Ohio (5-3, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) is coming off of a mini bye week with the start of midweek MACtion. The Bobcats will open up the midweek slate of MAC games with a trip to play Kent State (0-8, 0-4 MAC) Wednesday.
Ohio will look to win its second game in a row after a dominant 47-16 win over Buffalo on Frank Solich Day. To get that second straight win, Ohio will have to defeat the only team in the FBS without a win in Kent State.
Here is everything to know about the Golden Flashes for Wednesday’s game.
Head Coach
Kenni Burns is in the midst of his second season as Kent State's head coach. Before coaching in Stark County, Burns served as the assistant head coach to P.J. Fleck at Minnesota for four years.
Burns is no stranger to the MAC, as he followed Fleck to Minnesota from Western Michigan after Fleck took the Big Ten job following his very successful stint coaching the Broncos.
Unfortunately for Burns, Western Michigan's and Minnesota's success has not followed him to Kent State. His current record at Kent State is just 1-19. He has not won a conference game as a head coach and his only win came last year against Central Connecticut State.
Quarterback
Junior quarterback Tommy Ulatowski has been running the Kent State offense as the primary starter since week four against Eastern Michigan. For the first three weeks, it will be fellow junior Devin Kargman under center, who was injured against Penn State.
As the starter, Kargman threw for 432 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Since taking over, Ulatowski has thrown for 940 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. Ulatowski has certainly been the more aggressive and productive quarterback since stepping into the starting role.
Running Backs
Kent State has struggled as a team this year, and no unit has struggled more than the run game. The team currently has just 617 rushing yards through eight games, ranking 131 out of 134 teams in the country. As a team, the Golden Flashes have run for just three touchdowns all season.
Ky Thomas has been the team's lead back, going for 389 yards and one touchdown on the season. Second to him is Curtis Douglas, who has run for 115 yards in the five games he has played in.
Wide Receivers
If there is a bright spot to point to on this year's Kent State team, it would undoubtedly be wide receivers Chrishon McCray and Luke Floriea.
Some might recognize McCray from the College Football 25 video game, as McCray is the face of the “Underdog” difficulty in the “Road to Glory” game mode. Others will recognize him from his incredible play on the field, as McCray has 566 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.
Right behind him on the stat sheet is graduate student Luke Floriea, who has gone for 499 yards and five touchdowns so far this year.
Defense
Ohio will see a stark difference in defenses from their last opponent in Buffalo, a team with two of the country's best linebackers, to Kent State, the school with the worst defense in the country that allows 46.6 points per game.
The Golden Flashes also find themselves dead last in total defense, allowing a staggering 541.9 yards per game.
One positive on this porous defense is junior defensive end Kameron Olds. The Richmond, Virginia, native has been an elite pass rusher this season, totaling six sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss on the year. He can wreck a game if Ohio doesn’t shore up his side of the offensive line.
cf111322@ohio.edu
