Beef & The Bus

All or Nothing

Pass or Fail

Right or Wrong

Good or Bad

Pass or Punt

Get it?

👍

A Seth Wilson injury in the early minutes of the first quarter is a worst-case-scenario for a player. That stands on it's own as the prevailing negative of the game. And yet I'm mentioning it in the positive section. I'm taking that approach because the guys who came in after him did such a good job toting the rock.

Jalen Bussey turned two of six carries into touchdowns in the second half. He quite literally carried the team to victory. His running-mate, Kobe "Beef" (as he will henceforth be known) Johnson finished with 17 touches - 1 reception - and turned that into 127 yards along with the first score of the afternoon.

On a day when the defense held Youngstown to 41 yards in the first half it was the right prescription of plays to build the lead & run the clock.

Speaking of Code Green, they put on a clinic today. Spencer Waege set the tone early and Jasir Cox began the process of establishing himself apart from his brother with a highlight hit as well. Here's the thing, "putting on a clinic" can mean different things at different times. Today it meant a mostly-sound effort by the 11 young men on the field. There's a value that comes from knowing ones role and doing ones job well. When everyone reaches that level, great things can follow - as they did today. That may not lead to a lot of highlights (no interceptions and only 1 total sack on the day) but 41 freaking yards allowed in 30 minutes is absurd!

Then came Youngstown's primary halftime adjustment - QB change. Joe Craycraft was pulled in favor of Mark Waid and the Penguins managed a much better second half. The switch lead to them nearly doubling their total yards in the opening drive and they followed that with a 15-play, 75-yard drive to get their only points of the game. It would be tough for any team to adjust quicker to the adjustments that were made & NDSU returned to form in the fourth but it was a blemish nonetheless.

That and the aforementioned injury were the only outright negatives though.

It just goes to show that the program is in good hands and the astronomical aspirations are very much in play!