Four weeks into the season, the Waynesburg University football team has scored more points each week than it has the week prior. After getting shutout at Muskingum to start the season, the team scored seven points against Westminster. Then it scored 20 against Carnegie Mellon. Then it scored 21 against Case Western Reserve.

While the offense has trended upwards from a scoring perspective, the defensive effort has trended in the opposite direction since the opening game of the season. After allowing 19 points to Muskingum, it then allowed 28 points to Westminster, 30 to Carnegie Mellon and 56 against Case Western Reserve.

This is one of the facets that the football team has struggled with during this season – consistency on both sides of the ball. According to interim head coach Chris Smithley, this issue is one of the most important to address and fix as the season progresses.

“We’re not playing as a team consistently. We’re not complimenting each other,” said Smithley. “…I just think it’s both ways. When we’re playing good offensively, defensively we’re having some flaws and struggling in areas. When we’re playing really good defensively, we’re going three-and-out on offense. We’re not consistently playing together yet as a team.”

Smithley saw this especially in the most recent game at Case Western Reserve, noting several drives on both sides of the ball that momentum swung in Waynesburg’s favor, but was quickly eliminated.

“We come out in the first half and the defense gets a couple stops early…and get us the football back a couple times there in the first quarter,” Smithley said. “But we’re complimenting them by going three-and-out…we’re just not complimenting each other right now.”

One area offensively that has struggled to find a rhythm so far has been the run game. Out of the four games, there have been three different single-game leading rushers for the Yellow Jackets. Junior Austin Wilson led the team in yards in Week One and Week Four, while sophomore Jarves Crews paced the team Week Two and junior Ben Ciero led the charge in Week Three.

As injuries have piled on, Smithley said the approach of using multiple backs is something most teams are utilizing around the country.

“[Our run game] will be a by-committee until someone takes on the ownership of the position,” Smithley said. “You’re seeing it around the country, everyone is almost a by-committee. Nobody is taking 30-35 carries anymore just with the speed of the game and you want to keep guys fresh and manage their carries. I think that we’ll continue to be a by-committee.”

While echoing that sediment, Smithley notes that from last week, there is one thing in particular that he looks for the running backs to be consistent in – hitting the holes.

“We missed a lot of holes – they may not be holes that take us for touchdowns, but they’re holes that will get us four yards instead of zero,” said Smithley. “That’s something that we’re going to put a pretty big emphasis on moving into this week is getting positive yards. We can’t take the negative yards on offense.”

Additionally, after starting the season with consecutive games of under 100 yards passing, sophomore quarterback Tyler Perone has picked up his play from a statistical standpoint over the last two contests. With nearly 400 yards passing and five combined touchdowns against Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve, the second-year transfer from Seton Hill continues to show positive signs of his playmaking abilities.

Smithley said that, despite the numbers against Case Western Reserve, it was not one of Perone’s better games as Waynesburg’s starting quarterback. Smithley is, however, committed to the growth and development of his young quarterback.

“[Perone] has made some plays and he’s improved,” Smithley said. “But I think from a decision making process, and doing the right things by the offense, I thought that this [was not one of Perone’s] better games that he’s played. For whatever reason that is, we have to get it fixed moving forward. He’s our guy, and we’re going to stick with him. We just have to fix the mistakes and move forward.”

Defensively, there have been many players that have individually contributed to the effectiveness of the unit. However, Smithley said, there are often times where not everyone is on the same page.

Two young players in particular that have carved big roles into the defensive effort that the first-year interim head coach has been impressed with are sophomore defensive backs VaShon Graham and Tyler Smith, who he thinks have been consistent in a defense that has shown inconsistencies.

“I think those guys do a great job,” said Smithley. “I think they’re the future of the heart of that defense. I think they’re still making their young mistakes here and there. For the most part, those two guys are pretty key components to our defense right now. They’ll keep getting better, and those are guys that we are going to lean on in the near future here to get this thing going.”

On a team that features many underclassmen, Smithley is aware that the inconsistencies are all a part of the learning curve for his young team.

“Those are things you’re going to deal with when you’re an inexperienced team and you grow and try to build something into what you want it to be with a little bit different of an offensive plan than in the past,” he said. “Possessing the football and managing the clock—these are growing pains that we’re going through right now and we’re going to get to that. These are conversations that we’re having with our players about situations and how we need to handle them better and how…we’re going to get there.”