So how tepid is the Golden Flashes offense? Last night Houston quarterback Case Kenum threw nine touchdown passes in a single football game. Kent State has scored eight touchdowns ... all season. Total. Eight touchdowns. In seven games. And half of those touchdowns came against South Alabama, in their first year of FCS competition.
Other FBS ranks:
Rushing: 76.1 yards/game (T-118th)
Passing: 105.3 yards/game (119th)
Scoring: 10.7 points/game (120th)
This is discernibly unsettling for Kent State. It's rightly pleasant news for BGSU.
It's not so much a test for the Falcons defense as much as it an open-book exam. Their longest play from scrimmage this year is an Anthony Meray 28-yard touchdown run against USA. Then again, with all this talkin' up, they're pretty much due for a breakout 50-yard pass play, aren't they?
This is what college sports can do. Just because they haven't done it yet this season doesn't mean they're incapable of it. The BG defense could know all these stats, or read this post, or field questions from reporters, and let the complacency sink in. It happens to 20-year-olds all the time and there's just no coaching acumen that can displace it. Kent State's bad at offense, but maybe they won't be on Saturday.
They had struggles on offense last year, and they beat BGSU 30-6. By the way, those six points?
I suppose a BooBoo Gates return wouldn't hurt again. It almost helped them come back against Toledo two weeks ago. But it might be imperative, because there is a way that Kent State can stay in this game: that damn defense.
By all known metrics KSU is a middle-of-the-road defense and that might be enough. Roosevelt Nix is still there, racking up a total of 10 tackles for loss. Junior college transfer C.J. Malauulu has been a refreshing replacement at linebacker with nine TFLs and leads the team with 3½ sacks. The Nix-Malauulu combo is every bit as wonderful as Chris Jones and Dwayne Woods. And the pass defense is well worth its praise. Heck, they've intercepted more balls than they've allowed for touchdowns. That's swell enough. They have the ability to keep BG score inside the teens, and given that they have every chance to win it in the fourth quarter.