Box Score

The Kent State football team came out of the gate sluggish Saturday afternoon and was never able to get ahead, falling to South Alabama, 23-13.

“You can’t have negative plays,” Kent State head coach Paul Haynes said. “When you start off with negative plays, it really hurts you. We have to come out and try to get something going right away. We kept fighting, and we were in it, but we just came up short.”

Late in the first quarter, junior quarterback Colin Reardon was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone, which resulted in a safety and an early 2-0 Jaguars lead.

“If we sit there and play a little bit better in that first half we’re probably ahead,” Haynes said.

Reardon completed 17 of his 41 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-1 inch, 200-pound quarterback also threw an interception and was sacked twice.

“When Colin is good he is running the offense, and that’s it, instead of thinking he has to make plays,” Haynes said. “Anytime you have a player that thinks he has to make plays, nine times out of ten he’s going to screw up.”

South Alabama used the safety to propel them to a big first-half lead of 16-0, but sophomore running back Nick Holley caught an eight-yard touchdown just before halftime, trimming the Flashes deficit.

“Guys were fighting hard, but I think we just need to study more and work harder in practice,” Holley said. “We have to fight our butts off on every play and that is what it takes to win.”

The Flashes came out with a strong response in the second half. Casey Pierce caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Reardon to cut the Jaguars lead to three, but that was as close as they got.

South Alabama dominated time of possession in the fourth quarter, running the ball to kill the clock on their way to victory.

“We have to do a better job of winning on first downs so we don’t put ourselves in a hole,” Haynes said. “There is a lot of football to be played, and we just have to look at the things we’re not doing well and improve.”

The Flashes have had a rough start to the season with the passing of teammate Jason Bitsko(0-2) and two tough losses, but throwing in the towel is not an option.

“With the passing of Jason I think we as a team came together and handled it pretty well,” Holley said. “Obviously it affected us a lot. Jason was a great kid and had a great impact on my life. He was there for me, so that part was pretty tough. You hate to have two losses, but the loss of a teammate is much greater than that.”

The Flashes will look to bounce back next Saturday when they head to The Horseshoe to take on The Ohio State Buckeyes. The game will start at noon.

“We knew this year coming in [that] at some point we would face adversity,” said Jontey Byrd, freshman defensive tackle. “Pretty much we have to take it one game at a time. We have two losses right now, but it’s a long season so it’s all about how we respond.”

Contact Taylor Rosen at [email protected].