March 20, 2003
Young Penguins Enter Spring Drills With Much to Accomplish;
All Three Units Look to Gain Experience During Campaign
    This spring, the Youngstown State football team will be taking a day-by-day approach.
    Now, that is the normal approach almost all the time in football, but with 44 of 78 players on the initial Spring practice roster sophomores or redshirt freshmen, the Penguins are just trying to get on the same page. That will be important come Fall when the squad faces its first 12-game regular-season schedule in school history.
    Youngstown State begins drills on Friday, March 21 at Stambaugh Stadium and will work until Wednesday, April 16, the night of the 31st annual Red-White Spring Game.
    Third-year Coach Jon Heacock has had a good blend of experience and youth in winning 15 games his first two seasons. But with more than 50 percent of the roster underclassmen.
    "Youth is always a concern because there is nothing better than experience," Heacock said. "We watched that out of our defense a year ago. There is no way to replace experience. That is something that is a learning curve. That goes back to playing 12 games to get us much-needed experience. There are young folks all around."
    That adds some pressure since the Penguins have not made the playoffs the past two seasons.
    The last time the Penguins went more than two seasons without a postseason appearance was during a six-year stretch in the 1980s. YSU had a playoff drought from 1980 through 1986, but then made the playoffs in 10 of the next 13 years.
    "Sometimes we get so caught in the prize that we forget the daily day-in day-out journey that we have to take to ever have a shot at that prize," Heacock said. "With a younger team we have to go day by day to get better.
    "There are a lot of fundamental things we are going to have to do a lot better because we don’t have a lot of guys who have played four or five years."

Offense
    The Penguins have a chance to be strong up front with the return of four starting offensive linemen. Aaron Marshall is back at quarterback after leading YSU to a 5-2 mark the final seven games of the year. Josiah Doby and Mike Burns have to step in for second-team All-American P.J. Mays at the tailback spot. A young group of receivers will have to step up and play a key role as well as a group of five tight ends who will work to replace the tandem of Dennis Dlugosz and John Schumacher.
    Marshall played well at quarterback after moving to the position against SMS. Marshall redshirted in 2001, but early in fall camp last year was moved to wide receiver because of injuries. He finished the year completing 51-of-98 passes for 711 yards.
    Heacock said Marshall improved throughout the season, but still had to improve to maintain his starting spot.
    "There is no question he improved throughout the year, but I don’t think he is where he needs to be yet," Heacock said. "He got better, but that is what experience does for you. This will be a critical spring for those three guys."
    Also battling Marshall at the quarterback spot this spring are senior Luis Gonzalez and junior Matt Rycraft.
    "Aaron’s the returning starter and that is fair that he starts," Heacock said. "But Luis has had a great offseason. I think he’s worked extremely hard and so has Matt. They are not about to hand anybody a job. That is a pretty competitive group right there. All three of those guys, for the most part are relatively young and don’t have a lot of experience."
    On the offensive line, YSU returns starters Nick Roberts (center), Will Sanders (right guard), Norris Kennedy (left guard) and Josh Davis (left tackle).
    After those four, is a solid but inexperienced group that includes, Delaware transfer Matt Brouse, Tony Limongi, John Bartos, Brent Steiner, Pat Walker and Erik Claxon. Steiner missed the 2002 season with a knee injury.
    "Our offensive line is relatively experienced up front with our first group," Heacock said. "Most of the players behind have never played at all."
    At tight end, the group of Mike Roberts, Shawn Carlson, Max King, Ryan Jewell and Nick Forro will all battle for playing time. Roberts and Carlson played last season, but Dlugosz and Schumacher carried the load at that position.
    The wide receivers are a young group with the potential to make an impact. Phil Larmon and Kyle Smith are starters entering the spring with Damian Wright, Cody Clark, Alex Bailey, T.J. Peterson and Jim Smith looking to make an impression as well. However, as a group, the seven players have a combined 29 receptions in their careers.
    The backfield will be without Mays for the first time in three years, but the cupboard is not bare with Doby, Burns, Darius Peterson, Josh Cayson and Justin Reams at the tailback spot. The fullback spot is solid with Keland Logan, Chris DiMauro and Demetrius Ison available.
    Doby has rushed for 1,011 yards in his three years and averaged an impressive 8.9 yards per carry last year. Burns rushed for 285 yards in 2002 and Heacock said both players will see action.
    "I look at Mike as a starter and I look at Josiah as a starter," Heacock said. "They have played a lot of football. Going into their senior seasons they have been in big games, carried the ball in big games, made big runs."

Defense
    A strength for the team a year ago, the YSU defense will be looking to answer some questions this spring.
    Entering the spring, only three starters from last season -- Mike Bracken, Sherod Holmes and Justin Dellarose -- are available. YSU’s biggest issue is replacing six departing seniors from the front seven. YSU was also busy during the recruiting season signing 15 defensive players to come in and help this fall.
    "Justin gives some maturity to that group, and some poise and some leadership," Heacock said. "With Mike Bracken back that helps, and Sherod Holmes has been a great leader in the offseason."
    Dellarose will anchor the front seven of the defense this season. He finished the 2002 season with 67 tackles, fourth most on the squad.
    Three starting front three entering spring drills are Steve Durbin, Matt Briggs and Nate Baston. Briggs and Baston have each played in more than 20 games in their careers while Durbin has bounced back and forth between offense and defense. Last year’s line of Guy Mazard, Martin Stachowicz and Matt Mechling was one of the most experienced lines in recent history.
    "Sometimes when you are a part time guy you can hide a little bit," Heacock said. "There will be no where for Nate, Matt or those other players to hide. They are all going to play and play a lot."
    Also competing for playing time on the front line are junior college transfer Matt Porter, Ryan Clonch, Scott Wahl, Greg Hufford and Chris Rice.
    Three of the four linebackers -- Russell Stuvaints, Jon Tekac and Brandon Byers -- have all moved on leaving Dellarose as the only starter from the front seven remaining.
    The three other linebacker spots will be filled by players who have been reserves the past two seasons. Yancey Marcum, Joe Juby, Justin Scholes, Chad Slyvester, Mike Andrews, Brandon Brown and Akron transfer Rick Von Bergen are all listed as the top two players on the depth chart in the linebacking positions. None of those players are seniors and except for Marcum, the other six are short on experience.
    Another new face will be linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky. Olsavsky is a Youngstown native, who played 10 seasons in the NFL.
    In the secondary, Bracken and Holmes are healthy and will contribute. But, Pat Reece and Waymann Peters will be limited this spring and part-time starter Jake Godec is out for the season with colitis.
    Senior Scott Thiessen will take over for three-year starter Anthony Barone at free safety. Redshirt freshman Tyler Morton will also see time at the free-safety spot. While Peters is out, redshirt freshman Jason Perry and Herb Jones will get more reps during spring camp. Other players who will factor in as part of the secondary are Cincinnati transfer Steve Reynolds and Quentin Humphries.

Special Teams
    The Penguins special teams units will see some changes under Coach Ken Conatser who returns to YSU after a two-year hiatus. Conatser spent 16 seasons at YSU and was the special team coordinator from 1989-94.
    Senior placekicker Jake Stewart has made 20 field goals in his career, after booting seven last season.
    At punter, two-year starter Kosta Karapetsas must be replaced with the leading candidate being redshirt freshman Joe Bishop. Ryan Martino, David Mills and Nick Terracina also will be in the hunt at the punter spot. Combined the four players have one collegiate punt among them.
    This spring, YSU will look for a returner to replace Jerald Burley. Entering spring drills, at least five players are capable of taking over for Burley while Cayson and Perry will handle the kickoff return duties.