NDSU Football Opens Against A Youngstown State Team With Many Unknowns

Penguins coaching staff hasn't had much coaching experience on D-1 level

FARGO, N.D. —  From playing one game in October to having an eight-game conference schedule announced in late January. The long awaited game week is here for North Dakota State football in mid-February.

The road to this point is certainly a unique one, however the first opponent may be even crazier.

The Bison are getting ready for a team in Youngstown State whose new coaching staff have little experience as a coordinator or head coach at the division one level.

The defense could even see two quarterbacks play.

Head coach Matt Entz says the team has been looking at 63 different games on film.

In order to be successful against an opponent with many unknowns its important for NDSU to play to their strengths.

“The team that will beat us first will be us. If we can’t establish the run game, if we can’t play the defense the way we want to play, it doesn’t matter what the other team does<” Entz said. “We haven’t changed any of the expectations or any of the processes that were involved, were still trying to play as sound of football as we can. From an offensive standpoint, we don’t know what they’re going to show up in from a front well we better have plays that we feel comfortable with against four down and three down. We better have good concepts against two high and single high as we move into this game and then adjust from there.”

Just how crazy is the penguins head coach’s journey? Doug Phillips came from Cincinnati as the running backs, tight ends and special teams coach for three seasons. Before that, he was out of coaching entirely for eight years as a school administrator.

Leading up to then,  Phillips had year long stints with Bowling Green and Ohio State coaching on the defense after being a high school coach for 15 years.

His first coaching job came at Youngstown back in 91 when current University President, Jim Tressel was the H.C.