After losing on the road to the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, the Kent State football team will come back to Dix Stadium for its home opener — the team has not lost a home opener since the 2016 season.

KSU (0-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) lost to Pitt (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) Saturday 55-24. The offense started slow and the defense was unable to keep the team in the game, but the team found some life in the middle portion of the game. 

“When you look at that game, there were probably about eight or nine plays you look at, and you say ‘That might have cost you the game,’ and we have to correct those eight or nine plays,” coach Kenni Burns said. “But eight minutes into the third quarter, it was a one-possession game, and if we get a stop on defense, we’re right back in this thing. There were plays like that all over the place.”

Though most stats favored Pitt, such as the Panthers out gaining the Flashes 567 to 212 in total yards, along with the home team gaining 31 first downs compared to 15 for Kent State, there were times where the Flashes kept pace with Pittsburgh. 

The Kent defense surrendered 14 third quarter points, but the offense put up 10. The Flashes’ offense outperformed the offense of the Panthers by gaining 157 yards to 144 in the third frame.

On Saturday, Kent State will host Saint Francis in the home opener. They will enter the matchup with the Red Flash at 0-1 with everything ahead of them in terms of conference play. Every MAC team played a non-conference opponent, but the Flashes still sit at the bottom of the conference with the week one loss.

The Red Flash are 0-1, but its loss to Dayton was a non-conference loss, so they have everything ahead of them in the Northeast Conference.

Quarterback

Offensively, redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Kargman, who threw for just 42 yards and one interception in the first half, will look to continue his momentum from the second half, when he threw for 139 yards and a touchdown. 

In the second half, Kargman looked much more precise and confident in the pocket, generally delivering his passes accurately. After starting the game 4-12, Kargman finished 10-16 passing.

On the other side for the Red Flash will be sophomore quarterback Nick Whitfield Jr., who completed 15 of 26 passes for 121 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions last week in a loss to Dayton.

Running back

In the backfield, redshirt senior running back Ky Thomas led the way, though it was not a great day. Thomas had just 40 yards on 18 attempts. As a team, the Flashes rushed for 31 yards on 38 attempts, just 0.8 yards per carry.

“I thought Ky played okay, he played solid, he ran hard, but we have to do a better job of giving him places to run the ball,” Burns said. “Our O-line has to play better. They got in a rhythm but later in the game. They have to come out way faster and can’t play so timid at the beginning of the game.”

Facing Ky Thomas and the Kent State offensive line will be the defensive front of Saint Francis which was stout against the Dayton rushing attack, giving up only 47 yards on 44 attempts.

Receivers

The leading pass-catcher for the Flashes was graduate student wide receiver Luke Floriea, who grabbed six passes for a career-high 104 yards and a touchdown. 

Preseason First-Team All-MAC redshirt sophomore wide receiver Crishon McCray took in just four catches for 49 yards.

Defense

An area of concern for the defense that Burns pointed out was the inability to get Pittsburgh off the field on third downs. “They were nine of fifteen, which is unacceptable,” he said.

The defense gave up 55 points, but Burns spoke highly of his defensive ends.

“(Redshirt junior defensive end Antoine) Campbell is an extremely talented kid, I’m glad we have him, we have him for a couple years left on his clock,” he said. “He can impact a game very well. You talk about him on the other side of (Matt Harmon) and Stephen Daley. Those three are about as good as any ends in the league.”

Burns pointed out the interior of the defensive line needs to improve after the game against Pitt. 

“We have to play better on the interior. Oliver Billotte played solid, but he can play way better than what he played, and Kaden Beatty did a really good job too.”

Beatty totaled two tackles in week one, while Billotte only had one total tackle.

Burns went on to acknowledge that the numbers would suggest the defense was a major problem, but he is “Not worried about the defense at all … we just have to play.”

The Flashes will take on the Red Flash Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Dix Stadium.

“I told our staff, ‘We have a snapshot of our roster. We know exactly what our roster is now, and what they can do,’” Burns said. “I expect major jumps this next week.”

Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].