YSU’s improved defense continues to make strides
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YOUNGSTOWN -- When the Youngstown State football program brought in first-year defensive coordinator Ryan Riemedio in January, it did so in the hopes that he could help revitalize a defense that was desperately searching for answers after struggling mightily for two seasons.
With an efficient and explosive offense that was led by one of the top players in the country, the Penguins didn't need the defense to be the '85 Bears or the "Steel Curtain" or the "Legion of Boom." They just needed a unit that could get a couple of extra stops per game, and perhaps cut down slightly on the number of explosive plays allowed.
With the Penguins sitting at 6-2 overall and riding a four-game win streak heading into their off week, YSU has seen noticeable improvement in almost all facets defensively.
Through eight games, it's safe to say that the Penguins got what they were looking for defensively with Riemedio.
"I think Coach Riemedio has done a great job with leadership, getting the staff and getting those players to buy in," YSU head coach Doug Phillips said. "We have some older guys that have been through it that help lead the way, and then we got younger guys that are hungry."
Not only did Riemedio bring a different scheme to the defense, but he's made YSU more versatile and multiple with the looks that the Penguins can show opposing offenses.
"We do so many different things, and the energy every day, it's always neutral," fifth-year linebacker Mike Wells said. "He always lets us know it's never going to be about the people we're playing. ... He just brings a focus on being the best version of YSU's defense that we could be every day. He brings the energy, and he's not easy on us, so that helps."
In 2024, YSU's defense was at or near the bottom of the FCS in most major statistical categories, as the Penguins stumbled to a 4-8 campaign.
The defense improved slightly in 2025, but YSU still often had to rely on outscoring opposing teams and was susceptible to blowing big leads, which eventually caught up to the Penguins in their playoff loss to Yale in the first round.
Last year, YSU was 80th in the FCS in total defense (393.2 yards per game), 93rd in scoring defense (31.0 points per game) and 112th in pass defense (252.08 yards per game).
But so far this season, the Penguins are 45th in total defense, tied for 34th in scoring defense, 67th in pass defense and 33rd in rush defense.
Overall, YSU is allowing 358.8 yards and 23.1 points per game. The secondary has been better, giving up 225.9 passing yards per game, while the front-seven is allowing just 132.9 rushing yards per game.
"Everyone's much hungrier, and it's not just a couple guys making a whole bunch of plays," Wells said. "I don't think you could look at a guy on our defense right now and say that anyone's performing a lot better than another single person. It's a group effort, and with that comes a lack of production on the back end and up front. But it's like, what do you value? Do you value winning or do you value your personal production? So I think it's just been a great job of everyone meshing together and playing together."
However, while the numbers and metrics show YSU's improvement defensively, the Penguins aren't satisfied. They still feel like they are capable of more.
"We're still giving up way too many explosives. We gotta get better there," Phillips said. "We gotta get better in our communication, our pad level and our block destruction."
One of the calling cards for the defense throughout the season has been its ability to make adjustments in-game.
In all but one game, opposing offenses have scored points on each of their opening possessions against YSU. The only reason it didn't happen last week against Northern Iowa is because the Panthers missed a field goal attempt.
Despite opponents usually getting the jump on the Penguins early in games, YSU still managed to settle in and get stops when needed, even if that's just holding teams to field goals instead of touchdowns.
"I feel like that is our identity right now because that's what we've been doing. But we don't really want that to be our identity," Wells said. "We want to be the defense that just goes out there and figures it out from the start. Right now, unfortunately, and this has been a pet peeve of mine, we kind of let teams get a false sense of confidence. I feel like we are the best defense on the field every time we step on, so we gotta stop letting these teams get a false sense of confidence.
"We just gotta keep playing well as a defense. Those adjustments, they do help us. It's looked really good, and we want it to keep looking good. But we just gotta do enough to get our offense back on the field."