It was not without effort, and it was not without a great defensive line, but the offense had trouble executing and, oh, right, Dri Archer's knee injury handcuffed Kent State greatly. On the drive when they most needed him, that forced Kent State to have Spencer Keith make plays, specifically with his legs, and on a 4th and 8 he got about six yards. That didn't work.
But Kent State got here, which is a bowl game, even if in Mobile, because for the last 39 seasons they watched bowl games on TV and thought, man, that looks like fun. I hope they had it.
Purdue coach Darrell Hazell will now go back to Purdue and coach football games, I am assuming. The Golden Flashes will lose many a starting senior and Dri Archer now has a decision: go to the NFL or try to build a dark horse Heisman campaign in 2013.
You were a fun team, 2012 Kent State Golden Flashes. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise (even if this loss brought the MAC to 2-5 in bowl games.)