Spring Practice

[ysuguins4]

I think Mark Schuler graduated and he isn't playing anymore.

Thanks for the info.

[go guins]

I think Mark Schuler graduated and he isn't playing anymore.

Thanks for the info.

By in large Mark did a great job punting, but replacing him is the least of our worries. 

[ysuguins4]

Given the QB situation, it makes me wonder again why Craycraft didn't get some of MVG's snaps in the final 3 games.

[go guins]

Given the QB situation, it makes me wonder again why Craycraft didn't get some of MVG's snaps in the final 3 games.

Good question, and I see two plausible explanations.  1. Bo doesn't think Craycraft is "the guy".  If you have Joe as a redshirt freshman and you think he can play, why is the world would you recruit Waid? or 2. Bo thinks Craycraft is definitely "the guy" and doesn't want to use him in 2018 and burn up a year of eligibility, thereby preserving 4 more years, and realizing Waid recruited himself due to lack of credible offers.

There is a third option, and that is: they have no idea what they are doing, but I'm not inclined to go there.  I keep looking at all the 9-3 years in Nebraska and the National Championship Game at YSU and understanding that while Pelini is socially inept with the press and the public, he does know something about football.

[YSUGO]

Good possible reasons I think they want Waid to be the QB1. Has anybody seen any of the practices this Spring?

[ytownchief22]

Mays will be the starter once he's healthy (which he's not right now still recovering from surgery).

Waid will be the guy but I'm not sure it'll be this year.

The team still needs a lot of work from what I hear in practice. Defense will be ahead of the offense for sure.

[Double ET]

From today's Vindy:

Penguins return veteran group at wide receiver

By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State’s depth at wideout speaks for itself when three of its top four players returning at that position can sit and the Penguins can still put out a group that resembles something fans will see on Saturday this fall.

YSU didn’t lose any receivers to graduation this offseason. As a unit, the Penguins had seven different receivers catch at least 10 passes last year to bring a veteran group into the 2019 season.

“We’ve got a little bit more experience,” Jeremiah Braswell said. “Being the senior, I’m trying to be the captain at the wide receiver position and help us get that bad taste out of our mouth from last year.”

Braswell was the Penguins’ leader among wideouts in yards (325) and tied the lead for touchdowns (two) during last year’s 4-7 campaign. For him, leadership is just as big a focus as routes and catches.

“There weren’t a lot of vocal leaders on the team last year. There just wasn’t enough,” Braswell said. “When things went bad with the team, there needed to be guys like me and others who can speak up and step up to get the team on track.”

It wasn’t surprise to see him getting first team action during Monday’s practice at the Watson and Tressel Training Site. The team’s next three leaders in yards, Zach Farrar, Samuel St. Surin and Darious Shackleford, were sitting out. Farrar attends practice, but doesn’t participate because he is playing for the baseball team this spring and the latter two were injured.


The guys who joined Braswell with the ones were familiar faces. There was fellow senior Kendric Mallory (169 yards, two TDs) and sophomore Natavious Payne (172 yards, one TD), who’s speed made him a staple in the lineup as a true freshman midway through last year.

“I have to work my speed, my route-running and I need to be more vocal,” Payne said.

Beyond those three, there’s a few players who are making some noise in the absence of Farrar, St. Surin and Shackleford. After spending two seasons exclusively as a kick returner, Warren JFK graduate Jake Coates got some first-team reps as a slot receiver. Head coach Bo Pelini is open to the idea of Coates earning a chance to get his first collegiate reception.

“He’s a lot better. He’s practicing better. He’s playing better and you’re starting to see some of his speed in his routes a little more,” Pelini said. “We know he can run, but he’s playing faster right now and he’s getting more confident.”

Another Mahoning Valley native getting more looks is Canfield’s Jake Cummings, a sophomore with the team.

“Jake Cummings has been great on special teams and has been playing a lot of positions for us,” wideouts coach Tim Marlowe said. “He’s been getting a lot better at receiver too.”

Things will be fluid with this group through the rest of the offseason.

“It’s just about earning it every day. I’d say we have a deep squad. We can only play two, three or four wideouts at a time and we have 10 guys who can play,” Marlowe said. “I feel like we’ve got a good group and we’re very unselfish. Sometimes it’s [Payne] with the big plays. Sometimes it’s Jake or Jeremiah. Anytime somebody scores, we celebrate together.”

