Posts Tagged ‘Jamaine Cook’

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.

When Eric Wolford brought in the new recruits this past offseason, there were more defensive players than offensive.  Wolford explained in March that he wanted to bring in players to add depth and stability to his defense to finish games.  YSU failed to finish games last season after holding the lead in all eleven contests, ultimately losing their last seven, including a crippling defeat at Illinois State, by a score of 40-38.  Saturday, the defense came up big in the fourth quarter and shut the door on the explosive Redbirds offense en route to a 34-27 Penguins win.

Kurt Hess had a big day for the Penguins, tying a school record for touchdown passes in a game with four.  The offense sputtered a bit in the second half, but the defense did what it could not do last season, closed the door on the opponent at the most crucial juncture of the contest, preserving a victory in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.

“It was good to get the win and go 1-0 in the conference”, declared Wolford.  “We had our struggles.  We came out and started well on offense, but the most encouraging thing I saw today was the defense stepping up and securing the win.”

The Penguins took the opening kickoff and got on the board first when Hess found Christian Bryan over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown to put the Penguins ahead 7-0.  Illinois State roared back when veteran signal caller Matt Brown marched the Redbirds into the end zone, hitting Tyrone Walker from twelve yards out.  The ensuing extra point was blocked, and the Penguins thanks to a solid play on special teams, had a 7-6 lead.

YSU would find paydirt again right before the first quarter ended as Hess found Kevin Watts for a ten yard strike.  After the YSU defense stuffed the Redbirds, Hess maneuvered the offense 76 yards in 11 plays, capping off the drive with a one-yard sneak off right guard to put the Penguins in front, 21-6.

Brown would get Illinois State closer when he connected with Matt Younger from five yards (below) to cut the Penguin lead to 20-13.  Not to give ground, YSU engineered another solid scoring drive against the highly touted Redbirds defense.  Hess would this time find Andre Barboza in the corner for a 20-yard strike to put the Penguins comfortably ahead, 28-13 heading to intermission.

In the second half, Illinois State got on the board to cut the YSU lead to 28-20.  Ashton Leggett plunged in from a yard out with 4:58 left in the third quarter for the Redbirds.

Youngstown State again rose to the challenge when Hess hit Barbosa, this time for a 44-yard connection.  David Brown‘s PAT attempt was blocked, and the Penguins had a solid 34-20 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Brown threw his third touchdown, this time a seven-yarder to Marvon Sanders, to cut the lead to 34-27.

The next few possessions were dominated by great defensive play from both teams.  Youngstown State really did a great job down the stretch of stuffing the Redbirds when they had to.  With the offense sputtering, Hess found Barboza for a 35-yard completion on a third-and-eight that would preserve the win for the Penguins.

Hess commented on that crucial pass that let the air out of the Redbirds balloon.  “It was a gutsy call.  We decided to take a shot at it, and it ended up being a good play to finish off the game with.”

Wolford further elaborated on the big pass play that cemented the win.  “They were jamming the box figuring we would run the ball to force them to use their last timeout.  We figured we might as well take a shot and the worst case scenario would be that the clock would stop on an incompletion.  Kurt threw a nice ball and it worked well for us.”

For the Penguins (2-1, 1-0), Hess finished the game 21-29 for 293 yards and a school record-tying effort of four touchdowns.  He was only sacked one time and the Penguins offensive line did a nice job keeping preseason All-American DT Eric Brunner away.  Cook had 30 carries for 122 yards, and Watts and Christian Bryan (above) both caught five balls for 68 and 64 yards respectively.  Barboza had three catches, two for scores, and finished with 74 yards.

Illinois State (1-2, 0-1) has a good team, they are going to win conference games and this was no pushover.  Brown finished his day 16-26 for 155 yards and 3 TD’s.  Sanders had six catches for 48 yards, and Leggett paced the running backs with 129 yards on 26 carries.

Youngstown State travels to Indiana State next Saturday.  The Penguins opened last season’s conference play with a big win at home over Southern Illinois, but failed to win the rest of the season.  This team can take steps forward with a good road win.

“We have to win road games”, insisted Wolford.  “It is tough to travel for six or seven hours to most of the places we have to go and win.  The goal is to go 1-0 every week and we will celebrate this win until tomorrow when we will focus on Indiana State.  Illinois State is a great team.  They had a top offense coming back and they are a well-coached group of talented recruits.  They have a great university and it is a great place.”

