Penguins Ranked 21st In Preseason FCS Coaches Poll

[IAA Fan]

The Youngstown State football team cracked the preseason top 25 by being ranked 21st in the FCS Coaches Poll which was released on Monday afternoon.

The Penguins are coming off a strong 8-4 campaign is one of four Missouri Valley Football Conference teams in the top 21. North Dakota State is ranked first, South Dakota State is 10th and UNI is 15. Southern Illinois sits right outside the top 25 at No. 27.

YSU held its fourth practice of the fall on Monday afternoon at Stambaugh Stadium. A perfect day made for a strong session by offense, defense and special teams. The Penguins worked on a variety of special teams situations throughout the day.

To cap the workout, quarterbacks Dante Nania, Ricky Davis and Hunter Wells teamed up to march the offense down the field for a touchdown during the two-minute drill. Wells capped off the drive with a three-yard run in the final seconds.

Wells was hot during the 7-on-7 portion of the workout and all three quarterbacks took turns working with the top offense in the team session.

The Penguins don full pads for the first time this fall on Tuesday. The workout is set for 4 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.

Penguin Club memberships and season-ticket packages are still available to support the team. For information on Penguin Club memberships contact Tom Morella at tmorella@ysu.edu and for details on season-ticket packages call the Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.


RANK   SCHOOL   RECORD   POINTS   PREV
1   North Dakota State (18)   15-0   636   1
2   Eastern Washington (6)   12-3   615   3
3   Southeastern Louisiana (1)   11-3   542   6
4   New Hampshire   10-5   510   5
5   Montana   10-3   505   8
6   Coastal Carolina   12-3   447   7
7   Towson (1)   13-3   438   2
8   Jacksonville State   12-2   425   12
9   McNeese State   10-3   424   9
10   South Dakota State   9-5   332   14
11   Eastern Illinois   12-2   314   4
12   Fordham   12-2   305   10
13   Villanova   6-5   287   NR
14   Sam Houston State   9-5   277   13
15   Northern Iowa   7-5   263   NR
16   Chattanooga   8-4   238   25
17   Tennessee State   10-4   237   17
18   Furman   8-6   188   21
19   Montana State   7-5   170   20
20   Maine   10-3   169   11
21   Youngstown State   8-4   162   19
22   William & Mary   7-5   159   NR
23   Bethune-Cookman   10-3   136   16
24   Richmond   6-6   118   NR
25   Northern Arizona   9-3   116   15

Others receiving votes: Samford 95, Southern Illinois 59, Harvard 42, Charleston Southern 39, James Madison 30, Princeton 24, Southern Utah 20, Alcorn State 16, Liberty 16, Delaware 15, South Carolina State 15, Cal Poly 14, Missouri State 12, Sacred Heart 10, Wofford 8, Central Arkansas 7, Alabama State 6, Lehigh 6, Eastern Kentucky 4, Holy Cross 1, Illinois State 1, Jacksonville 1

[Train]

this poll is a joke...YSU would smack half the teams ahead of them....

[YSUinBoston]

I am more staggered someone would call last season "strong".

[paladin]

It was written by the athletic dept................ guys are skilled at propaganda but not much else. Hey, its a Ron Strollo operation. 

Gotta keep it looking "promising" no matter how badly he has run the ship.

[Lets_Talk]

YSU would smack half the teams ahead of them? Seriously? YSU might be able to beat some of the teams ahead of them, especially if playing at home. But, I do not see a single team in the Top 20 that YSU would "smack".

[IAA Fan]

I agree with talk. Some of those traditional basement-dwelling teams, like Towson State, have really improved over the past couple of years. I expect the poll to be reflective of all of the conferences ...that is why I respect it. Remember, these are the guys choosing who attends the post-season.

[Train]

here are the 11 teams ranked just ahead of them...on a neutral field YSU may get beat by 2 of these teams...you really think Nova...Tenn State...Montana St....Eastern Il games would even be close..?..

South Dakota State   
Eastern Illinois   
Fordham
Villanova 
Sam Houston State 
Northern Iowa   
Chattanooga   
Tennessee State   
Furman   
Montana State 
Maine   

[IAA Fan]

here are the 11 teams ranked just ahead of them...on a neutral field YSU may get beat by 2 of these teams...you really think Nova...Tenn State...Montana St....Eastern Il games would even be close..?..

South Dakota State   
Eastern Illinois   
Fordham
Villanova 
Sam Houston State 
Northern Iowa   
Chattanooga   
Tennessee State   
Furman   
Montana State 
Maine

I think EIU would have whipped YSU last year. As would Montana State and Sam Houston. UTC and Furman were the only teams that YSU definitely had the upper-hand on last year. Fordham and TSU would have been challenges, but we should win. We would have lost to the rest. Fordham goes full scholarship this year ...they will be very tough to beat. Furman returns everyone. The entire SoCon is still overrated; but you have bonehead I-AA columnists, like Coulson, that love Appy State and feel the need to pump up the conference. I laugh at how he still tries to talk up Appy, when they are gone ...I assume he will be as well, unless he truly tries to be a neutral sports columnist.

[ysufan0505]

With our defensive woes, we might not beat any of those teams 😁

[Wick250]

The disparity in talent within FCS is wider than in FBS, even if you do not count the defacto DIII Pioneer League.  Who are the good programs: the top half of the MVFC, the CAA, and the Big Sky.  Add onto that a few teams from the Southland, although the bottom half of that league is very weak.  That's it.

What about the fabled Southern Conference?  Well, Marshall, Georgia Southern, and Appalachian State are gone.  The rest of the teams are really no stronger than the Big South.

Eastern Illinois?  Did you watch them on tv?  Pro prospect quarterback that threw on nearly every down (McNair anyone?)  He would have had a field day against our beleaguered defense.  But their defense stunk worse than ours; a fact not reflected in the statistics because they played in the terrible OVC.

The FCS selection committee is the most hypocritical element within the NCAA.  They claimed that they would pick at-large selections according to their own objective formula that emphasized STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE.  They of course ignored that and actually refused to release their precious formula until AFTER the playoff field had been selected.  If these people had any integrity, they would release a ranking of teams based upon their unique formula at least twice during the season, say at the end of September and the end of October.  Then, whether the formula was fair (unlikely) or a farce (probable) you would at least understand where you stood.

[penguinpower]

The disparity in talent within FCS is wider than in FBS, even if you do not count the defacto DIII Pioneer League.  Who are the good programs: the top half of the MVFC, the CAA, and the Big Sky.  Add onto that a few teams from the Southland, although the bottom half of that league is very weak.  That's it.

What about the fabled Southern Conference?  Well, Marshall, Georgia Southern, and Appalachian State are gone.  The rest of the teams are really no stronger than the Big South.

Eastern Illinois?  Did you watch them on tv?  Pro prospect quarterback that threw on nearly every down (McNair anyone?)  He would have had a field day against our beleaguered defense.  But their defense stunk worse than ours; a fact not reflected in the statistics because they played in the terrible OVC.

The FCS selection committee is the most hypocritical element within the NCAA.  They claimed that they would pick at-large selections according to their own objective formula that emphasized STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE.  They of course ignored that and actually refused to release their precious formula until AFTER the playoff field had been selected.  If these people had any integrity, they would release a ranking of teams based upon their unique formula at least twice during the season, say at the end of September and the end of October.  Then, whether the formula was fair (unlikely) or a farce (probable) you would at least understand where you stood.

Exellent post Wick.