Following a lengthy break after a loss in Tallahassee, the Kent State football team will make its final trip down south this season for a matchup against the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game also marks the Flashes’ final non-conference contest of the year.
“It was good to get some time away and rejuvenate on the bye week,” coach Mark Carney said. “ [We] still have a hungry group in the locker room, and we’re excited to get back to it against Oklahoma on Saturday.”
Oklahoma’s star transfer quarterback, junior John Mateer, will not be available this week. Mateer suffered a broken bone in his throwing hand in the first quarter of Oklahoma’s game against Auburn, and underwent surgery on his right hand on Sept. 24, which will keep him out of commission for approximately a month.
The Sooners are on a redemption tour following its 6-7 finish a year ago. OU has started out at 4-0 with a pair of home wins against No. 20 Michigan and formerly ranked Auburn after the Sooners went 2-6 in conference play in 2024.
Against the Tigers, Oklahoma’s defense combined for an astonishing nine sacks and a safety in the 24-17 win. Sophomore defensive lineman and IMG Academy product Jayden Jackson led the team with 2.5 sacks.
Coming off an idle week, the Flashes were blown out by the No. 18 Florida State Seminoles in Doak S. Campbell Stadium 66-10. The Flashes only touchdown of the game was a 75-yard pass to sophomore receiver Da’Shawn Martin.
Even without Mateer manning the offense for the Sooners, the Flashes are in the same spot as it found itself against Florida State, as massive underdogs with little to no expectations against a true blue blood in Oklahoma. Sooner’s head coach Brent Venables is renowned for his defensive prowess, especially stemming from his time as Clemson’s defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2021.
“This is an outstanding football team, especially defensively,” Carney said. “Coach Venables is an outstanding leader, [he] does tremendous things from a defensive coordinator perspective. He does a really good job of playing the cat and mouse game with signals.”
KSU is still stuck in neutral in the running game, as the Flashes are only averaging 86.5 rushing yards per game, getting out rushed by roughly 170 yards per game by opponents. Redshirt junior running back Gavin Garcia leads all rushers with 178 yards.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Dru DeShields has done well in his role as starting quarterback of the team through two starts, posting a very solid QBR of 149.90 through the first four games of 2025. Since DeShields has taken over as the starter, the offense has opened up tremendously in comparison to last season.
“We’re on a road to improvement,” Carney said. “Just continued improvement, keeping the focus on us.”
The Flashes defense will be expected to do a lot of the work in KSU’s potential upset bid, especially against Oklahoma junior wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III, who’s caught 22 passes for 284 yards and one touchdown in four games. The running game for Oklahoma usually runs through the quarterback, but freshman running back Tory Blaylock trails Mateer for the team lead in rushing yards with 179 yards on 42 carries.
Filling in for Mateer will be sophomore Michael Hawkins Jr., who in four career starts, has a record of 1-3. His most recent start came late in 2024 in the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy, where he was named game MVP in the loss, completing 28 of 43 pass attempts and throwing for 247 yards and two touchdown passes.
If redshirt senior linebacker Mason Woods and redshirt sophomore linebacker CJ Young can contain the running game while the KSU defensive line can apply pressure on Hawkins, the game could possibly turn into a defensive standstill that makes the odds easier on Carney and his team. However, the Flashes offense, which only scored one touchdown in the loss against Florida State, will still have to score against the third-ranked defense in the country in points allowed.
“Anytime you get a break in your schedule, it’s important to dive into yourself and do a thorough self-scout,” Carney said. “That was the overall theme of the week, making it about us.”
Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.