NEW COACH

Evan Karchner is joining the Penguins’ coaching staff as a defensive assistant, Karchner announced Monday afternoon on Twitter. He was previously an undergraduate assistant at Bowling Green, where Carl Pelini worked as a defensive coordinator last year.

[Double ET]

From Vindy today:

Switching positions the norm in spring

By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

To play offensive line at Youngstown State, be prepared to move around.

With just one full-time starter — redshirt sophomore left tackle Dan Becker — returning from last year’s group, last year’s tackle might be this season’s guard or this spring’s center could be a guard by fall.

“We’ve always been able to play wherever. You have to know all the different positions of where you’re going to play,” redshirt senior guard Jimmy Wilson said. “[Offensive line coach Coach John Peterson] has stressed that we need to know all of them. I saw some time at tackle and I haven’t played there since last fall. It’s been all about studying the playbook and knowing your stuff.”

Peterson wouldn’t commit to penciling in his starting five on the o-line, saying that will come in the fall, but there ares signs of a few players holding down spots on the first team. Becker’s job should be safe as a returning starter. On the other side of the line, senior Devon Robinson started two games at right tackle last year. The interior is where things become more fluid. Junior-college transfer Jordan Velez and Wilson are getting the majority of the top reps at left and right guard, respectively. Wilson hasn’t played in a game since the 2016 season as injuries have kept him off the field.

“I’ve had shoulder issues and some knee issues, but I don’t like using things as excuses,” Wilson said. “I just have to keep pushing myself even harder. Especially this summer. I also have to push everyone around me to make them better.”

West Branch graduate Jacob Zinni has been the top center in spring ball after spending the past two seasons playing in both guard spots.

“He’s an intelligent football player. He takes a lot of pride in what he does,” Peterson said. “He’s had a very consistent spring.”


As well as Zinni has played this spring, he may not be the center in fall. The team’s returning linemen are well aware of the arrival of Hubbard native and West Virginia transfer Matt Jones and the possibility of somebody having to make way for him. He’s expected to join the team in the fall after graduating from WVU. Nonetheless, they’re going to welcome him with open arms.

“He’s a great guy and you can already tell he’s going to have a great dynamic with us,” Wilson said. “He’s going to fit in with the group. He loves to joke around. I love watching film on that guy and he’s going to be a great addition to that offensive line.”

By the time fall camp starts in August, Peterson could be trotting out a different offensive line than what has been present this spring, but his guys will be prepared to move around.

“Right now, it’s still competition. Whoever is starting now, that doesn’t mean that’s where they’re going to start,” Peterson said. “The goal is to have competition to create guys that can play multiple positions.

“Any time a lineman can learn multiple positions and still understand schemes, the better off they’ll be. The more knowledge they have, the more valuable they’ll be.”

[ytownchief22]

Lotsssss of work to be done.

[ytownchief22]

Spring game is today.

[YSU1]

what time

[ucfpengbuck]

Justus  Reed gets 2 years of eligibility per Dana Balash .

[ytownchief22]

Joe and Mark looked pretty good throwing the ball today. WR worries me. So does O-Line. We'll see what happens when Jones comes in for the fall. Craycraft is more athletic than I thought he was. Just hope that Mays isn't just given the starting job when fall camp comes.

Like Ray Anderson at LB. Looked good out there.


Bo says a couple transfers coming in before fall so we'll see what happens.

[Double ET]

Article from today's Warren Tribune on the Spring Game :

Hope springs eternal for Penguins

YSU excited about upcoming season
YSU SPORTS
MAR 31, 2019

JOE SIMON
Sports Reporter
jsimon@tribtoday.com
 
 

Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon Youngstown State University football coach Bo Pelini talks to the team during a break Saturday at the Penguins’ final scrimmage of spring practice. Pelini believes YSU will bounce back from a 4-7 season and contend for a national title.

YOUNGSTOWN — As the Youngstown State University football team finished spring practices on Saturday, coach Bo Pelini made sure hope sprung eternal before he stepped away from his team for a few months.

Coming of a dismal 4-7 campaign in which YSU looked uninspired at times throughout the season, Pelini said the Penguins are reinvigorated and ready to bounce back.