When Youngstown State opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play against Illinois State this Saturday, both teams will learn how good they have gotten over the past year.  YSU played a game they were given no chance to win nationally, then they played a team that people expected them to blow out.  Illinois State is somewhere between Michigan State and Valparaiso.  The Redbirds have recruited 15 FBS transfers and head coach Brock Spack thinks that this could be the season his birds fly to the front of the pack.

Eric Wolford respects Spack’s program, calling it ‘on the rise’, and knows that the task at hand on Saturday will be a great test for his youthful Penguins.  “Their defense is tremendous.  They are only giving up about seven yards per game on the ground, and I don’t care if it is Michigan State, Illinois State, or any state for that matter, that is a good defense.  It starts with Eric Brunner who can dominate a game and we have to be able to move the football against that unit to win this game.”

Brunner put together a great effort against Morehead State in a 52-21 win last weekend.  The preseason all-conference defensive tackle had a pair of sacks and seven tackles.  The Youngstown State offensive line has to get off to a quick start and be able to create space for the backs to sneak through.  The three-headed tailback monster that is Jamaine Cook, Adaris Bellamy, and Jordan Thompson, will need to piece together a great collective effort because every yard gained on the ground this weekend will be hard-earned.

“Offensively, Illinois State is very talented and explosive”, remarked Wolford.  “They have a big, veteran offensive line, they have a tremendous quarterback named Matt Brown who has experience.  They have a solid running game and we can’t afford to take any plays off this week, they are much-improved over last season and it is going to be a very good test for us.”

The Penguins will also have to concentrate on stopping Redbirds TB Ashton Leggett. The senior running back has 207 yards on 36 carries with a pair of touchdowns.  The good news for YSU’s run defense is that no other Redbird RB has more than six carries through the first two games.  Another key to the Illinois State offense is that the tendency when they throw has been to hit wide receivers almost exclusively.  The tight ends seem to block and the running backs don’t get targeted much.

If Youngstown State can pick up the quality conference win this weekend, they will surely be ranked in next week’s FCS Poll.  The Penguins received votes this week, but not enough to crack the Top-25.  A win over a talented program like Illinois State will also break a seven game conference losing streak.  Last season, Youngstown State had the Redbirds on the ropes, but ultimately fell 41-39 in one of many heartbreaking last-minute losses.

The game is scheduled to kickoff at 4 p.m. and early reports from the YSU athletic offices are that there are already close to 22,000 tickets sold for the game.  The 2011 Penguins have the community buzzing about the old days, about the future, about Penguins football, and about winning.

“We have a precedence here at Youngstown State”, says Wolford.  “Winning championships.  In order to win championships, you have to win your conference games, and for us, that starts this week.”

YSU’s freshman sensation and speed demon, Andre Stubbs, knows says he knows what this game will mean.  “We have had a good week and if we stay positive, we should come out with a win.”

On Saturday, Youngstown State University broke a lot of things.  The first thing they broke was Valparaiso, racking up a lopsided 77-13 victory.  They also broke school records for the most points scored in a quarter (35), most points in a half (63), and longest punt return (96 yards).  The game was so lopsided that running a continuous clock should have been an option for the second half.  The other thing broken was YSU’s eight-game losing streak.  Amazingly, YSU broke the record for points in a game, with 70, in the third quarter.  It was Lionel vs Fisher Price, Ali vs Cooney, and Mercedes vs Yugo.

Eric Wolford commented on the win.  “We showed a lot of maturity.  Last season after Penn State, there was a letdown.  This season after losing to Michigan State, we showed great maturity with no letdown and played a pretty good football game.  Next week we start conference play and I don’t want to get caught up because we scored 77 points this week.  We will continue to mature as this young team picks up experience each week.”

The Penguins scored on every possession in the first half and held a 63-6 lead at the break.  Marc Kanetsky took over at quarterback in the second quarter.  It was a game that the whole depth chart was used in intervals at some point.

YSU scored 35 points in the first quarter.  Jamaine Cook scored two touchdowns (1, 31) and Jordan Thompson punched in a pair (9, 10).  The other touchdown was an electrifying 96-yard punt return by Josh Lee breaking a 45 year-old school record of 92 yards.

