YSU opens spring practice less than two months after FCS title game
By Greg Gulas
sports@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
It has been 51 days since Youngstown State’s football team met James Madison for the FCS national championship in Frisco, Texas.
For tight end Kevin Rader, whose game-winning catch against Eastern Washington in the semifinals still elicits talk from strangers and friends, he’s just happy to get back to his daily football regimen.
The Penguins conducted their first spring workout on Monday inside the Watson and Tressel Training Site.
“Springtime, we just want to build on our fundamentals. Fall camp is pretty much finalizing and making everything crisp while getting ready for the season but now, we’re going back to the fundamentals of football,” he said.
“We have more young guys and transfers and teaching them the plays, so we’re just going back and doing the easy things and basically just cleaning up our game from play to play.”
Last season the Penguins became the first NCAA team ever to play 16 games in a single season.
Rader started 13 of those contests, caught 17 passes for 285 yards — an average of 16.8 per reception — and two touchdowns, the most famous of which came against the Eagles when he was ESPN Sports Center’s top play of the day.”
“It’s been a little crazy, but I try not to think about it,” Rader said. “People will ask me what I was thinking, how did it happen and how did I do it, but I’ve been really trying to focus on the team and not me, especially because when it happened we had another game to play. I really had to put it in the back pocket and not think about it until after the national championship game.”
YSU head coach Bo Pelini, who heads into his third season at the helm, has 30 days in which to get in 15 practices, excluding spring break which starts this weekend.
The annual spring game is April 7.
“It felt good to get back out there and getting guys back in football mode and their football movements,” Pelini said. “Obviously, it was real basic as far as what we did today. We’re just going to do three practices this week, give them the week off and then we’ll kind of get into the bulk of spring ball after the break.”
Some players will use the spring as an audition at another position.
“Certain guys came to me and wanted to try out a couple different positions. Guys want to play and there’s a competition that’s going to be good here through the spring,” Pelini said. “No positions will be decided here this spring, but it will give us a good chance to look at some other guys. Some guys wanted to move around a bit so we’ll see how it works out.
“We lost guys at different positions, but we play a lot of guys so it’s not like the people that are filling in haven’t had any experience or haven’t played a lot of football. I like the group coming back and to me, spring is obviously about getting them better, developing depth on your team and getting the guys who really haven’t played a lot of football a lot of reps and seeing what they can do.”
Former Ursuline standout Chris Durkin returns home after transferring from Virginia Tech, where he made the conversion to tight end.
He’ll take the spring slow, however, as he heals from a groin injury.
“It’s great to be back and just being out here today, although I was limited, just being able to run with the guys felt really great,” Durkin said. “Just being able to get out here and compete is amazing.”
Pelini believes Durkin can contribute once he heals.
“He’s athletic, can run and he’s very smooth, but we’re not going to let him do a lot this spring until his groin is 100 percent,” Pelini said. “It was good to see him out there and he’s going to be a nice weapon for us.”
All Durkin wants to do is contribute.
“Whatever they need me to do here, whether it’s be a skilled tight end or wherever they throw me in I just plan to do whatever I can to help this team,” Durkin said.
