Kent
State Golden Flashes
Preview 2007 - Preview
By
Pete Fiutak
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2007 KSU Offense Preview
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2007 KSU Defense Preview
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2007 KSU Depth Chart
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2006 CFN Kent State
Preview
The glass is half full: Kent State followed up a disastrous 2-10
season, and an 0-2 start, with a five-game winning streak with the
MAC East in the palm of its hand.
The glass is half-empty: Kent State completely fell apart losing
four of the final five (with the only win coming over lowly Eastern
Michigan) as the offense completely fell apart scoring 41 points
during the stretch bottoming out with a 41-14 loss to Buffalo to
give the division title away.
Head coach: Doug Martin
4th year: 12-22
Returning Lettermen: 40
Lettermen Lost: 19 |
Ten
Best KSU Players
1. CB Jack Williams, Sr.
2. QB Julian Edelman, Jr.
3. NT Colin Ferrell, Sr.
4. SS Fritz Jacques, Sr.
5. RB Eugene Jarvis, Soph.
6. DE/LB Kevin Hogan, Soph.
7. OT Augustus Parrish, Jr.
8. LB Stevon Moss, Jr.
9. TE Tom Sitko, Sr.
10. WR Shawn Bayes, Jr. |
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2007 Schedule
CFN
Prediction: 4-8 |
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Aug. 30 |
at Iowa State |
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Sept. 8 |
at Kentucky |
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Sept. 15 |
Delaware State |
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Sept. 22 |
at Akron |
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Sept. 29 |
at Ohio |
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Oct. 6 |
Miami University |
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Oct. 13 |
at Ohio State |
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Oct. 20 |
Bowling Green |
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Oct. 27 |
Central Michigan |
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Nov. 10 |
at Northern Illinois |
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Nov. 17 |
at Temple |
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Nov. 24 |
Buffalo |
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2006
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
2-10
2006 Record: 6-6
Preview
2006 predicted wins
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8/31 |
Minnesota L 44-0 |
| 9/9 |
at Army L 17-14 OT |
| 9/16 |
at Miami Univ. W 16-14 |
| 9/23 |
at Bo. Green W 38-3 |
| 9/30 |
Akron W 37-15 |
| 10/7 |
at Temple
W 28-17 |
| 10/14 |
Toledo W 40-14 |
| 10/28 |
Ohio
L 17-7 |
| 11/4 |
at Buffalo L 41-14 |
| 11/11 |
at Virginia Tech L 23-0 |
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11/18 |
Eastern Mich W 14-6 |
| 11/24 |
at Ball State L 30-6 |
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Which team will show up this year? While it’s never good to get worse as
a season goes on, this was a young team that underwent a major face-lift
and changed its identity from a pure passing team, with the nation’s
worst ground game, to a more exciting running offense thanks to the
emergence of QB Julian Edelman and RB Eugene Jarvis. Now they have to
figure out how to put points on the board again.
Basically, defenses started loading everyone up against the run over the
second half of the year, Edelman couldn’t make teams pay with his arm
(even though he put up some nice numbers), and the offense went into the
tank. Now the goal is to balance things out a little bit and hope the
defense can continue to be among the MAC’s best.
Eight starters return to a D that finished second in the league behind
Western Michigan, tenth in the nation in pass defense and fourth in
tackles for loss. Take away the debacle in Buffalo, and the opening day
44-0 loss at Minnesota, and the Golden Flashes gave up just 15.6 points
per game. There’s no reason they can’t be even stingier this season.
Fortunately for KSU, the East is the far easier of the two divisions, so
if the team can play fully focused and consistent for an entire year,
and if the defense plays like it did in 2006, this could be the
program’s second winning season since 1987 with a shot at the first bowl
game since losing to Tampa in the 1972 Tangerine Bowl.
What to watch for on offense:
A better
overall mix. Eugene Jarvis, along with the mobile Julian Edelman, will
keep the running game going. The passing game needs to be more
efficient, and it should be, now that Edelman knows what he’s doing and
has developed more of a rapport with his young targets. Unfortunately,
field-stretcher and top receiver Najah Pruden is gone meaning Phil
Garner and Shawn Bayes have to become playmakers.
What to watch for on defense: More of a movement between the 4-3
and the 3-4. The coaching staff did what it could to make sure Daniel
Muir could always be in the best place possible. Now that he’s gone, the
Buck position will truly be a hybrid of outside linebacker and defensive
end. However the alignment, KSU will have few problems getting into the
backfield thanks to Kevin Hogan, and if decent replacements can be found
for Usama Young and Andre Kirkland in the secondary, this should be the
MAC’s best defense.
The team will be far better if … everything about the special
teams. The Golden Flashes finished next-to-last in the nation in net
punting averaging just 29.96 yards per kick and was 93rd in
the nation in punt returns averaging 7.1 yards per return. That was
nothing compared to the horrific placekicking with the kickers hitting
two of ten field goals.
The Schedule: The Golden Flashes have to take advantage of their
five home games against Delaware State, Miami University, Bowling Green,
Central Michigan and Buffalo to make up for a tough road slate. Playing
at Iowa State, Kentucky, Akron and Ohio in September might make for a
rough start, and going to Ohio State in mid-October isn’t a plus.
Fortunately, there’s an off week before road games at Northern Illinois
and Temple.
Best Offensive Player: Junior QB Julian Edelman. He was the X
factor in the offense going into last year, and then he took over and
gave the attack a rushing element it hadn't seen since Joshua Cribbs was
ripping defenses apart. He's not all that big, but he's a gamer who
should make the offense more consistent this year.
Best Defensive Player: Senior QB Jack Williams. One of the MAC's
best defenders, the veteran isn't just a great shut-down corner, he's
also a tremendous tackler who's great in the open field. He's one of the
team's key players needing to play even bigger and even better with a
young secondary around him.
Key player to a successful season: Junior WR Shawn Bayes. The
running game will be solid, but there's a ceiling on how high Kent State
can go without a more consistent passing game and more overall
explosion. Najah Pruden averaged 20.7 yards per catch as the main, and
at times, only receiving weapon, and while Bayes won't be him, he needs
to provide Edelman with a number one target.
The season will be a
success if
... Kent State wins the East. It’s a bold dream for a team that needs to
change up several things after collapsing over the second half of last
year, but with the experience returning on defense, Edelman leading what
should be an improved offense, and likely wins against Temple and
Buffalo to close out, getting the first winning season since 2001 is a
must, and If everything falls into place, a division title is possible.
Key game:
Sept. 22 at Akron. KSU
appeared to set the tone for last season with a 37-15 win over the
defending MAC champions, but it didn’t turn out to matter much in the
East race. This year, any hope of a division title might rest on the MAC
opener wit a road trip to Ohio coming up the following week.
2006 Fun Stats:
- Field goals: Opponents 15 of 18 – Kent State 2 of 10
- Fumbles: Kent State 40 (lost 13) – Opponents 26 (lost 12)
- Passing touchdowns: Kent State 10 – Opponents 8