In the second quarter, the Penguins kept scoring.  Adaris Bellamy, the best-kept secret on the team, had a couple of rushing touchdowns from 34 and 13 yards out. Kurt Hess hit David Rogers for a 16-yard TD.  He also found Andre Barboza from 24 yards out.  The Penguins avearged 11.1 yards per play in the first half and the word dominant would be an understatement.

Bellamy and Cook both cracked the 100-yard mark in the first half.  Cook had 126 yards and Bellamy tacked on 101, both in the first half.  It was the first time two YSU backs had 100 yards each since 2008 when Jabari Scott and Cameron Keys did it.  The Penguins amassed 476 yards in the opening half.  They would finish the game with 657 yards, another new school record.

In the second half, Coach Wolford emptied the cupboard and YSU mounted an opening drive that would result in a Torrian Pace 17-yard run.  Pace was the fourth running back to score a touchdown.  The drive was 14 plays covering 84 yards without a single pass attempt by Kanetsky.  70-6 YSU.  The 70 points set  a school record for most points scored in a game.

Parnell Taylor scored YSU’s last touchdown to make it 77-6.  The score, a two-yard plunge, was the first in the YSU career of Taylor.  Patrick Angle got some time engineering a 14 play-86 yard drive to round out the scoring for the Penguins.  Valpo punched one in late to close out the scoring at 77-13.

Adaris Bellamy led the way on the ground for the Penguins with 180 yards on 23 carries (7.8 yards per carry).  Afterwards Bellamy talked about the successful effort of the team.  “We came out ready to play just like we did last week against Michigan State, it doesn’t matter who we are playing.  Our goal is to go undefeated every week, break records every week, and get this program back to the way people are used to seeing, this kind of Penguin football.”

Christian Bryan had five grabs for 78 yards to lead the receivers.  Kurt Hess was 12 of 13 for 204 yards, 2 TD’s and no turnovers.  The only incompletion Hess had was a drop.  For Valpo, Eric Hoffman threw 30 passes, completed 14 and had 112 yards passing.  He was sacked three times.  Kevin Becker hauled in three for 38 yards for the Crusaders.  Dale Cook had seven carries for 39 yards for Valpo.

Davion Rogers had some impressive plays, both on defense, and one exceptional effort on special teams.  Rogers ran over a potential blocker in the Valpo punt return wall and then proceeded to floor another would-be blocker two steps later before burying the return man.  You can’t ask for much more than that from a special teams player.  “We [defensive unit] take great pride knowing that we push the offense in practice and make them better each week”, commented Rogers.  ”  It had been 352 days since we won here.  We have some great players and we are going to take many huge steps this year.”

Mercifully, YSU turned the ball over on downs deep in Valpo territory ending their string of eleven straight touchdowns.

Give Wolford a gold star for showing a lot of class and calling off the dogs the entire second half.  Make no mistake about it, YSU could have put up a C-note today.  Wolford and Shane Montgomery did not call for a single pass and kept running the ball to keep the clock moving.

“I talked with their coach [Carlson] after the game”, said Wolford.  “He was very complimentary of our program and I told him that I was impressed that his guys kept playing hard.  They are in a very similar situation that we were in, trying to turn a program around with 48 new guys.”

YSU opens conference play next week at 4 p.m. when Illinois State rolls into town.

** Bottom Photo, courtesy of Ron Stevens.

Youngstown State (0-1) welcomes Valparaiso (0-1) to The Ice Castle for its home opener Saturday.  Kickoff for the game is set for 4 p.m. and the Penguins have to know that, going in,  this is a total reversal of last weeks visit to East Lansing, Michigan to face the #17 ranked Spartans of Michigan State.  Valparaiso will visit the Penguins as the team that nobody will pick to win and YSU has to prove they are the confident team that easily rolls through the opponent when expected to.

“Monday, after the loss, we were a little bit down at practice and that was a good thing”, remarked YSU head coach Eric Wolford.  “Last year, we played ok for 14 minutes, but had pep in our step the following Monday because the expectations were lower.  We feel like we let one get away and that was a good sign at practice.”

Valparaiso throws the ball.  In a 49-35 loss to Franklin last week, the Crusaders chucked it up 42 times and had 394 yards through the air en route to their best offensive output since 2008.  The bad news for Valpo was that Franklin amassed 669 total yards.  Valparaiso held a 28-14 lead in that game before giving up 35 of the last 42 points scored.

