By Joe Scalzo
scalzo@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
On Tuesday morning, YSU football coach Eric Wolford met with one of his defensive players — he didn’t say who — to talk about the team’s leadership void in the back seven.
“This leadership thing has been on my mind quite a bit,” Wolford said. “The Sam [strongside] linebacker can’t text to the safety that you need to get yourself ready to go. You can’t email ’em. Can’t text ’em. You’ve gotta be able to be vocal, communicate, be loud, be precise about it, be demanding.
“We need a little more of that.”
Of the three defensive units — defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs — the line has performed the best so far this season, thanks in part to having a senior co-captain in Andrew Johnson at defensive tackle. But the other defensive co-captain, senior linebacker John Sasson, has lost his starting spot.
After starting every game last season and leading the team in tackles, Sasson came off the bench for the first time against Indiana State on Sept. 24 and is once again behind true freshman Teven Williams on the Mike [middle] linebacker depth chart.
In fact, the depth chart is basically unchanged from the Indiana State game, where the Penguins were gashed for 467 total yards, including 256 from running back Shakir Bell.
When asked to define Sasson’s role at this point, Wolford first brought up his captaincy and his experience, but said “whoever plays better in the previous game is who we’re going to roll with.”
“He still plays quite a bit,” Wolford said of Sasson. “He’s obviously a leader for us on and off the field. He does everything right. He wants to help in all the ways he can. I think he’s given us all the effort and everything you can ask for from a guy in his role.”
But, increasingly, that role seems like it will be limited to special teams and game-specific situations, leaving a void for someone else to fill.
Cornerback Josh Lee is the only starting senior in the back seven and he’s spent most of his career at wide receiver. But in an encouraging sign, Lee was given the team’s leadership award for last week’s off week.
Considering there are three freshmen starting at linebacker, YSU needs someone who can make sure the back end of the defense is aligned properly and ready to play.
That didn’t happen in the first quarter against the Sycamores as YSU fell behind 21-0 in the first 101/2 minutes.
“I’ve explained to them several times that I can’t scream and yell like a mad man and almost have a heart attack every game,” Wolford said. “There’s a maturity level that needs to take place.
“I feel like you can manufacture a lot of excuses about why we weren’t ready to play but at the end of the day I don’t think we were mature enough.”
The Penguins were off last week and you can bet Wolford and his staff spent plenty of practice time making sure the Penguins knew they needed to grow up and play better.
You can also be sure they didn’t deliver that message by text.