“There are two goals: Win the conference first, and then go win the national championship,” he said. “That’s what the coaches’ mindset is, that’s what the fans’ mindset is, hopefully, and that’s what our goals are. Anything short of that, and we failed. That’s where our mindset is at. That’s how we’ve approached this whole offseason, and I think we’re well on our way.”

If the final scrimmage of spring practices was any indication, the renewed sense of urgency seems to be trickling down to the team.

The Penguins displayed non-stop enthusiasm — something that was severing lacking in 2018 — and also executed quite well on each side of the ball. Still, there are major question marks lingering, and one of the biggest is at quarterback.


Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon Youngstown State quarterback Joe Craycraft (5) looks to the sideline for a call on Saturday. Craycraft is one of at least three players battling to be the Penguins’ starting quarterback.

There appears to be two — possibly three — candidates for the starting job following the loss of incumbent starter Montgomery VanGorder. Redshirt sophomore Joe Craycraft played with the No. 1 offense on Saturday, and the 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback out of Marion Pleasant High School looked sharp. He led a pair of touchdown drives, including tossing a perfectly placed pass to wide receiver Natavious Payne on the first series.

Craycraft has essentially no collegiate experience aside from playing a handful of snaps last year in a blowout victory over Valparaiso, but his mobility and powerful arm make him a viable candidate for the job.

“Joe is a guy who is extremely athletic,” Pelini said. “He can run, (and) he’s throwing the football with a lot of confidence right now. He’s understanding the offense even better, and he had a heck of a spring.”

Maybe the favorite to earn the nod because of experience is senior Nathan Mays.

The 6-3, 220-pound dual-threat QB started five games as a sophomore and shared time with VanGorder at the end of last season before injuries caught up to him. He was held out of Saturday’s scrimmage because there was full contact on the quarterbacks, and with Mays’ injury history (he’s still not 100 percent following a leg injury), Pelini said, “we don’t want to have a setback.”

That could lead to Craycraft entering fall camp as the favorite following a strong spring.

“I think so,” responded Craycraft when asked if he thought he did enough to show he could be the starter. “I just tried to show the coaches what I got, and ultimately, I’m just doing what I can for this team to be successful. I felt good about today.”

Mays being out left the door open for the highly touted true freshman out of Girard, Mark Waid, who graduated early so he could participate in the spring. He made the most of his opportunities.

After a slow start working with the second-team offense, he tossed a long TD of about 65 yards to fellow Trumbull County product Jacob Coates of John F. Kennedy.

Another dual threat QB with a strong arm, Waid may have an uphill battle to earn the starting nod because of his youth, but Pelini was impressed.

“Mark Waid showed me this spring that he’s going to be a pretty special player,” he said. “For a young kid, he handled himself extremely well. He’s seeing a lot more defense than he’s ever seen and a little different offense, but he’s confident. I like our quarterback position. … We have a good problem. There’s a lot of talent at that position right now.”

It’s not the only problem, as the Penguins have some holes to fill on defense, mainly in the secondary, but Saturday was a step in the right direction for a team looking for a major turnaround.

Players on both sides of the ball were relentless and energetic on every play. Even those on the sidelines were engaged and focused from start to finish.

Pelini, whose new contract to remain as YSU’s head coach is still a mystery, said he intends to “add some pieces” over the next few months through transfers to shore up any deficiencies. He believes by the time fall camp opens, YSU will have a team ready to compete for a title in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

“I have high expectations for this football team this year,” he said. “We have the chance to be a damn good football team.”

The season starts sooner than years past as YSU takes part in the 2019 FCS Kickoff, opening the FCS season with an Aug. 24 matchup with Samford that takes place on a neutral field in Montgomery, Alabama.

[YSUFANSINCE1990]

  Watched first 90 minutes of scrimmage.  Agree on Craycraft had an impressive day and spring.  But, why has he not been given the chance in the past?  Do the coaches think Mays is that much better.

 Very hard to evaluate playing against each other, coming out of summer camp last year, coaches were raving about the new tight ends and how good we were going to be, and the season was a disaster.

 Joe Alessi is the one I can't figure, every time he gets an opportunity he shines, but Pelini has been hesitant to give him a real shot.  Says something about the young man to hang in there, even though he hasn't played much.  Now a senior, you would think he gets a shot.

 Agree with chief, O-line is shaky.  Not convinced either that these linebackers are Missouri Valley Conference type LBs.  We will see.