Wolford went on to say, “We are going to shine the car up the rest of the week and take it for a drive on Saturday.”

Last week’s Defensive Player of The Game for YSU, Jeremey Edwards, expressed how important it is to stay focused this week. “There were some things we did wrong last week and we should have won that game.  I made two mistakes that cost us and take responsibility for them.  We are fixing those things and want to come out strong this week.  I am very confident and always try to be number one, this team is striving to be number one.  It was a very intense week at practice and everyone was very focused.”

Valparaiso, members of the Pioneer League, has never faced Youngstown State on a football field before.  They will be playing with nothing to lose besides a 21-game winless streak.  Last season, Valpo actually lost a game 86-7 to Jacksonville.  Second-year coach, Dale Carlson, is in his 23rd season and holds an overall record of 110-115-3, but is 0-12 with the Crusaders job.

Look for the offense to get on track this week.  Expect big days from Kurt Hess, any combination of receivers and Jamaine Cook and Jordan Thompson, a couple of running backs, to grab a ‘c-note’ each.  If YSU wins by less than 30, I feel it would be a disappointment, nothing against Valpo, it’s just the Penguins are oozing with that much talent this season.

“We’re not there yet.  We still have a lot of room for improvement and some people think we are getting closer.  This group is very talented and has a chance to win, I can’t guarantee instant success, but I think the future looks very bright because of the combination we have here of a youth movement and upperclassmen leadership”, said Wolford.

Youngstown State University fell 28-6 at Michigan State on Friday in the season opener for both teams.  The Penguins moved the ball on the Spartans but came up empty on two of the three drives they pieced together in the first half.  Michigan State rode the arm of Kirk Cousins and scored 14 points in each half on their way to the win.

“We do not see this as a moral victory”, said Eric Wolford at the post game press conference.  “I made that real clear to the players in the locker room.  Make no mistake about it, we came here to win.”

Cousins (below) was the story on offense for the Spartans, completing 18 of 22 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown.  He did a great job and completed a couple of passes with very small windows of opportunity.  B. J. Cunningham, the Spartans top receiver finished the game with 130 yards on six catches.  The two fifth year seniors hooked up for the lone aerial score.

Michigan State got on the board first when Larry Caper rambled in for a six yard score to cap off a nine play, 80-yard drive with 12:04 left in the second quarter.  Youngstown State took the opening kickoff and moved the ball but got stuffed on a fourth-and-one to turn the ball over on Michigan State’s 30.

Youngstown State responded when Kurt Hess found Jelani Berassa with 7:38 in the second quarter for a touchdown to cut the lead to 7-6.  It marked Berassa’s first time into the end zone as a Penguin.  However, the extra point attempt failed as the snap was bad, leaving the Penguins behind, 7-6.

Michigan State wasted little time going 74 yards in four plays before Le’Veon Bell scampered in from three yards out to put the Spartans ahead, 14-6.  The big blow on the drive was a play action pitch and catch from cousins to Cunningham that covered nearly 50 yards.

Cunningham talked about the momentum swings.  “When they [YSU] missed the extra point it brought a lot of momentum to the team.  We went out there and started playing a little faster and a little harder.”

The score stayed at 14-6 until the half.  With 4:52 left in the third quarter, Michigan State struck for another score on the 18-yarder from Cousins to Cunningham.  The Spartans closed out the scoring with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter when Bell punched in another three-yard run for points.  Michigan State only had to march 17 yards for their final score as Hess was picked off.

“We were in it until there was about 8:18 left in the game”, remarked Wolford.  “They converted that turnover, which was a bad decision.”

For the Penguins, Jamaine Cook finished the game with 76 yards rushing on 17 carries.  Jeremy Edwards and John Sasson each finished the game with 11 tackles and Josh Garner chipped in with ten stops.

Freshman Christian Bryan had a nice debut with six receptions for 45 yards.  Andre Stubbs, another freshman racked up 82 yards on four kickoff returns.

The Penguins open at home Saturday against Valparaiso with the kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m.

