Canfield, OH — Can it get any worse? Have you see enough? YSU never really had a chance once the ball was kicked off Saturday at Missouri State. The Bears moved up and down the field with ease against the hopeless Penguins defense en route to a 42-28 win. The win was only the second win against the Penguins, with YSU now holding the series advantage 11-2. With the loss, the Penguins drop to 2-5 and 1-2 in the MVFC.

Things haven’t gotten this bad for the Penguins in a very long time. Now grant it, the coaching staff can’t help that this team has 22 injuries and their starting QB quit but sooner or later, you gotta say enough is enough. Heacock has been here eight seasons and he’s only delivered one playoff appearance. In recent days, there has been some speculation that if for a chance Ron Strollo believes the YSU football team needs to go in a different direction than Jon Heacock; that former Notre Dame head coach, YSU alum and ESPN College Football analyst Bob Davie would be a possible candidate to take over as head coach of the Penguins. In five years at Notre Dame, Davie compiled a 35-25 record including three bowl games, one of them was the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Davie’s short stint in South Bend came to an end following a 5-6 season in 2001. Bob Davie is a graduate of Moon High School and also played Tight Eight for the Penguins.

The university today is sent back to reality as one of its own passes away. Coach Dom Rosselli passed away tuesday morning at the age of 93. This loss will be felt by every diehard Penguin supporter throughout the country as Dom Rosselli shaped YSU athletics into what they are today. An assistant football coach, head basketball and baseball coach, Rosselli will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach in Penguins history in any sport. His 589 wins on the basketball court has been cemented into Penguin lore. Coach Dom Rosselli currently is the winningest coach in basketball and baseball, records that very well may never be broken. Youngstown State President Dr. David Sweet had this to say on the passing of Coach Rosselli “Dom Rosselli was one of the true champions of YSU, not only on the basketball court, the baseball diamond and the football field, but across the university and the Mahoning Valley, though he was small in stature, he was a giant in YSU athletics and a role model for us all – students, faculty and staff. His enthusiasm for the university was relentless. His contributions to the university were innumerable. And his memory will live forever. My most heartfelt sympathies go to his family. He will be missed.” Service dates, times and locations can be found on the YSU Athletic website at www.ysusports.com.

Despite the heartbreaking loss to Liberty this past weekend, YSU Fans should be proud of something: Fan Support for our program. This past weekend we had just under 19,000 at our game against the Flames of the FCS. Down the road in Akron, the Zippies were taking on the Cincinnati Bearcats of the FBS. If the Bearcats, or the Zips for that matter ever came to YSU, the game would sell out easily, but that’s not the case in Akron. The ‘announced attendance’ was 16,927, but the actual attendance was probably less than 10,000 as noted in a photo below. How about a few weeks ago when Kent had their home opener against FCS Delaware State, look at this spectacular crowd of 8,529. It’s worth noting they wiped out their stands in the one end-zone for a nice new scoreboard, and also put a canopy over their sad excuse for a press box.

Here are some photos of the three games I am mentioning below with the season average attendance in [brackets].

Youngstown State [15,817]
v. Liberty

Akron [12,970]
v. Cincinnati

Kent State [8,529]
v. Delaware State

Fans, who do you think really belongs in the MAC, and which two programs really belong in the FCS! Kent and Akron cannot get their required 15,000 tickets sold for their games, so why should they remain in the the FBS. Kent State’s football team looks horrible this year, while Akron’s is competitive, but not much better. I am not saying Youngstown State is better on the field this year; hell how can we even tell when Akron and Kent won’t play us to figure that out! The thing is this, Akron and Kent should feel privileged to be in the MAC, but they take it for granted. What have they done on the football field that should even allow them to stay in the MAC, Nothing! YSU outdraws them each and every year in attendance, but I guess that’s means nothing to anyone besides YSU Fans. Akron and Kent are much bigger than YSU enrollment wise as well, so they have NO EXCUSE for their sad attendance numbers. Even in basketball where Kent and Akron are better than YSU, they only outdraw us by about 1200-1500 each year!

Comments?

Highlights from WKBN. Crowd of around 19,000. What a comeback by the Penguins, all to come up just short.

(3-0) #25 Liberty
@ (2-2) Youngstown State
Stambaugh Stadium [20,630]
6:00PM | TV: MyYTV [10PM] | Radio: 570WKBN

EARLY REPORTS: 18,500 Tickets purchased for this game. This could be a sell out.

KEYS TO VICTORY: YSU Must establish their rushing attack early. I say swap Jabari Scott and Kamryn Keys on every other play. Mix in a few nice passes from Brandon Summers at QB. The bottom line though is run the ball down the Flames throats and wear down their line before half. Liberty has a potent offense which will score a lot of points if you don’t stop them. They have the tools to make this a shoot-out.

PRIORITY: Liberty has scored on 10/11 times to the Redzone this seasons. YSU’s defense has been phenomenal at holding the opponents in the redzone this season: OSU was held to 3 field goals and a turnover in the redzone. Last week NDSU struggled in the redzone with a blocked field goal and an intereception. The game could come down to the YSU Defense stopping the Flames in the redzone. YSU’s defense seems to allow teams drive the field, but they really lock on and prevent the opponents from scoring 6.

PREDICTION: Youngstown State has won 22 of 24 at home now, the only two losses to MVFC teams. Liberty will give the Penguins all they can handle for 3 quarters, but with a near sell out crowd and the Penguins riding high after last week’s upset, this is a game the Guins will win at home which propels them into the Top 20.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: 31 LIBERTY: 17

Fabulous Game Intro by the YSU Athletic Dept!