Despite a strong defensive performance in which they limited an explosive offense to 20 points, the Kent State offense sputtered in their rainy home opener against Louisiana at Dix Stadium Saturday.

The Flashes failed to get either their running game or their passing game working in the 20-12 loss to the Cajuns. Kent State coach Darrell Hazell said he would accept no blame on the weather.

“I felt the lack of execution had to do with today’s loss,” Hazell said. “They were playing in the same weather as we were, so I’m not going to use the weather as an excuse.”

The Kent State offense failed the defense on too many opportunities. Junior quarterback Spencer Keith went 15-for-33 for 114 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Many of the failed pass attempts were just short passing routes that Keith failed to execute on.

The running game did not explode either on a wet and rainy day when passing became difficult. Freshman Anthony Meray took the majority of the carries and had the best average per carry (3.2 yards), running 39 yards on 12 carries. Senior Jacquise Terry ran for 27 yards on 10 carries for an average of 2.7 yards per carry.

The Flashes four turnovers were costly. Many of the turnovers occurred deep in the Flashes’ zone, making the situation of holding the Cajuns from scoring another touchdown very hard on the Flashes’ defense.

“I thought we played good defense all night,” Hazell said. “We got them stopped on the second to last drive, but we shot ourselves in the foot with a turnover for a touchdown. Then we gave them the ball again on the one-yard line and put our defense in a bad situation. Then at the end of the game we turned it over again. So our execution is not very good right now. We weren’t as good, obviously, as we needed to be tonight to win the football game.”

Keith said he believes the team needs to do a better job of preparing and executing during practice. Hazell said watching the film and finding mistakes will be his biggest concentration as he moves on from the game.

“If we’re going to be a better football team, we need to do a better job from the whole aspect of coaching and executing,” Hazell said.

The Flashes will have to regroup quickly, for their next opponent is not an easy one. Kent State flies out to Kansas to face the Kansas State Wildcats (1-0). The Wildcats defeated Eastern Kentucky 10-7 in their first game of the season. Kent State will have to quickly get the offense figured out since Kansas State’s defense only allowed a total of 129 yards. The Wildcats’ defense allowed just 10 yards rushing and 119 yards passing against Eastern Kentucky.

“We’re going to come out and play hard next Saturday,” Keith said confidently.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium at Kansas State.

Kent State fought through inclement weather, but had their rally fall short as the Flashes fell to Louisiana Lafayette, 20-12.

“We had some early penalties we need to eliminate,” Kent State coach Darrell Hazell said. “Ninety yards is way too much.”

The offensive line was not the only offensive problem for the Flashes. The passing game also had their struggles. In the Flashes first three drives, junior quarterback Spencer Keith completed two of his first seven passes with an interception and a total gain of two yards. His interception was returned 63-yards by Louisiana’s Lionel Stokes for the Cajuns’ first touchdown.

The Flashes’ running game provided some help, running 18 yards on five carries, but many of these carries were ineffective due to the Flashes being trapped deep behind the first down marker because of penalties.

The Flashes received momentum after senior defensive back Josh Pleasant pulled down his second interception of the season at Louisiana’s 44-yard line. Keith got back on the field and laced a pass to junior wide receiver Eric Adeyemi, who extended the play for a 20-yard pick up and a first down.

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The Flashes handed the ball off on the next play to freshman running back Anthony Meray, who ran the ball for 14 yards to bring the ball to Louisiana’s 10-yard line.

On second down and six, Keith completed a six-yard pass to senior running back Jacquise Terry, who ran the ball into the end zone to tie the game at 7.

After the Flashes’ defense forced the Cajuns to go three and out, the Cajuns punted and trapped the Flashes’ at their own four-yard line. Keith turned the ball over on a fumble on the next play that was recovered at Kent State’s one-yard line by Louisiana’s Christo Tucker.

The Flashes’ goal line defense held Louisiana to no gains on the Cajuns’ first two attempts, but the Cajuns finally scored by going on the outside of Kent State’s defensive line instead of trying to punch it through. Louisiana’s Griffin took the pitch from his quarterback and dove for the pylon to score the Louisiana touchdown, 14-7 Cajuns.

After the touchdown, the steady rainfall turned into a downpour. Play continued until 9:13 in the third quarter when lightning was spotted. The game was delayed for an hour and 32 minutes with the score 17-7 Louisiana.

When play resumed, Kent State tried to muster a comeback, but fell short. The Flashes’ began the third quarter forcing Louisiana quarterback Chris Masson to run out of bounds in his own end zone to narrow the score to 17-9. Junior linebacker C.J. Malauulu was credited with the safety.

The Flashes’ defense did their part by stopping the Cajuns to return the ball to the offenses’ hands. The Flashes’ struck back quickly after the safety with junior kicker Freddy Cortez nailing a 44-yard field goal to draw the Flashes even closer.

With two minutes on the clock, Kent State had one last hope going for it on fourth down and seven at their own 23-yard line. Keith snapped a complete pass to Kirkland, who ran the ball to Kent State’s 44-yard line before being stripped of the football from behind. Louisiana recovered the ball and kneeled the ball twice to pick up the 20-12 victory and hand Kent State its second loss of the season.

“We need to take a good look at the film and see exactly what we’re doing and where the adjustments need to be made,” Hazell said. “I’m concerned (about the offense). You score 12 points and the defense gives you the ball back…we need to take a look at it and get it fixed.”

Hazell said he was very impressed with how his defense played, which makes it frustrating his offense could not take advantage of the opportunities the defense kept presenting.

“It’s unfortunate our offense couldn’t help (our defense) out and our special teams,” Hazell said. “Those guys are playing extremely hard. They’re making a lot of plays and getting some turnovers. We have a lot of things that need fixed.”

With the loss, Kent State fell to 0-2 on the season. The Flashes’ next game is Saturday at Kansas State at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on Fox College Sports.

Box Score

Passing

Spencer Keith 15 for 33 114 yards 1 INT 1 TD

Chris Masson 5 for 13 1 yards 1 INT 0 TD

Blaine Gautier 2 for 2 28 yards 0 INT 0 TD

Rushing

Anthony Meray 12 for 39 0 TD

Jacquis Terry 10 for 27 0 TD

Sam Kirkland 1 for 6 0 TD

Spencer Keith 10 for 0 0 TD

Eric Adeyemi 1 for 0 0 TD

Qyend Griffin 24 for 51 1 TD

Blaine Gautier 5 for 39 0 TD

Robert Walker 6 for 19 0 TD

Yobes Walker 1 for 6 0 TD

Brad McGuire 3 for 5 0 TD

Darry Surgent 1 for 4 0 TD

Aaron Spikes 5 for 2 0 TD

Chris Masson 3 for 10 0 TD

Receiving

Sam Kirkland 6 for 51 0 TD

Eric Adeyemi 2 for 29 0 TD

Jacquise Terry 2 for 7 1 TD

Anthony Meray 2 for 4 0 TD

Tyshon Goode 1 for 10 0 TD

Jon Simpson 1 for 7 0 TD

Terrell Bates 1 for 6 0 TD

Receiving

Javone Lawson 3 for 34 0 TD

Andrew Joseph 2 for 8 0 TD

Darry Surgent 1 for 3 0 TD

Robert Walker 1 for 1 0 TD

Live blog transcript from Saturday’s game

Louisiana at Kent State