*All photos courtesy of Ron Stevens

Camp is over, school is in session, and football is in the air.  Youngstown State will start the 2011 season on the road at East Lansing to face off against the #17 ranked Michigan State Spartans.  The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on the Big-10 Network.  Friday’s contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Michigan State knows what it is like to be on National Television with this game extending that streak to 103 consecutive games dating back to 2002.  Youngstown State, on the other hand got some exposure in recent years with games against Penn State, Pitt, and Ohio State.  The Spartans are 5-4 at home in prime-time TV appearances.

“We will not just be satisfied if we score a touchdown”, exclaimed YSU Coach Eric Wolford.  “We cleared that hurdle last season and I am very confident in this football team.  This is a new season, last year does not matter anymore.  Today was the first day of classes and usually that means a bad practice takes place.  I was happy to say that this was a very good practice and we are very focused on what we need to do for the Michigan State game.”

“It’s okay to be excited, but we are keeping our focus on what we have to do Friday”, remarked YSU Senior Captain, John Sasson.  “Our goal is to win this game, our goal is to win every game and we have to do that one week at a time.  It is a very long season and games will be focused on one at a time.”

For Youngstown State to have any shot at an upset, they have to control the clock, move the sticks and keep the ball away from the Spartans.  Sophomore QB Kurt Hess and RB Jamaine Cook, both recently named co-captains, lead a very experienced and talented Youngstown State backfield.  The Penguins averaged over 400 yards per game on offense in 2010 and have the backfield returning.

Hess (above) doesn’t look toward the Michigan State game feeling any pressure as a newly named captain, the first sophomore in YSU history to be donned with such an honorable title.  “I am trying to have fun.  I don’t see this as pressure as much as I do responsibility.  The responsibility is every day and you can’t take plays off at practice, being a leader means you are accountable.”

Still in question is the passing game.  With the loss of Dominique Barnes and a slew of new faces in camp, the air game is the biggest question mark for the Penguins going into 2011.  Michigan State is not a team that will be easy to tear apart in third-and-long situations with Senior FS Trenton Robinson, a 2010 All-Conference Pick,  roaming the middle, and a solid pass rush featuring DT Jerel Worthy.

“I think we are going to play a good game and stayed focused.  We want to stay grounded and fight until it is over and we are ready to play this game.  We have a lot of bad taste in our mouth from last season and I know we are hungry”, added Hess.

Offensively, the Spartans feature one of the best quarterbacks in the Big-10, Kirk Cousins.  Cousins is like a right-handed Steve Young who has good mobility and arm strength and makes very precise decisions.  Edwin Baker will receive the majority of the carries for Michigan State and earned post-season Big-10 honors last year.  The Penguins, who will look much better on defense this season will have their hands full with a well-balanced offense.

On a sad note, prayers are with Spartan Coach Mark Dantonio whose father passed away Sunday.  Dantonio, from Zanesville, Ohio, will hold his press conference on Tuesday and leave to attend the services.  He is expected to be back for the opener on Friday.

With a nation of football-starved fanatics, the Penguins have vowed to give it their best shot on Friday.  Michigan State has a lofty goal of winning the Big-10 Championship outright this season.  Let the games begin!

Youngstown State Head Football Coach Eric Wolford announced to the Penguins on Saturday morning that senior linebacker John Sasson (Pittsburgh, Pa.), senior defensive tackle Andrew Johnson (Detroit, Mich.), junior tailback Jamaine Cook (Cleveland, Ohio) and sophomore quarterback Kurt Hess (Dayton, Ohio) have been selected as team captains for the 2011 season.

Hess is believed to be the first sophomore in school history to be named captain. He is the first quarterback to be tabbed a captain since Tom Zetts in 2007. Last year as a redshirt freshman Hess started all 11 games at quarterback.

Cook, who is on the preseason Watch List for the Walter Payton Award, rushed for 1,276 yards as a sophomore and was named second-team All-Missouri Valley Football Confernece last year.

Sasson is coming off a career-high 89 tackles from the 2010 campaign. Entering last year he had a total of 90 career tackles before doubling his career output last season.

Johnson, who transfered from Bowling Green prior to last season, had a strong camp and should be ready for a breakout season on the defensive line. He started last year on a good note before being slowed by an ankle injury the remainder of the season.

YSU is set to practice on Sunday morning at Stambaugh Stadium. Monday brings the first day of classes and the first evening practice of the season. The Guins are scheduled to practice beginning at 7 p.m. that night.

