Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Blose’

The Youngstown State University Penguins (3-1) are just starting to scrape the surface of how good they can become this season.  The defense pitched a 28-0 shutout at Indiana State last week and the offense (especially the seniors) played when they had to.  Next up on the Penguin agenda is Missouri State (2-2).

Missouri State has lost to a couple of great teams.  The Bears lost at Arkansas in their opener by the score of 48-10.  They then won two in a row with victories over UT Martin (24-14) and Murray State (35-10).  Last week MSU lost to powerhouse Northern Iowa, 35-7. 

Missouri State has a weapon and a half in TE Clay Harbor.  The 6’4″, 243 lb. senior is an All-American.  YSU Coach Jon Heacock commented on Harbor saying, “Their tight end [Harbor] is a really special athlete.  He blocks like a tight end but runs like a wideout”.   In the Bears four games, Harbor has 16 catches for 149 yards.  Dual-threat QB Cody Kirby has thrown to 13 different receivers this season.  “With their QB [Kirby], a play is never dead.  You have to maintain coverage and contain or he can beat you”, said Heacock of Kirby.

Missouri State LB Antoine Wilkinson is the heart of a 3-4 defense that likes to blitz.  The other three linebackers employed in the scheme (Adam Beauchamp, Terian Washington, and Michael Keck) seem to be anywhere Wilkinson isn’t.  Heacock compared the 30 front to that of Southern Illinois and said it is a complicated defense to face because of the many looks a team can show.

YSU enters the game on a three-win roll.  Three of the next four games are at home and the schedule has been set up beautifully to assist the Penguins inexperience issues as well as getting healthy.  Defensive standouts Crispin Fernandez, Lenny Wicks, and Sir Demarco Bledsoe have not started a game together yet this season.  All three will start against the Bears this week.  If the defense can play like they did last week with their best unit on the field, it could be a very long day for Missouri State’s offense.

Senior TB Dana Brown (pictured) spoke about the offense coming out ready this week.  “We have had a tendency to come out flat.  We need to work on that this week.  This is a must-win game for them because they already have a conference loss.  We expect them to play their A-game with their backs against the wall, so we have to be ready.”

Youngstown State is 6-0 at home against Missouri State and have scored 30 points in five of the six wins.  The Bears won last year 42-28 in Springfield.  Missouri State Head Coach Terry Allen has a career record of 109-82 and will surely have his team ready on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be played under cloudy skies with a good chance of rain and temperatures expected to dip into the low 50’s.

Penguin Notes

• Stephen Blose missed two field goals against Indiana State.  Coach Heacock said, “You can’t start messing with mechanics of kickers and punters.  He just missed both tries and kicked the ball right where he was aiming.”
• Sir Demarco Bledsoe leads Youngstown State with 24 unassisted tackles and played only sparingly last week.
• Punter Ben Nowicki had a 67-yard punt last week, a career best.
• YSU has not lost a fumble yet this season.
• Dominique Barnes is the last Penguin to return a kickoff for a touchdown.  Barnes accomplished the fete in 2007 against Missouri State.

Youngstown State University’s offensive unit was flat in the first three quarters, but the defense played outstanding for all four as the Penguins (3-1) got by a pesky Indiana State (0-5) team 28-0 in Terre Haute on Saturday.  YSU pushed the Indiana State losing streak to 31 games in a row, third longest streak in the country.

The Penguins got on the board in the first quarter when Brandon Summers found Dominique Barnes for a 36-yard touchdown.  Summers also hit Donald Jones for a 13-yard completion within the initial scoring drive.  Stephen Blose connected on the first of four extra points to give YSU a 7-0 lead.

Not much else happened in the first half until the Penguins marched 67 yards to the Sycamores 17.  With 2.4 seconds left in the half, Blose came out to attempt a field goal.  Indiana State employed the ‘ice the kicker’ strategy successfully as Blose missed the chip shot to the left keeping the score 7-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, sophomore Randy Louis picked off an Indiana State pass at the Sycamores 30-yard line.  An apparent touchdown was nullified when Donald Jones was called for interference in the end zone.  Blose came back out for redemption but missed a 43-yard attempt keeping the score at 7-0.

The Penguins first possession of the fourth quarter yielded points.  Kevin Smith capped a 75-yard drive with his 21-yard touchdown dash.  Summers completed five passes on the drive which gave YSU a 14-0 lead.

