Kent State welcomed in the Eastern Michigan Eagles for Homecoming 2024 Saturday in what ended up being a rainy, wet and sloppy game in the second half. And just like the Kent State hopes to pull an upset over Chris Creighton’s Eagles Saturday, it, and the rain washed away as the afternoon turned into night, and long after the large crowd had headed home.
They say “the ball is the program”. If you possess it, the whole weight of the program is in your hands, literally. If you don’t have it, you’re fighting, scrapping and clawing to get it back. Kent State turned it over four times Saturday, which the complimentary Eagles converted into 24 points. The third quarter was a comedy of errors, except it wasn’t funny if you were wearing blue, gold….or black. Three straight turnovers by the Golden Flashes resulted in 17 straight points for EMU, to take a 21-21 game to a 38-21 lead for the green and gray.
Complimentary. Remember? Something the Eagles, coached by Creighton in his eleventh year specialize in. Every time. Every single time the Eagles forced a turnover, the offense converted and capitalized.
Shame on the Kent State offense. I get it. On the day they did so many good things, and I’ll get to that. They turned it over too many times. I get it. But, not once, with the exception of a field goal forced, did the KSU defense stand up in the “sudden change” situation and compliment, and ultimately pick up the offense. 33 points is enough to win. Kent State didn’t compliment each other Saturday to win. EMU did, and they picked up the win.
I did not see a large physical gap in the teams Saturday. Sure, in the trenches the EMU Eagles out rushed KSU as the Flashes struggled through injuries upfront with a patch work offensive line. Defensively, key injuries to their box also made life tough. But the Flashes held their own physically. Mentally? That’s a different story. Eastern looked right at home when it got tight. Rain? Tie score at an opponent’s homecoming? Not a problem. They waited for their opponent to make a mistake, and when they did, they capitalized.
Burns called it a “cultural win” for Eastern Michigan and I agree. Been there and done that. The Flashes haven’t been there and haven’t done that under Burns.
The coaching staff absolutely had the team ready to play mentally, physically and schematically. Offensively, the Flashes unlocked several things in the RPO pass game, revealed a wildcat look and involved Chrishon McCray not just in the pass game but also the perimeter run game on a couple of fly sweeps. Tommy Ulatwoski is the QB moving forward and he showed the promise displayed last year. He can make plays with both his feet and his arm, is tough, and his teammates seem to rally around him.
Kent State has true freshman and redshirt freshmen playing all over the place in all three phases. Credit to the staff and credit to the players for being ready to go, and for producing.
But mentally, culturally, and complimentary the Flashes aren’t there yet. Which is too bad. 21-21 in the third quarter. Game on. And it wasn’t a “smoke and mirrors” tie. I didn’t feel as a fan watching that I was “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” But it did drop, in the form of the ball…three straight times. Ball game. The Flashes aren’t prolific enough to come from behind three scores in the second half.
Burns and Creighton had a long talk after the game at midfield. Creighton told Burns to stay the course, stay convicted to your culture, and don’t compromise something right now for long term cultural success.
Homecoming 2024 was a class in complimentary football and culture, and the Eagles were the teacher. Kent State showed some promise, but a long way to go to win in the MAC.