YSU opens the season on Friday, Sept. 2 at Michigan State. The contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network and carried on 570 WKBN AM.

Season and Individual Game Tickets for the 2011 season are now on sale through the YSU Athletic Ticket Office. For ticket information contact the YSU Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.

Youngstown State University hit the field for the first time in full pads on Wednesday.  With so many guys dressed and so few positions to be awarded, everyone was trying to make a good impression.  There was a definitive twinkle in Eric Wolford‘s eyes as guys were going all out on both sides of the ball and the word ‘competition’ was given extra significance.

In a seven-on-seven skeleton passing drill, Will Shaw had running back coverage from his linebacker post.  The running back, Jamaine Cook, got a step on Shaw.  To avoid giving up a touchdown, Shaw grabbed Cook to prevent a catch, which was obvious and blatant interference.  A little pushing and shoving ensued and the two would eventually be separated.  Shaw and Cook are teammates from last season and will surely work out their differences putting the team goals in front of personal gains at a practice.

Several more high intensity skirmishes broke out throughout practice.  Is this a bad thing?  Not if the Penguins can keep it on the field and understand that a unified team is a dangerous force to be reckoned with.  If anything, it was good.  Nobody was hurt and it gets everybody’s blood flowing.  Football is a full-contact sport and every single play is a car wreck.

“Some guys are combine guys and look good running around in shorts, but when you put the pads on, you find out who the real men are“, commented Coach Eric Wolford.  “I have a lot of confidence in these guys and I know that this is very important to them.  There is a lot of competition.  These guys compete just to get in the food line. They are competing for attention right now, and that is a good thing.  Some guys think it isn’t cool to ask the coaches questions, but not this group, they are competing for our attention.”

The defense looks much improved from last season and one of the returners from a year ago, DJ Moss, talked about the improvements so far.  “Last year we didn’t have as much depth and we were adjusting all year.  We understand the defense now, we are ready to hit.  We are getting into the swing of things and we understand the full spectrum of the defense.  Last year at this time we knew we were slanting to the A gap and that a linebacker was filling.  This year we understand where everyone is and who has what responsibilities.”

The Penguins open scrimmage play this Saturday at 9:45 on the shiny new turf of the Ice Castle.  The scrimmage is open to the public.

Turnover is usually a bad word in the game of football.  It signifies a loss of control and being on defense preventing points instead of having the ball and trying to score.  Youngstown State University Head Coach Eric Wolford has some major turnover issues to the tune of 46 new faces to learn.  In this case, turnover creates competition, and in this case, turnover is good.  Wolford kicked off football with a media press conference this week.

Wolford spoke highly of two transfers from Miami.  Redshirt freshman LB Travis Williams and redshirt freshman CB Devont’a Davis both came to YSU from a storied Hurricane program.  “Some of these kids transfer out because they get close to the coaches that recruit him”, remarked Wolford.  “We have a standard here, winning championships, that we plan on getting back to.  I don’t care where a guy is from, we have guys from many states, if he can help this football team win, follow the rules, and uphold the standards of the program he can play for us.”

Five of the 46 incoming players participated in Spring practice. With this influx of new talent, combined with the 36 new faces from last season, Wolford only has 23 players left from the Jon Heacock Era.  Wolford talked about what having a full year of recruiting does.  “Last season, I was hired in December and was very picky about picking a coaching staff.  There was not as much time spent as we were able to use this full year of recruiting.  We had camps that had over 900 campers, it is like test driving a car before you buy one.“

When asked if being picked to finish eighth in the conference this season would be used as motivation, Wolford was careful in saying, “I made the mistake last year of saying that we were better than we were picked.  Our guys will be motivated enough.”

Wolford credited Kurt Hess, Jamaine Cook, and Andrew Radakovich for taking steps this Summer to be leaders.  “Those guys have taken complete ownership of the team.  When a bunch of players in the program tell you, Wow, coach… ‘So-and-so can really play’, or the team doctor tells you that ‘we haven’t seen a guy like this around here, ever’.  And when someone else tells you that some of these guys don’t belong here, those are all good signs. When a whole bunch of people give you feedback like that, it makes you feel good.”

With only 29 practices until the Penguins venture North to take on Michigan State, the excitement is obvious, and the buzz is back.