Kent State (3-5, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) was shut out for the first time this season in a loss to Bowling Green (6-2, 4-0) 48-0.

“Their guys made plays and we didn’t,” coach Paul Haynes said. “We can analyze it all we want but they’re back-to-back champs for a reason. They’re a good football team and we didn’t play our best. This is what happens when you play a really good football team and you don’t play your best.”

The loss is the second-largest point differential of the season behind the Flashes 52-3 loss to Illinois the first week of the season.

Bowling Green did the majority of its damage in the first half, scoring 31 points behind the arm of senior quarterback Matt Johnson. Johnson completed 27-of-40 passes for 430 yards and five touchdowns.

“His ability to escape pressure is huge,” said junior safety Nate Holley, who led the game with 16 tackles. “In some instances, we were getting good coverage and he would just escape pressure. Any (quarterback) that can buy their receivers extra time to scramble and get open is hard to cover.”

The trio of wide receivers, senior Ryan Burbrink (89 yards), junior Ronnie Moore (151 yards) and sophomore Roger Lewis (102 yards) combined for 19 receptions and 342 yards.

In his second career start, redshirt freshman quarterback George Bollas was not as impressive as he was in the win over UMass last week. Bollas was 12-of-25 for 111 yards, but threw two interceptions.

“Everyone wanted to give our quarterback a lot of praise, but this is game two for him,” Haynes said. “We still have to have guys around him that can make plays.”

Freshman wide receiver Antwan Dixon added 52 yards receiving in his first game back from injury.

The Flashes remain second in the MAC East standings with four games left in the regular season. They feel that there is still a chance for this team to qualify for a bowl game this season.

“There’s still fight in the team,” Holley said. “We don’t quit and we won’t quit. There are leaders on this team that won’t allow us to quit. Me, personally, I won’t allow us to quit. There are a lot of positives to build off for the rest of the season. We can win out and hope for the best.”

The Flashes return to the field Thursday night to take on Buffalo. Kickoff at Dix Stadium is at 7:30 p.m.

Stephen Means II is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].