College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Kent State Golden Flashes season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Kent State Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 7-6 overall, 5-3 in MAC
Head Coach: Sean Lewis, 3rd year, 9-16
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 87
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 66
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 123
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense didn’t always work, but when it did, it was a whole lot of fun. On the good side, the FlashFast style under head coach Sean Lewis and offensive coordinator Andrew Sowder can move in a hurry, it can strike quickly, and it was good enough to finish lead the MAC in passing efficiency.
On the down side, when it stalled, it stalled in a hurry, it got off the field in a hurry, and it got forced its defense to get back on the field in a hurry.
After rolling up 450 yards or more in each of the last three games – all wins – with the running game coming up with 250 yards or more in each of them. When it ran for 230 yards or more, the team won going 5-0.
CFN in 60 Video: Penn State Preview
Kent State at Penn State, Sept. 5
– Dustin Crum wasn’t always great, but he turned it on over the second half of last year to finish with over 2,600 passing yards with 20 scores and two picks, and he led the team with 707 rushing yards and six scores. Still around is Woody Barrett, the former Auburn transfer who led the team in 2018, but couldn’t move the offense like Crum did last season.
Three of the top four receivers are gone, but 6-3, 182-pound junior Isaiah McKoy is back after leading the way with 57 catches for 870 yards and eight scores. Speedy Isaiah Wooden is transferring in from the JUCO ranks, and 6-2 senior Keshunn Abram will get more work.
– The offensive line had big, big problems keeping defenses out of the backfield. Only three teams gave up more tackles for loss, and there was a huge problem in pass protection, too. Four starters, though, are back. It’s going to be a really, really small line, but it can move.
Crum is the best runner on the team, and top running back Will Matthews is done. Xavier Williams is a quick back who ran for 393 yards and four scores, but this is a very, very thin group that could use a bit of transfer help at the last moment.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense wasn’t all that great, but it didn’t get a whole lot of help at times from an offense that struggled to go on long drives. It was the fourth-worst in the nation against the run and was a bit too inconsistent overall. Eight of the top ten tacklers are expected to be back, and it starts with a decent-looking linebacking corps.
– Mandela Lawrence-Burke led the team with 104 tackles, and Cepeda Phillips made 93 stops. They’re small – Lawrence-Burke is just 185 pounds and Phillips goes 217 – but they can fly around and get into the backfield. The line doesn’t have any bulk, either.
6-3, 320-pound Buddha Jones is a big option on the nose, but he’s about it. The ends – like 246-pound junior Zayin West – are built like linebackers, but they need to get into the backfield more. Because of the lack of size on the front seven …
– The secondary has to make a whole lot of plays. Losing S Qwuantrezz Knight to UCLA stings, but senior Keith Sherald is a solid, versatile defensive back who’ll play corner after finishing third o the team with 86 tackles at safety. On the way to help the cause is S CJ Holmes from Penn State and CB Tony Butler from Nebraska.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Kent State Golden Flashes Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Kent State Golden Flashes Players
Best Kent State Golden Flashes Offensive Player
QB Dustin Crum, Sr.
The 6-3, 201-pounder was supposed to be a good option behind Woody Barrett, but he took over the job early on and didn’t let it go the rest of the way. He’s big, accurate, and can move, hitting 69% of his passes for 2,622 yards and 20 scores with two picks.
He was able to come through in the clutch, he rose up with brilliant performances over the second half of the season including the bowl win over Utah State – connecting on 81% of his throws – and he ran for over 100 yards in two of the last three games.
2. WR Isaiah McKoy, Jr.
3. PK Matthew Trickett, Jr.
4. OG Nathan Monnin, Sr.
5. RB Xavier Williams, Jr.
Best Kent State Golden Flashes Defensive Player
LB Manny Lawrence-Burke, Sr.
The 6-0, 185-pounder is built like a wide receiver, but he has proven to be among the MAC’s toughest players as a linebacker.
