Kent State Football Analysis: Golden Flashes Continue to Persevere

Kent State’s win over Akron last week was a game I’m not convinced the Golden Flashes would have won the past two seasons.

The Golden Flashes surrendered an 18-point fourth quarter lead as the Zips rallied to knot the score at 35 and send the game to overtime. 

Kent State found an extra gear in OT, however, and scored on its first play while shutting down Akron on its final possession to regain the Wagon Wheel. That extra gear had been missing for KSU the past few years.

Now under new head coach Mark Carney, the Golden Flashes have become one of the biggest surprises in college football this year. Most thought their ceiling was winning just one or two games. Their preseason win total was slated at just Over/Under 1.5.

But Carney and Co. had different plans.

Kent State has already won four games and is 3-3 in MAC play. 

The Golden Flashes’ four wins are more than their previous two seasons combined when they went 1-23. Their Week 1 win over Merrimack was the program’s first victory in 714 calendar days and their Week 7 win over UMass was their first conference victory since the 2022 regular-season finale.

Carney was initially named the interim head coach after Kenni Burns was fired in the spring. On Oct. 30, though, the school announced the interim tag was removed and Carney was named the 24th head coach in program history.

The announcement came five days after Kent State rallied from a 21-3 second-half deficit to upset Bowling Green. The Golden Flashes showed the same type of persistence against BGSU that they showed against Akron. 

“The will of this football team is special,” Carney said in his postgame press conference following the Akron win. 

If it wasn’t enough that KSU was going through its coaching shakeup and trying to find its footing, the Golden Flashes also had one of the toughest non-conference schedules among Group of Five teams. 

In the first five weeks, the Golden Flashes played three Associated Press Top 25 teams in Texas Tech, Florida State, and Oklahoma. Texas Tech and Oklahoma are currently ranked in the AP Top 10. According to ESPN, KSU’s strength of schedule ranks 48th in the FBS, which is the highest in the MAC. Ohio’s 77th SOS is second-toughest. 

For the Golden Flashes, the path from the past few seasons to right now wasn’t easy, and there’s been a ton of adversity faced along the way. 

The players and coaches who have stuck through it are finally seeing the commitment pay off.

This week, Kent State swept the MAC weekly awards. Quarterback Dru DeShields was named the Offensive Player of the Week while linebacker Mason Woods was tabbed the Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Punter Charlie Durkin earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors. 

Plenty of would-be contributors transferred out of the program, but these players on the roster hung around and are now key parts of its success. They’ve certainly faced their share of adversity.

For DeShields, he didn’t see the field last year and is coming off a torn ACL. The redshirt sophomore has battled back to be one of the most effective passers in the league and has 1,638 yards and 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. His QB efficiency of 156.5 is the top in the MAC.

After seeing some action in 2023, Durkin was beaten out for the starting job last year but saw things through and is now making game-changing punts.

Woods was one of the top defenders for the Golden Flashes last year and likely could have transferred and been a key contributor for another program, but he chose to stay.

There’s definitely a belief around the team and, from the outside looking in, it seemed like Carney impressively rallied the program together once he took charge in April.

And the win over Akron proves the team is continuing to rally around him. 

Regardless of how the final two games go against Central Michigan and Northern Illinois, I would say this season has been a success considering expectations from everyone else, the circumstances in the spring, and what the program has gone through the past few years. 

And regardless of their final record, I think Carney should be mentioned in the MAC Coach of the Year conversation. Kent State needed a revival, and it’s gotten it.

Kent State vs. Central Michigan Prediction

I predict Kent State picks up this home victory as an underdog. As of this writing, college football betting odds have CMU as a 8.5-point favorite.

The MAC has been unpredictable so far this year, and things tend to get interesting during MACtion. If Kent State’s defense can play how it has the past three weeks — outside of the fourth quarter against Akron — then I think it’ll put itself in position to win.

Like I mentioned above, the Golden Flashes have a lot of belief right now and teams with that mindset are tough to beat.