What Youngstown State head coach Doug Phillips said about the Buckeyes

COLUMBUS — Youngstown State head coach Doug Phillips was an Ohio State defensive quality control coach back in 2006. He was part of longtime Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel’s staff and formed strong relationships with Luke Fickell, Jim Heacock and others.

Now, Phillips is returning to Ohio Stadium, as the Buckeyes are hosting Youngstown State Saturday for their home opener.

Phillips is in his fourth year leading the FCS Penguins. They are coming off a 7-4 season and a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference. More recently, they are coming off a 52-10 win over Valparaiso in Week 1.

Ohio State and Youngstown State have played only twice, and that was in 2007 and 2008. The Buckeyes won 38-6 and then 43-0 the following year.

Ohio State is 8-3-1 all-time against schools currently in the FCS.

Lettermen Row has a rundown of what Phillips said Tuesday about the Buckeyes and Saturday’s game:

Youngstown State is focused on itself, Week 2 improvement…

PHILLIPS: “I think if you probably talk to the Buckeyes, they’re focusing on them. That’s what this month of September is all about. When you don’t have a preseason, when you don’t have scrimmages, you got to utilize the opportunities that you have in those non-league games to find out who you are and make those improvements. They say the biggest improvement you should make as a team is from Week 1 to Week 2 because now we’re able to go live for four quarters and be able to go sit down and watch film and see what areas we need to improve upon. Well, and we say that and I hope our kids buy into that. So this week’s no different. We got to look at what we did not so good on Saturday, look at what we did and find a way to execute come Saturday at noon.”

Penguins believe they play among the best in the FCS…now they get one of the best in the FBS

PHILLIPS: “I thank Ohio State for giving our —  it’s bigger than us — but giving not only our players, our program, our university, the Youngstown State fans, the opportunity to experience what they’re going to experience on Saturday. And to go play the best, I tell you, we play the best in FCS. Now we get to go play the best in the FBS. And it’s football and we got to go in with a plan to win and find out how we execute and evaluate how we do going against that type of program.”

Phillips is confident Ohio State will make jump from Week 1 to Week 2

PHILLIPS: “Defensively, they’re all over the place, physical. I mean, they’ve got the best players in the country. That’s a fact. Probably they got to hear the ‘theys.’ Why didn’t you score 50? Why didn’t you go score 60? How many home openers have they lost in the last 43 years. Well, I can remember 2014 to Virginia Tech, where a redshirt freshman, J.T. Barrett. They had a young offensive line. Well, what did they do in that year? You guys recall? (Reporter answers that Ohio State won it all that season) Exactly.

“So they got the great players. They’re finding out about their kids. They’re finding out about couple new guys. Yeah, their offensive tackles [from 2022], I think gave up zero sacks in the NFL preseason. So they got new tackles, guess what, they’re gonna be good. They’re gonna make a big jump from Week 1 to Week 2. They want to get to the national championship at the FBS level. And we’re trying to claim the same thing in our FCS. So for us to go play the competition, we’re never going to back down from it. I think it’s great opportunity for players, for our fans. And it’s a great opportunity to be able to put yourselves against such a program. So our kids, I know they’ll be excited.”

Youngstown State isn’t approaching this game any differently…

PHILLIPS: “People probably think, ‘Oh, you’re doing something different because of who you’re playing.’ We don’t. We don’t. We have the same meetings, we have the same preparation, we do the same game breakdowns finding what can we do? What can we do offensively? What can we do defensively? What can we do on special teams? Regardless if it’s Valpo, to Ohio State, to Robert Morris, to Northern Iowa.

“I was proud that I didn’t even hear about this game going into the Valpo game, which tells me a little bit about the maturity our team — today was a Tuesday practice. We have a great practice going and watch the film, and we got to come back out and have a great Wednesday practice. And we get to see the plan that we put together against the best in the country. Against one of the best defenses in the country, one of the best offenses in the country, best wide receivers in the country and see how we fare.”

Youngstown State’s experience against FBS teams…

PHILLIPS: “We played Kentucky last year, played Michigan State and, in the future, whether it’s Pitt, whether it’s Maryland. The difference here is, you know, we got 79 [scholarship] players from the state of Ohio on our roster — it’s a pretty big deal. They probably grew up, if not a fan, wanting to play there, wanting to be a Buckeye. So this one’s just a little bit different just for that. But going down to Kentucky last year in the SEC. For us, too, we carry the flag.

“The state of Ohio, I don’t really know if they know the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They know Mid American Conference. So for us to wave that flag that we play in the best FCS conference in the country. That every year first, second, third-round picks are coming from teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference into the NFL. Nobody knows that. They know Mid American Conference. And so for us to be able to have a game like this, where not only are you representing your university, your city, the area, but you’re also representing the league that you play in, and we’re proud of the league we play in. And each year those teams are winning national titles, and that’s why we come to work every day, to build that program.”

Beginning of the game will be critical for Penguins…

PHILLIPS: “For us, it’s like any game. Our scout team can’t give the look Ohio State’s gonna give. Nothing against our scout team. So, you know, it’s going to take that first couple of series, you better adjust quick, you better adjust quick if you’re a defensive back, and you gotta guard [Marving] Harrison [Jr.] or you’re up front or you’re the left tackle, and you got those guys coming off the edge on pass rush. So, yeah, you got to make those adjustments quickly. Or it could be a long day.”