Game #5 Kent State (2-2, 1-0 MAC) at Baylor (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) Saturday, October 3, 2009 • 6:00 p.m. CDT Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000/Prestige Turf) • Waco, Texas Radio: WNIR 100.1 FM (Tom Linder, Rob Polinsky & Ty Linder) Television: FSN Southwest (Joel Meyers, Dave Lapham & Jim Knox) • Internet: None
The Opening Kick Fresh off its Mid-American Conference-opening victory over Miami last Saturday, the Golden Flashes step out of the conference one last time with a trip to Waco, Texas for their first-ever meeting with Baylor.
The contest will be the second against a member of the Big 12 for Kent State in the last three weeks, having dropped a 34-14 decision to Iowa State on Sept. 19. The Flashes are 2-8 all-time against current members of the Big 12, with the lone road victory coming in 1987 at Kansas (31-17).
Texas, Here We Come Over the course of 87 years of football and 817 games, Kent State has never once traveled to the second-largest state in the country for a game. As a matter of fact, the Golden Flashes have played just one team from Texas in the history of the program — that coming in 1985 when they defeated UTEP, 51-24, at Dix Stadium. KSU will see firsthand how it feels to make the 2,500-mile round trip this weekend. However, the Flashes are crossing the Mississippi River for the second year in a row after going to Louisiana-Lafayette in 2008.
Flash Facts • Sophomore quarterback Giorgio Morgan returned as the starter last Saturday against Miami, playing a half before tweaking his injured ankle. The coaches will continue to evaluate his status throughout practice this week. • True freshman quarterback Spencer Keith leads the MAC and is 34th nationally with a 149.40 passer rating. In roughly eight quarters of action, he has completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 381 yards and four TDs. • Sophomore Jacquise Terry may have emerged as the replacement for Eugene Jarvis after rushing for 103 yards on 15 carries (6.9 ypc) in Saturday’s win against Miami. • With a late pick against Miami, junior free safety Brian Lainhart now has 10 interceptions in the last 11 games dating back to Oct. 4, 2008. His 12 career interceptions are tied for sixth in KSU annals. • Junior middle linebacker Cobrani Mixon continues to shine, leading the team with 40 tackles (22 solo) and 5.0 TFL. His 10.0 tackles per game are tied for fourth in the MAC and tied for 21st nationally.
A Glance At The Series Kent State and Baylor are meeting for the first time. Here’s a look at the Golden Flashes’ all-time record against the current members of the Big 12 (2-8): Year Site Result Score 1971 vs. Iowa State L 14-17 1976 at Iowa State L 7-47 1977 at Colorado L 0-42 1981 at Iowa State L 19-28 1982 at Iowa State L 7-44 1987 at Kansas W 31-17 1989 at Kansas L 21-28 2007 at Iowa State W 23-14 2008 at Iowa State L 28-48 2009 vs. Iowa State L 14-34
Television The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Southwest. Joel Meyers will handle the play-by-play duties while Dave Lapham will serve as the analyst.
Radio For the third straight year, the excitement of Golden Flashes football can be found on flagship station WNIR 100.1 FM in Northeast Ohio as part of the Kent State ISP Sports Network. Now in his second year in the play-by-play role (and his 11th as part of the broadcast), Tom Linder is joined this year by new color analyst Rob Polinsky, while Ty Linder continues his fine work on the sidelines.
Web Site Live audio for all Kent State football game broadcasts, live video of select games and live stats are available via the K-Zone on the official athletic department web site (www.kentstatesports.com).
The Coaches • Doug Martin (Kentucky ‘85) is in his sixth season as a head coach, owning a 21-41 (.339) record at the helm of the Golden Flashes. He was promoted to head coach March 1, 2004, after serving as Kent State’s offensive coordinator in 2003. (For a complete Martin bio see page 12.) • Art Briles (Texas Tech ‘79) is 6-9 in his second season at Baylor and 40-37 in his seventh season overall. He became the 25th head coach in the program’s history on Nov. 28, 2007 after spending the previous five seasons at Houston.
Up Next Kent State returns home to host Bowling Green in the Flashes’ Centennial Homecoming game Oct. 10. The contest will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Net Ohio. The 77th meeting between the two schools, the Falcons lead the all-time series by a 54-16-6 margin. Meanwhile, Baylor opens up Big 12 play with a trip to Oklahoma.
Courtesy: David Maxwell/OhioSportsShooters.com