The next series featured zero passing yards until Summers used a play-action pass to Aaron Pitts for a 1-yard TD.  The drive, which started at YSU’s own 38, showcased the versatility of three running backs.  Smith, Jabari Scott, and Dana Brown ran YSU from their own 38 to the ISU one.  Pitts’ TD reception pushed the Penguin lead to 21-0.

On Indiana State’s next series, Na’eem Outler picked off a Travis Johnson pass and returned the interception 37 yards to extend the Penguin lead to 28-0.  It was the second straight game that YSU scored on an interception.

Summers finished the game 21-33 for 194 yards with two TD’s and a pick.  He also rushed for 11 yards.  Kevin Smith led the way on the ground with 16 carries for 78 yards.  Barnes finished the game with 7 catches good for 86 yards and a TD. 

Youngstown State returns home for a game with Missouri State Saturday.  Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.

YSU got off to a sluggish start but recovered to take a halftime lead and defeat the Austin Peay Governors, 38-21.  With the victory, Coach Jon Heacock ran his home opener winning record to 9-0, and the Penguins won their 14th consecutive home debut.

It didn’t take Austin Peay very long to get on the scoreboard.  With 13:23 left in the first quarter and YSU in a punting situation, Austin Peay’s Ricky Thomas blocked the attempt and Adrian Mines fell on the ball in the end zone to put the Governors up 7-0.

With 8:10 left in the opening period, Stephen Blose connected on a 31-yard FG to cap a 10 play, 55 yard drive and making the score 7-3 in favor of Austin Peay.

An Austin Peay drive was single-handedly destroyed by Mychal Savage.  Savage sacked Governors QB Trent Caffee, caused a fumble on the sack, and promptly recovered the fumble giving YSU the ball on Austin Peay’s 49-yard line.  The first quarter would come to an end with YSU driving at Austin Peay’s 3-yard line and trailing 7-3.

On a third-and-goal at Austin Peay’s 1-yard line, Kevin Smith barely received the handoff before being hit by Daniel Becker for a four-yard loss.  Stephen Blose attempted a 15-yard FG but hit the right upright and YSU failed to convert the takeaway into points.

Trent Caffee increased the Austin Peay lead to 14-3 with 9:13 to go in the second quarter with a fourth-and-goal run on the Youngstown State one-yard line.

YSU finally found the end zone with exactly five minutes left in the half when Brandon Summers found TE Andy Colegrove for a 4-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14-10. 

Another Austin Peay miscue gave YSU another chance to score as Caffee was picked off by Bryan Gaiters with 4:18 left in the half.  Kevin Smith gave YSU their first lead in 2009 as he ran seven yards on a second-and-goal with 3:39 left in the half.  The Penguins only needed two plays to go ten yards for the score making it 17-14 Penguins, which is where the scoring ended in the first half.

YSU returned an earlier favor by blocking a Governor’s punt on their first possession of the second half and taking over on the Austin Peay 30-yard line.  Summers would find Donald Jones for a 20-yard scoring hookup to increase the Penguins lead to 24-14.  The Penguins drove 30 yards in four plays on the scoring drive.  Jones showed his great concentration on the scoring reception by pulling in the pass, getting his helmet knocked off, and still holding on for six.

On their next set of plays, YSU showed their explosive scoring side as Summers again found Jones, this time for an 18-yard score making it 31-14 in favor of the host Penguins.  The Penguins went 51 yards in just six plays in under two minutes for the score. 

The third quarter ended with YSU up 31-14 but Austin Peay driving.  On the first play of the fourth quarter Caffee found Darryl Miller with a fade into the right corner of the YSU end zone to cut the lead to 31-21.  Austin Peay drove 75 yards in 14 plays to paydirt.

The YSU defense looked sharp stopping a couple of Austin Peay fourth quarter drives, and the alignment woes from the Pitt game looked to be fixed.  The Penguins defense stopped Austin Peay on a fourth-and-four yards to go play to take over on downs on the Governors 28. 

Summers found Dominique Barnes on a skinny post route for a 17-yard strike after a holding penalty backed the Penguins up to the Governors 17.  Blose nailed his fifth extra point of the game to stretch the Penguins lead to 38-21.  With the touchdown, Summers tied a YSU record for touchdowns in a game being the eighth quarterback in Penguins history to throw four in a contest.  He accomplished the fete last season against Liberty, so the four touchdowns tied a personal best.

