Youngstown State seeks to bounce back from loss, avoid 0-2 start in MVFC
Penguins host Southern Illinois on Saturday
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Coming off a narrow defeat in a shootout against Northern Iowa last week, Southern Illinois presents a different test this weekend for Youngstown State.
The Penguins, trying to avoid starting 0-2 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play for the fifth straight season, return home Saturday to face the Salukis at 6 p.m. (ESPN+//570 WKBN) at Stambaugh Stadium.
"We all know the results of what happened last year with not making the playoffs," wide receiver Bryce Oliver said Tuesday. "With (Southern Illinois) being the No. 5 team in the country, this would be a big conference win and a big win in general. We don't want to start off how we started last year in conference play. So if we could flip the script this week, it'd be a blessing."
The Penguins got off to a fast start against UNI, but then the Panthers surged back into the game by scoring 20 unanswered points. From there, the two teams traded off scores the rest of the game.
"We have to manage the highs and the lows," head coach Doug Phillips said. "It's more about us. ... We went to a place where we had a chance to come home with a victory, and we didn't. So we reevaluate ourselves in areas that we need to get better. ... We have to fix (ourselves), so this gives us an opportunity to (do that) this week and get back on the practice field, make those corrections and develop a plan to win Saturday."
The defense, particularly the front seven, has been a group YSU has leaned on at times this season. But UNI's offense exposed some holes in the Penguins' unit, as YSU gave up 436 total yards, including 337 through the air, and 44 points.
"Very uncharacteristic -- we have to stop the run, but we also have to do better in pass coverage," Phillips said. "It's a lot of communication, a lot of attention to detail, a lot of focus that goes into that that needs to be cleaned up."
Despite scoring 41 points against the Panthers, Oliver said after watching film that the Penguins' offense felt like it left as many as 14 additional points on the field.
While "encouraged" with the high offensive output against a tough conference opponent, Oliver noted that YSU spent this week in practice cleaning up the things offensively that caused them to leave those points on the field that could have changed the game.
"We know what the potential is for this offense, and we want to focus on those things we can fix," Oliver said.
YSU has won five of its last seven games against SIU, including last November's 28-21 come-from-behind victory over the Salukis in the season finale.
While UNI had a potent offense led by a talented, experienced quarterback, the MVFC has a myriad of different teams up-and-down the conference, and Southern Illinois presents a different challenge for the Penguins, particularly with its defense.
Through their first four games, all wins, the Salukis have been a top-25 unit defensively across the board. Southern Illinois is giving up just 18.6 points per game (No. 18 in FCS) and only 316 yards per game (No. 23 in FCS).
"The team we played (last November), it's not the same defense," Phillips said. "They have familiar faces -- they probably have four or five guys that played in that game, but they went out and got two of the best players from Eastern Illinois, who are now their defensive tackles. They got corners, safeties that they brought in -- all transfers and all those guys are fifth- and sixth-year guys, so they're older guys."
Also unique is the Salukis' three-man front on defense. Every team YSU has faced so far this year has run a four-man front, including the Penguins themselves, which is what the offense practices against during the week.
Led by Branson Combs, the linebackers are a core part of what Southern Illinois does defensively, and it has shown with four linebackers making up the top-five list of tacklers on the team.
But when they're on offense, the Penguins need to be aware of Salukis' safety PJ Jules, who leads the team in tackles (41) and passes defended (7).
"They're physical, they're athletic and they can run to the ball," Phillips said.
Offensively, SIU rallies around senior quarterback Nic Baker, who is currently just 122 yards shy of breaking the school's passing record, and has thrown for 1,110 yards and seven touchdowns this year.
"He can make every throw, but it's almost unorthodox like Kansas City Chiefs quarterback (Patrick) Mahomes," Phillips said. "He can do three turns in the pocket, get out of the pocket, throw it sidearm, throw it underarm -- he could probably throw it with his left arm if he wanted to to make sure he's completing passes. We've seen him for a long time now and he's a great competitor. ... I have a lot of respect for what he does and you have to play 60 minutes with him in the game."
nmadhavan@tribtoday.com