He started out his career as a safety – making 76 tackles as a sophomore – moved to wide receiver in 2018, and then moved to linebacker last year where he turned into the team’s leading tackler with 104 stops with four sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss. Now he knows what he’s doing in his new job.
2. S KJ Sherald, Sr.
3. LB Cepeda Phillips, Sr.
4. S Elvis Hines, Sr.
5. DE Zayin West, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Kent State Golden Flashes Offense
The offensive line has to give everyone time to work. It was the strange part about the Kent State season. The offense was able to hammer out the running game from time to time – tearing off 200 yards or more in seven of the last ten games, and 197 in another – and there weren’t any problems converting on third downs for most of the year.
But even though the offense only had the ball for just over 26 minutes a game, and even with so much success, there were way, way too many plays allowed in the backfield.
With four starters expected to be back, the Golden Flash front five has to be tighter after finishing 127 in the nation in tackles for loss allowed and 121st in sacks given up.
Biggest Key To The Kent State Golden Flashes Defense
The run defense has to figure out how to come up with more stops. For all of the problems Kent State has had over the years, the run defense was often fantastic – allowing fewer than 2,000 rushing yards the year wasn’t out of the norm. The 2,643 given up in 2018 was all-time awful for the program, and then last year’s defense allowed 3,181.
There’s absolutely no size on the front seven, the defensive backs have to make way too many plays, and holding up against anyone who blasts away will once again be a problem.
The Golden Flashes allowed over 200 yards eight times, gave up over 300 yards in three of those games, and allowed 467 yards to Auburn.
Kent State doesn’t need to be a brick wall, but it just has to not be miserable.
Key Kent State Golden Flashes Player To A Successful Season
RB Xavier Williams, Jr.
Where are the running backs? There was only one – 5-6, 185-pound Marquez Cooper – in the recruiting class, and as this is written there are only four true backs on the roster. Three of them are underclassmen, and Williams is a junior.
The 5-9, 186-pounder only ran 86 times with 393 yards and four scores, but all four of those touchdowns came over the last four games – all wins. He also caught two scores, including one as a part of the phenomenal comeback win over Buffalo. Now he has to be an even bigger part of the offense.
Key Game To The Kent State Golden Flashes Season
at Northern Illinois, Oct. 3
Can Kent State get its groove back? Can it keep the magic going from the end of last year? Forget about doing anything better than a 1-3 start with road dates at Penn State, Kentucky and Alabama, but lose at Northern Illinois – and this comes after going to Tuscaloosa – and it’s going to be an uphill climb to get to six wins and a bowl.
– Kent State Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Kent State Fun Stats
– Sacks: Opponents 41 for 206 yards – Kent State 25 for 132 yards
– Time of Possession: Opponents 33:44 – Kent State 26:09
– Interceptions Thrown: Opponents 7 – Kent State 2
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Kent State Golden Flashes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Yeah, Kent State pulled off one of the most amazing finishing kicks possible – at 3-6, it was dead in the water against Buffalo, and then came up with an epic comeback to win 30-27 as part of a four-game winning streak to close things out, including coming up with the program’s first ever bowl victory – but it’s going to be really, really hard to sustain the fun.
But give third-year head coach Sean Lewis this – his Kent State team is, in fact, fun.
It’s not always consistent, and it doesn’t have the bulk, the depth, or the talent to pull off too many upsets, if any, but the FlashFast style moves well and the offense should put up decent numbers.
And then there’s the schedule.
Set The Kent State Golden Flashes Regular Season Win Total At … 5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 5.5
At Penn State, at Kentucky, at Alabama. Forget about winning any of those three.
It’s not like Buffalo and Western Michigan can’t be beaten, but those might be the two beat teams in the MAC and the battle with the Bulls is on the road.
The Golden Flashes have to go play in Oxford against defending MAC champion Miami University, and it has to go to Northern Illinois. Throw in the home dates against Ohio and Central Michigan, and where are the sure wins?
Kennesaw should be one, and Akron at home should be another, but it’s going to be a fight just to get close.
The program is good enough to get to five wins. Getting that sixth might come down to the date with the CMU to close out the regular season.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
