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Hustle Bag: Kent State's quarterbacks, bowl games, and chants

By Bryan M. Vance
In an offense built on running, replacing Spencer Keith is more important than it seems.
In an offense built on running, replacing Spencer Keith is more important than it seems.
US PRESSWIRE

The Hustle Bag, our mail bag feature where we respond to your questions, is back once again. Let's delve right in. The first question has to do with the one part of the Kent State Golden Flashes' offense that left much to be desired last season.

We all know the Golden Flashes have a run powered offense. With Dri Archer and Trayion Dunham both back, that isn't going to change. This team doesn't need a game-changer, just an adequate guy under center to get the two-headed beast the ball. Last season Spencer Keith was that adequate quarterback, but now he's gone and the Flashes will need to replace his 2,021 yards and 12 touchdowns, while hopefully reducing the number of turnovers from the QB (Keith threw 10 last year, a lot when you consider how rarely he actually threw the ball).

The Flashes will likely turn to senior David Fisher, Keith's backup from last season. He has some experience in the offense in limited in-game action last season. But there is also redshirt-freshman Colin Reardon. Reardon is lacking in-game experience, but is a far superior athlete, with the ability to run. If he can impress the coaches enough this fall (or if Fischer messes up too much) he could provide Kent State with a nice option in its run-heavy offense. Or maybe, just maybe, Dri Archer decides to take on another role and one-up Jordan Lynch.

In a perfect world, seven teams would get into a bowl every season, as was the case in 2012. In said perfect world, all seven would win; that din't quite happen last year. Realistically, looking at the conference this season I think it's safe to say that five teams make a bowl. Northern Illinois, Ohio, Bowling Green and Ball State all seem to be locks for a bowl appearance this year, barring any unforeseen problems. They all have repetitively easy non-conference schedules, and are the best teams in their respective divisions.

I think Toledo can make a bowl, despite having a very tough schedule. They open at Florida, and play at Missouri, but if they can beat the Tigers and beat NIU at home it should give them enough wins and style points to get them in. Kent State could make a bowl as well, but I think they'll take a dip from last season. Depending on how far that dip is it could mean the difference between bowling and observing from the couch.

Of the teams that get in, expect to see at least three win a bowl.

Great question. My bias would lean me towards Ohio's "winning team, losing team" chant. But I'll leave this one to the readers. Which MAC chant do you all think is the best? Tell us in the comment section below.

Do you have a question about the MAC? Send it to us by tweeting it to us @HustleBelt, or using the hashtag #HustleBag, and we'll answer them in our Hustle Bag feature.

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