Box Score

The Kent State football team has had a rough season up to this point to say the least. Six games into the season and the Flashes are still in pursuit of producing a winning recipe.

The Flashes (0-6, 0-3 Mid-American Conference) fought against the University of Massachusetts on Saturday until the fourth quarter, but when the final whistle blew, head coach Paul Haynes was furious with the way his team had finished the game, allowing two late Massachusetts touchdowns the team lost, 17-40. The Flashes’ wheels fell off late, costing them yet another otherwise close game.

“We didn’t improve and that was a thing we wanted to make sure we do,” Haynes said. “Yes we want to win, but we also want to make sure we improve, and we didn’t improve today. We took steps back and that’s what I’m most disappointed with.”

Sophomore quarterback Colin Reardon put together a gutsy performance, limping around in the pocket and leading the Flashes’ offense all game with a sprained ankle. 

Reardon sustained the injury in last Saturday’s Northern Illinois.

“I felt fine — once you get in the game, adrenaline starts flowing and you don’t even think about it,” Reardon said.

Kent State must be able to put together a full 60 minutes of consistent football if they plan on earning their first victory of the season this week against Army because the schedule won’t get any easier from here.

UMass picked up its first win against Kent State this past Saturday and was previously 0-6 — the same boat the Flashes are in right now. Army, on the other hand, is a separate case. The Knights are 2-4 and know what it takes to beat a formidable MAC team, as evidenced by their 39-47 victory over the Buffalo Bulls.

“Without watching the UMass film I think we hurt ourselves more,” sophomore safety Nate Holley said. “We gave up more plays then they made. They had talented guys and they made some plays, but we also gave them plays, and that is something we need to stop.”

Kent State players and fans alike can both agree that improvements must be made in order to get that first elusive win the Flashes seek:

1. The Flashes’ offense has to find a way to muster more points. In this past Saturday’s loss against the Minutemen, Kent State put up its highest scoring total of the year, tallying only 17 points.

2. In the first half of the game, Kent State won the possession battle but only produced 53 yards through the air in the half. The team did have a formidable rushing attack in the game, finishing the contest with 27 rushing attempts for 150 yards.

3. On the defensive side of the ball, the Flashes were overwhelmed against UMass, allowing the Minutemen to produce 482 yards of offense.

4. Kent State will also have to do a much better job of converting on third downs this week, too. The Flashes converted on only three of their 15 third down attempts against Massachusetts.

The list of improvements goes on.

“There are always four to five plays that determine a game,” Haynes said. “You never know when those four to five are going to happen, and that’s the beauty of it. Those things are big that we have got to get corrected.”

The Flashes will prepare for their homecoming game this Saturday as they take on Army at Dix Stadium. The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

Contact Taylor Rosen at [email protected].