The Kent State Golden flashes have gone just 3-9 in each of the past two seasons. That is the reason why head coach Paul Haynes enters a critical campaign. Haynes is in the final year of his contract and needs to find more offense, which means healthy and consistent play from the quarterback spot.
Even though the Flashes struggled in 2016, they were competitive in most of their MAC games. Kent State lost three of them by less than a touchdown. Lets face it, the Flashes offense wasn’t anything to write home to mom about.
Kent State needs better play makers to step up to take the load off of the signal-caller position. On the flip side, the defense kept the Flashes in most of their contests, but only has five returning players. On top of that, Kent State’s non-conference schedule features games at Clemson, Louisville and Marshall.
Offense
Duel threat athlete Nick Holley moved from a slot receiver to quarterback in last year’s conference opener. The change immediately added a spark for the Kent State offense. Something needed to be done. The Flashes were ranked dead last in offensive production in 2015.
The replacement quarterback tossed for 868 yards in 2016 and rushed for 873 more in seven starts. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in week 11 and his season was over. The good news is he did not participate in spring drills but is expected to be at full strength for preseason practices.
The Swiss Army knife Nick Holley averaged 49 plays from scrimmage in his first six games. The constant punishment finally took its toll on his 5’10”, 200-pound body. To combat the abuse on Holley, the Flashes will look to spread the ball around more effectively in 2017.
Running back Justin Rankin rushed for 511 yards as a freshman despite dealing with his own injuries. Furthermore, the tail back led the team with 28 catches and 335 receiving yards. Sophomore Will Matthews and junior Myles Washington hope to provide some depth out of the backfield.
Defense
The Flashes defense wasn’t exactly overpowering last season, but it kept the team in games against MAC opponents. Now, six of the top seven tacklers from last season are gone, but eight players who started the final game of 2016 will be back.
The back half of the defense was the strong all season long for the Kent State Flashes. Throughout the season, they held teams under 200 yards per game through the air. Things should not change to much this season as seniors Jerrell Foster and Demetrius Monday return at the corner back position. The Flashes will have to replace Nate Holley, the twin brother Nick Holly. Nate was one of the best safeties in the MAC last year.
The front seven will feature the 6′, 300 pound mountain of a man Jon Cunningham. The senior nose tackle bench presses 450 pounds and squats 700. He should do just fine in the middle.
Prediction
Head coach Paul Haynes is in the final year of his five-year contract and has yet to win more than four games in a season. In fact, under his tenure, the Flashes are 12-35 in the four seasons he has walked the sidelines.
Last year’s team hung in some games with their conference foes, but still finished just 3–9 after losing three conference games by four points. With Nick Holley back at quarterback for a full season the flashes have a fighting chance to get to 500. If so, Kent State will have to find help at the skill positions.
The Flashes must also survive a extreme non-conference schedule. Kent State kicks off their season in Death Valley. There they will face the 2016 defending NCAA Football Champions, Clemson. After hopefully surviving Howard they get to face the Thundering Herd.
Marshall has won 11 straight games against the Golden Flashes. Afterwards, they get to face Lamar Jackson in Louisville. One can only imagine how many points Kent State will give up in Papa Johns Stadium. Considering the Flashes have lost 19 straight road games against Power 5 schools. Quarterback Nick Holly might not even survive the first month of the season. Good luck with that coach Haynes.
Line setters have Kent State’s win total at 3.5 for -130. I wouldn’t bet on that, considering Nick Holly’s chance at survival. One must figure that they will be 1-3 and beaten and bruised by the end of the month.
They also have the Flashes at 50 to 1 (+5000) to win the MAC Conference. We all know that ain’t gonna happen. My advice is to just stay away from Kent State until the smoke has cleared from their first four games of the year. If they stay relatively healthy, maybe look to capitalize of the experience gained and pencil them in to cover a few MAC Conference games down the road.
Schedule
9-2 @ Clemson
9-9 vs. Howard
9-18 @ Marshall
9-23 @ Louisville
9-30 vs. Buffalo
10-7 @ Northern Illinois
10-14 vs. Miami (Ohio)
10-21 @ Ohio
10-31 vs. Bowling Green
11-8 @ Western Kentucky
11-14 vs. Central Michigan
11-21 @ Akron
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this addition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Keeping with tradition, EJ the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun will give their predictions for the contests. On top of that, we will be providing our dog play of the podcast as well as cash money plays for the week. Join us for all three opening episodes and improve your college football knowledge while increasing the size of your sports book betting account. Come join us and help everyone make it rain. #moneytreesgrow
