Kent State football coach Doug Martin said his team “didn’t have enough bullets” in its 24-14 loss Saturday against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The Flashes started their fourth-string quarterback, sophomore Jon Brown. They didn’t start their leading tackler, senior defensive back Jack Williams. And to top it off, they were playing the No. 1 defense in the Mid-American Conference. One could argue the gun wasn’t fully loaded to start the game.

For the first time this season, the Flashes’ offense struggled to move the ball on the ground, and Martin said the passing game was the cause. Sophomore Eugene Jarvis, who entered the game as the MAC’s leading rusher, had a season low 57 yards on 13 carries.

“They had nine and 10 people on Eugene, so when we would hand it to him, we wouldn’t make many yards,” Martin said. “That was the whole key to the game. We never threw it well enough to make them respect (the passing game) to where we could hand it to Eugene and make some yards.”

Brown threw for 76 yards on 11-27 passing and threw four interceptions in the second half. Two of the interceptions resulted in Temple field goals. The Flashes have now turned the ball over 26 times this season.

“We just didn’t make plays,” Brown said. “And you can’t turn the ball over.”

But it wasn’t just Brown’s fault. Senior offensive lineman Joe Marafine was called for three penalties, including two drive-killing holding calls. The Kent State receiving corps, which has struggled throughout the season with consistency, struggled against the pesky Temple defense.

“We didn’t play well offensively as whole,” Martin said. “We didn’t protect the passer, we didn’t run block very well and we dropped a couple balls.”

Last week against Northern Illinois, Brown passed for 132 yards after replacing freshman Giorgio Morgan, who suffered a knee injury. Morgan had replaced junior starting quarterback Julian Edelman after he broke his arm against Bowling Green Oct. 20.

Martin said sophomore Anthony Magazu, the second-string quarterback who suffered an ankle injury against Ohio State on Oct. 13, may be available for the season finale against Buffalo this Saturday.

“Anthony Magazu might be able to play a little bit next week at quarterback for us also, along with Jon (Brown),” Martin said. “Whatever we need to do there to create some passing game.”

With the offense struggling, it was the defense that kept the Flashes in the game and gave them the lead in the fourth quarter.

The defense allowed 510 yards against Northern Illinois, but rebounded against Temple, allowing 375 yards. The Flashes were able to sack sophomore quarterback Vaughn Charlton five times, a season high for the defense.

Junior linebacker Derek Burrell led the team in tackles for the second week in a row with 11 tackles. With Jack Williams sitting out the game with a partially separated shoulder, Burrell was able to overtake Williams for the team lead in tackles and now has 96 on the season.

Burrell may have been the statistical leader, but senior Colin Ferrell set the tone for the defense. The defensive tackle has talked about being the leader on defense all season, and Saturday he had six tackles for a loss plus a sack for a 10-yard loss.

“I thought our defense played an outstanding game for the most part,” Martin said.

The biggest play the defense made was on a special teams play, when Kevin Hogan blocked a punt. The sophomore, who also had a sack in the game, was able to knock a Jeff Wanthe punt into the end zone and another sophomore, Coleman Lynn, jumped on the ball to score the Flashes’ second touchdown of the game.

The Flashes will close the season out against Buffalo at Dix Stadium Saturday. Last season, an injury-plagued Kent State team lost to Buffalo 41-14.

Notes:

Jarvis moving on up

-Sophomore running back Eugene Jarvis is now sixth on Kent State’s all-time rushing list with 2,284 yards in his career. Jarvis broke the Kent State single-season rushing record last week and has now rushed for 1,486 yards this season.

Career Day

-Sophomore punter Jake Kilroy punted eight times against Temple. Kilroy had a 30.2- yard punting average, with his longest being a 39-yard punt.

. Speaking of punting

-Sophomore Kevin Hogan blocked his first punt of his career Saturday. The blocked punt is Kent State’s first since 2004 against Eastern Michigan. Sophomore defensive back Coleman Lynn recovered the punt in the end zone for his first career touchdown.

NFL ready?

-Lincoln Financial Field is the home of the Philadelphia Eagles. It is the first time this season the Flashes have played in an NFL stadium — and no, the Ohio State Buckeyes are not an NFL team.

Heading to the Temple

-Temple now evens the all-time series with Kent State at 1-1. Temple became just the third team the Flashes have held scoreless in the first quarter.

Contact sports reporter Joe Harrington at [email protected].