Kent State had played a very poor first half Saturday against Bowling Green, and they were down 14-3 at the half. The Golden Flashes weren’t playing complimentary of each other. Meaning, the offense, defense and special teams were not helping each other’s cause.
It got worse. Bowling Green double dipped and dominated the ‘middle eight’ by scoring right before halftime, and then took a seven minute drive into the endzone to take a what seemed like, commanding 21-3 lead in the third quarter.
The reason for mine, and maybe other fans’ frustration was a different feeling this time.
The last two seasons, I was disappointed at the product on the field because it was embarrassing, leadership-less and I knew deep down, the team was really that bad. I was shocked at how far the program had fallen after the FlashFAST era.
The frustration Saturday was, I knew that this 2025 TEAM was capable of more. They were capable of playing better, and they weren’t. “Kent was beating Kent”, as Mark Carney said after the game.
Then, lightning struck. Big play Cade Wolford scored on a 37 yard seam from Dru DeShields, and then later Gavin Garcia walked the Dix Stadium sideline for a 45 yard burst to make it 21-17 just like that.
The defense pitched a shutout after the BG drive to start the second half.
Then Da’Package for Da’Player. Da’Realyst Clark took a jet sweep handoff, pulled up and threw a touchdown pass to Wayne Harris for a go ahead score in the fourth quarter. Whenever Clark is in something exciting is going to happen.
Back to Harris. A drop of a sure touchdown pass in the second quarter was the exclamation point to a frustrating first half. Before the ball hit the turf almost, DeShields was there picking him up emotionally, telling him he would get another chance.
Leadership. Kent State has a leader in Carney. Guys want to play for him. They follow him. He does pull ups in the Dix Stadium locker room after wins.
Kent State teams of the past wouldn’t come back on days like Saturday. They would have taken their ball and gone home. The units could have turned on each other, and leaders wouldn’t have emerged in tough times. But, starting with the staff, that leadership has trickled down to the players.
November 14, 2019 Kent State came back in the fourth quarter to defeat Buffalo in a game that kick started a run to a bowl game, and was a signature win for the Sean Lewis led Flashes. That win was a top 10 win of the last 20 years in my unofficial list I made.
Here’s hoping Saturday’s win vs. BG will make the list. We hopefully can look back on it as further proof that “this ain’t your daddy’s Flashes.”