A Week 3 Deep Dive: Kent State
By Clayton Kilgore
I’VE HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT
It was, once again, good.
When has 2-0 with a win over a ranked opponent ever been a bad thing?
Now, should NC State have been ranked to begin with? Debatable. My mind is saying “aw naw hell naw” but the cold hard truth is that they were. I’ll run with that.
Let’s be clear: I refuse to take wins for granted. I’m thrilled with the outcome and we blew them outta the water. There was never a doubt.
I’m just… still hungry.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I’m not gonna jump the gun because we mashed Dave Doeren’s face into a wall. I’m just not. Hell, they struggled against Eastern Carolina. NC isn’t very good and we just brought that to the forefront and exposed it for the world to see.
Ultimately, we settled the bet and made sure they are now rightfully outside the top-25, where they damn well belong.
And that makes me happy.
Dylan Sampson is currently the 9th leading rusher in the nation, averaging 8.0 yards per carry, and second in the nation with 6 touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine a better start for him.
This game wasn’t even really about our prodigy at quarterback. It’s not that Nico wasn’t great, he finished around 300 scrimmage yards and he ran it well, tucking it 8 times for 68 yards and a TD, but his performance was secondary. Not to nitpick, but two interceptions is room for improvement, but I kept reminding myself that he’s a freshman, then I got excited all over again knowing we have another year of him growing (and showing).
The real star of the show was the defense, which wasn’t entirely what I expected. To put it mildly, they completely snuffed out the Wolfpack.
They gave up 143 yards total. They had 13 TFL’s. The defensive line was absolutely dominant and sacked the quarterback three times.
Our Great White Safety returned an interception 85 yards for a TD.
KC Concepcion was held to 53 yards receiving and it turns out I couldn’t have been right - if you shut that guy down NC State has nowhere else to turn. The Vols knew the assignment and executed it beautifully.
The first road test is complete.
What you see below is what I was doing after exactly 3 light beers as my wife and my friends looked on, mortified and ashamed to be in the same room as me.
via @RockyTopNow on x
Don’t care, Go Vols.
Now we shift our focus to the Kent State Golden Flashes.
What the fricken heck is a golden flash?
Background Information & History:
Kent State football has been around since 1920 is a proud member of the Mid-American Conference of #MACtion fame.
2023 Record: 1-11 with the only win coming against Central Connecticut state. I am serious.
Head Coach: Kenni (?) Burns (2023-present).
Weird spelling.
Just starting year 2, but it wasn’t the hottest of starts.
Notable Alumni:
Lou Holtz - 1956-1957
Political correspondent
Serial talk-spitter
1988 National Championship head coach for Notre Dame
Nick Saban - 1970-1972
College Gameday Host
Antonio Gates - 2001-2003
The best football player to come through Kent State’s program
Did not play football at Kent State
Played basketball at Kent State
All-time record vs. Tennessee: This is the first ever matchup between Kent State and Tennessee! We will witness history this weekend.
LOGO:
SportsLogoHistory.com
Kent State has had exactly two (2) primary logos since 1920. The first of which appears to be this grainy, poorly photoshopped bird throwing a lightning bolt from its left wing.
Since then, it’s been this guy:
SportsLogoHistory.com
Is it a bird? Is it lightning? Make up your mind, Kent State.
Here are their base uniforms:
For what their program has lacked in success and what their primary uniforms lack in creativity, they’ve actually put together some incredibly sexy combos over the years. Here’s a few of my favorites:
Powder blues always play, and I like what they’ve done with the modern throwback helmets over the years.
UNIFORM FINAL GRADE: 6.2/10
Few things hit quite like a good throwback, and powder blue jerseys almost always go hard. However, that can only take you so far, and their core kit is boring.
Why anyone thought it was a good idea to have the “KENT STATE” lettering striped on the thigh is beyond me, and that detracts from the final score. Fire whoever approved that.
OFFENSE:
Returning Starters/Transfers/Impact Players: QB Devin Kargman, RB Gavin Garcia, RB Ky Thomas, WR Luke Floreia, WR Chrishon McCray, OL Oliver Billotte
Kent State returns a handful of starters on both sides, but is that really such a good thing for a team that went 1-11 last season?
They are a bit short handed at quarterback and returned both options from 2023. Devin Kargman won the starting position over Tommy Ulatowski who played roughly half the snaps last season. Through the first two games, Kargman has completed 36 of 66 pass attempts for 374 yards, 3 TDs, and 2 INTs. They lost to Pitt in week 1,
In a stroke of rotten luck, they lost their returning leading rusher, Gavin Garcia, to a knee injury before the season opener.
Their running game is now dependent on running back Ky Thomas, who ran for 824 yards and 6 TDs as a true freshman for Minnesota back in 2021 but sat out all of last year. So far, it’s been a slog for Thomas who’s carried 29 times for just 79 yards (2.7 ypc).
As such, the Golden Flash have a pair of capable wide receivers that they’ll have to rely on. While Luke Floreia is WR2 in this offense, he’s gotten off to a nice start this season with a TD in each of the first two games averaging out at 98 yards per game.
Their best player and the most noteworthy figure in their offense by a mile is WR Chrishon McCray. He had 41 catches for 610 yards and 4 TDs last season. He’s gotten off to a bit of a slower start this year, but he’s the primary playmaker to watch and it’ll be genuinely interesting to see how he fares against the Tennessee secondary. Not that I expect a whole lot from the Kent State offensive unit as a whole, but McCray is legit and he’s the offensive X-factor for Kent State if they’re to move the football in any capacity.
Credit: HustleBelt
DEFENSE:
Returning starters/transfers/impact players: CB Dallas Branch, S Josh Baka, DL Stephen Daley, LB Nicholas Giacolone, DE Kameron Olds
Again, this was a roster that was largely decimated after the 2022 season and starting at ground zero with a new head coach in ‘23.
A notable absence so far this year has been Nick Giacolone, the second-leading tackler from last season. He’s missed the first two games and is set to miss this weekend’s matchup, so they need him to get healthy and fast.
A transfer in 2022, Dallas Branch came over from San Diego State University and rehabbed an injury most of last season, but he’s a good coverage corner that had 3 INTs in just 5 starts in his last season with the Aztecs.
Another returner on the defensive line, Stephen Daley has gotten involved through the first two games with 3 TFLs and a sack.
While it may seem treasonous, Kameron Olds is an interconference transfer coming over from Buffalo that’s been an early factor in the pass rush. He’s my defensive X-factor for this weekend and he’s already tallied 3 sacks through the first two games.
Credit: 247 Sports
SUMMARY:
Look, we’re here again talking about a team that was winless in the MAC last season that’s 0-2 in year two with a new coach.
They lost to Saint Francis University last week.
They’re playing Tennessee on Saturday then traveling to Penn State the next.
This can loosely be described as a full rebuild and we know what’s going to happen on Saturday.
Much like week 1, get the starters a few drives, keep an eye on Chrishon McCray, avoid silly injuries, and let the young bulls get some reps.