Austin Peay would mount another drive as Caffee found Scott Thomas for a 25-yard completion.  Youngstown State helped out with a late hit, a roughing the passer call, and an illegal hands to the face series of penalties.  The Governors eventually turned the ball over on downs as Luke Matelan sacked Caffee and YSU took over on downs at their own 29.

YSU’s second team offense was able to get a couple of first downs and successfully run the clock out to preserve the 38-21 victory for the Penguins to even their 2009 record at 1-1.

After the game, Coach Heacock was very quick to praise his group of twelve seniors and their significance as leaders.  “The Seniors are playing good football.  Mychal Savage, Donnie Jones, Jabari Scott, all of the seniors are playing good football.  They have worked hard.  In the Spring when it was 28 degrees, those Seniors were leaders by example.  They make sure the younger guys are going to class, they work hard, and they truly are a very special group.”

Brandon Summers downplayed his own personal numbers by praising the defense,  “I give it to our defense.  They created the momentum switch.  We had to capitalize on that because we don’t want them to get an interception and then go three-and-out.  I would like to thank our defense.”

Summers finished the game 17-24 for 232 yards and four touchdowns.  Donald Jones led the Penguins receiving statistics with 6 catches for 82 yards and a pair of scores.  Kevin Smith had 20 rushes for 116 yards and a score, he also caught a pass for 15 yards.  The Penguins were penalized 10 times for 110 yards.  Coach Heacock said the penalties may have been a result of lazy play with a big lead, and that the 110 yards were ‘too many, way too many’.

Austin Peay QB Trent Caffee finished 13-31 for 158 yards , a TD, and an INT.  Ryan White had 52 yards in 15 carries to lead the Governors ground game.  Adrian Mines had 49 yards on two catches, one a 43-yarder to lead the receivers. 

YSU  gets ready to travel to Northeastern next Saturday, a place where the Penguins have had very little success.

Youngstown State is dealing with plenty coming off of the 38-3 loss to Pitt last week.  The flu bug has spread pretty rapidly and Coach Heacock hopes a day off will help the ill heal up to prepare for the home opener against Austin Peay this week.  Austin Peay (1-0)  is coming off of a 33-24 victory over Newberry last week.  This will be Youngstown State’s 69th home opener with kickoff scheduled for 4 o’clock.

At the weekly press conference, Coach Heacock commented on the Penguins performance against Pitt.  “Our guys played pretty hard, I think we have a team of young people who want to do well.  They [Pitt] caught us a couple of times out of alignment.  We need to work on that this week and we’ll know right away whether we are improved as a team or not.  We had some guys that played pretty solid in that game.  Winning performances?  Probably not, but solid performances.  We prepared very hard for that game, I think everyone is a little bit salty.  Deep down, I think it [the loss] really bothers them.”

Heacock was impressed by what he saw of Austin Peay on film.  “They have 16 starters back, their tailback is outstanding.  [Terrence] Holt is a tremendous back.  He is about five foot eight and 160 pounds.  he is a hard guy to see, find, and tackle and is also a great return guy.  They are very methodical in what they do, they test you, and you have to be very fundamentally sound.  The more we have studied them this afternoon, the more impressive they have become.” 

Freshman Taylor Hill spoke about the defense and what to expect in the future.  “I think we have a real good defense despite the outcome.  I think our biggest problem was alignment.  We could have made plays if we were just aligned right.  The speed of the game is something we are not used to.  We have to better prepare for the speed of the game.  Everything is correctible.”

Austin Peay features a couple of real exciting running backs.  Ryan White had 23 carries for 218 yards for the Governors last weekend.  Terrence Holt also had 156 rushing yards on 15 carries and a pair of touchdowns.  Both backs averaged over 9 yards per carry and can pose problems for the Penguins.  The Governors disguise their plays and rely on misdirection to keep a defense honest.

Look for YSU QB Brandon Summers to have a good week.  Summers was constantly pressured against Pitt’s front seven and should get more time to make his reads and get good passes away.  Kevin Smith looked good against Pitt and earned every yard he gained.  He and Jabari Scott should both have better numbers this week.

Side Notes

• YSU is 44-22-2 all-time in home openers, 20-6-1 at Stambaugh Stadium.
• Since 1989, YSU is 17-1-1 in home openers and have won 13 straight.
• The last meeting between these two teams was on 10/10/87 with YSU prevailing 20-18.
• YSU kicker Stephen Blose had a 48-yard field goal against Pitt, longest at YSU since 2003.
• Crispin Fernandez ended up only playing about a dozen snaps against Pitt because he was feeling flu-like symptoms.

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.