be able to go out and surprise some people by winning games.

Paneech:  How does the enthusiasm compare from this year to other years in camp?

Pitts:  I think we’re pretty hungry this year.  We went 4-8 last year and alot of the guys were disappointed so we are out here trying to get it the best we can.

Paneech:  How excited are you guys for the Pitt game?

Pitts:  Really excited.  I was there in ’05, but I was redshirted so I didn’t get to play.  We’re trying to go in there and shock the world.

Paneech:  What other schools recruited you coming out of high school [Marion Harding]?

Pitts:  I had a few MAC schools interested, like Dayton.  When I came here on my visit, I just loved the atmosphere, I knew about the tradition that Youngstown had, and I wanted to play for a winning program.

Paneech:  What is it like playing for Coach Heacock?

Pitts:  I like it alot.  He definitely cares about his players.  Alot of coaches at other schools just see players as their guys.  Coach Heacock takes time out to meet you as a person and he definitely cares about us as people.

Paneech:  How about the rest of the staff?

Pitts:  The rest of the staff is great.  I have loved my time here and a part of that has been the coaches, they will try to help you out as much as they can.  My position coach is Coach Elliott, he is relaxed and isn’t a yeller or a screamer, but he expects us to go out there and do the best that we can.  We respect that, so we go out there and play for him.

Paneech:  In an average practice, how many times do you catch a football?

Pitts: Other when we do like perimeter and team, we do alot of ball drills as receivers.  I would say I catch anywhere between 50-100 balls a day.

Paneech:  Are you a possession type or a gamebreaker?

Pitts:  Right now I’m in the possession-type category, but if someone goes to sleep on me, I’ll definitely try to break it.  I like to run a post-corner, kind of giving a double-move, get ’em leaning one way and then go the other way.

Paneech:  Who is your best friend on this team?

Pitts:  I would have to say Donald Jones.  He is one of our other wide receivers.  We are roommates too, we have been best friends for over a year and we have been pretty close.

Paneech:  Have you ever seen the movie The Program  where a fumbler has to carry a ball everywhere, have you ever been that guy?

Pitts:  Actually, I have.  In middle school, I played QB, and every now and then when I ran the ball I would hold it like I was about to throw it, so my coach made me carry a ball around the middle school and everyone would try to knock it out of my hands.

One Word Answers

Favorite Meal?  Lunch, that’s when I eat the most.

Why Accounting As a Major?  Love numbers, it’s like a puzzle to put together.

Favorite NFL Receiver?  Chad Ochocinco

Favorite Team:  Cincinnati Bengals (and yes, he’s watching Hard Knocks on HBO)

Best Madden 2010 Secret?   Pass the ball every play

Favorite Area Restaurant?  Definitely the MVR Club, great Italian!

Scoring Avg. From High School Basketball Days?  18-20 PPG

Best Class Taken At YSU?  Advanced Acoounting

Favorite Television Show: SportsCenter

Could Keep One CD, What Would It Be?  It would be a mix of Gospel, Kanye West, John Legend

Pitts is a guy who would be tough to dislike.  He is engaging and articulate in his conversation and general demeanor.  He wants the best for his team above himself and is respectful and humble about where he is and the people that got him there.  He is the kind of athlete that people root for to do well because of his charisma and loyalty.  So when #83 pulls one in this season, clap a little louder, he deserves it.

The 2008 season was a disappointing one for the Youngstown State University Penguins and Head Coach Jon Heacock.  Heacock has assumed the duties of defensive coordinator, the position he held under Jim Tressel in the 90’s,  for the 2009 season.  I recently caught up with Coach Heacock and talked about what we can expect to see from YSU this Fall.  He also discussed the importance of playing a big team like Pitt every year and what it does to a program.

In the sweltering August heat, I watched an enthusiastic bunch of players practice.  Many of those players were around last year and tasted some success late in the season.  To my surprise, practice was upbeat.  Crowd noise was piped over the PA system, and array of songs ranging from “We Built This City” to “Back In Black” played during the practice.  YSU is getting ready to face a new challenge, a new day.  September 5th, the Penguins travel to Pittsburgh to face the tough Panthers.

I asked Coach Heacock if he had high expectations for the season.  “The expectations are high, they are always high.  The standards here are high and in turn, that makes the expectations high.  Aim for the moon and if you hit a star that’s good, we are aiming for the moon.”

I asked Coach Heacock about the enthusiasm level to which he replied, “I think this group has worked hard, they had a long season a year ago and they are working hard.  We are not a very veteran team, so there is alot of competition going on, that obviously contributes to some of the enthusiasm.”

This YSU team has only 12 seniors.  Heacock commented on the importance of thir leadership, “There are only twelve of them so there is nowhere to hide, it is critical that they play well.  It’s like I tell them all the time, there are no mulligans when you are a senior, you get one shot at it and they have done a good job so far.”

We then started talking about whether or not it makes sense to play teams like Pitt or Ohio State, sometimes referred to as ‘money beatings’.  I asked Coach Heacock if he was in favor of these type of games, and whether or not the big check is worth risking a demoralizing loss or injury.  Heacock replied with, “There’s alot of different thoughts in that process.  One, we do get a substantial check, and obviously that’s part of the reason we are doing it.  It [the money] supports all of our athletic programs, it helps track, helps soccer, helps volleyball, and so we are contributing to that.  On the selfish side, it forces our players to get ready to play a strong football team early in the season.  I think it has motivated our practices, so I look at it is getting us ready to play the rest of the season.  I don’t think that I, or any of the players, ever go into one of those games expecting to lose.  There is alot of different philosophies there, I understand some of it and some of that is true.  I think it’s a great challenge for us because I think it helps us judge where we are as a football team.”

Coach Heacock says he wants this to be a team that takes care of the football and minimizes turnovers this season.  He also said there are accountability drills for those who do cough up the ball, but ther are also rewards for those who protect it.  Heacock made refrnce to the 1991 season saying that in YSU’s first seven games, the turnover margin was +0.43 and the record was 4-3.  Winning their last eight games, the turnover margin was +1.75.

Heacock knows Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois will be tough opponents but says every game is important and that is how 2009 will be handled, one game at a time.