Kent State escapes with 17-10 win over Liberty in opener
8/29/2013 9:30:00 PM | Football
PHOTO GALLERY
KENT, Ohio – A late 42-yard touchdown pass from Colin Reardon to Chris Humphrey helped Kent State escape a scare with a 17-10 victory over Liberty in Thursday night's season opener at Dix Stadium.
Just to add a little more misery to the frightening first night, the Golden Flashes played most of the game without Heisman Trophy hopeful Dri Archer, who suffered an ankle injury while running out of the Wildcat formation on the season's first drive.
Archer returned for one play later in the quarter before sitting out the rest of the way.
"Of course, we had certain plays for him," said Paul Haynes, who won in his first game as Kent State's head coach. "When you don't have a guy like Dri out there, for a lot of reasons you have to change things up a little."
According to Haynes, Archer's injury is not believed to be serious.
In Archer's place, Reardon, Humphrey and Trayion Durham led a fourth-quarter comeback from a 10-7 deficit. Cornerback Darius Polk secured the win by defending three consecutive passes as the Flames marched into Kent State territory in the final minutes.
A 39-yard field goal by Anthony Melchiori, the first of his career, tied the game at 10-10 with 10:57 to play.
The game-winner arrived with just 4:28 remaining when Reardon found Humprhey near the 35-yard line. The junior wide receiver shed a Liberty tackle and raced down the Kent State sideline for his first career touchdown.
The final touchdown capped an impressive debut for Reardon, who completed 21-of-28 passes for 194 yards and two scores in his first game as a redshirt freshman.Â
"When you have your first start as a young kid, and you are able to drive the team down there for a win … that's a good start," said Haynes. "The (game) wasn't pretty, but a win is a win."
Durham helped to make up for the loss of Archer, rushing for 92 yards on 21 carries and picking up some tough inside yards to extend late drives. Humphrey added 88 yards on six catches, while Tyshon Goode pulled in eight passes for another 75 yards. Goode saw his first action since 2011 after missing all of last year with a hamstring injury.
Liberty marched into Kent State territory in the final minute, but Flames quarterback Josh Woodrum watched Polk spoil his last three passes. After perfect step-for-step coverage on a throw for the end zone, Polk batted away the final two throws to force a turnover on downs and allow Kent State to run out the game's final 1:30.
"I'm proud of the way we played. I liked the effort," said Liberty coach Turner Gill. "They played better than we did. They made more plays at the end and I have to tip my hat to Kent State."
Kent State scored first on a 14-play, 75-yard march that ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Reardon to tight end Casey Pierce. It was the first career touchdown for both players.
Liberty battled back behind a 20-yard second-quarter field goal by John Lunsford, then took the lead on a 11-yard touchdown pass from Woodrum to Gabe Henderson.
A crowd of 20,790 watched the win and stayed for a post-game fireworks show presented by AMETEK.
Kent State returns to action on Sept. 7 when Bowling Green visits Dix Stadium for a noon opener to Mid-American Conference play.
Postgame Notes
- Redshirt freshman Colin Reardon completed the first five passes of his college career. He finished 21-of-28 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Reardon also ran for 38 yards.
- Junior tight end Casey Pierce made his first career touchdown catch on the opening drive.
- In first game back since 2011, Tyshon Goode made eight catches for 75 yards, including three catches on the opening drive.
- Junior Chris Humphrey's 42-yard touchdown catch was the longest play of his career and his first career score. His six catches and 88 receiving yards were career highs.
- Junior Trayion Durham eclipsed 90 rushing yards in a game for 11th time in his career.
- Sophomore Anthony Melchiori made his first career field goal in the fourth quarter from  39 yards out.
- Thursday was the first Kent State victory after trailing at the third quarter's end since 2008.
- The Golden Flashes extended their program-record home winning streak to nine games.
- Kent State's opening drive lasted 8:04.
- The Flashes' defense held Liberty without a first down until 6:00 remaining in the second quarter.
- Kent State committed eight first half penalties for 74 yards.
- The Flashes won their 12th straight game against an FCS opponent.
- Paul Haynes became the first Kent State head coach to win his debut since 1988.
- Kent State had a record-setting student attendance of 7,015.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Paul Haynes
Â
Opening Statement: - "It wasn't pretty, but a win's a win. It's good to get that first game out of the way. We killed ourselves with penalties. Those are things we got to clean up, but guys stepped up when they knew they had to and we got the win."
Â
Did the game plan change without Archer? - "Of course we had certain plays and certain situations designed for him but Calhoun is that same type of guy, real quick guy who can fit into those types of plays, but of course when you don't have a guy like Dri out there, you have to change some things up a little bit."
Â
On QB Colin Reardon's play: - "I think he played well. We talked about managing the offense and that's all we asked him to do tonight. We'll look at the tape, but the good thing is Colin is his own worst critic, so he'll look at the things he knows he needs to get better at. When you have him leading the team down on the last drive in his first start to get that score, that's huge for him.
Â
On offensive line's play: - "At times very good, but of course when we look at the tape there will be some things we got to correct, but for the first game, and Liberty is a good football team, we did well. They'll get better and better with every rep they get, it's not going to be perfect in that first game, there's a lot of guys who are playing in their first game."
Â
On having Tyshon Goode back: - "It's huge to have him back, when it comes to leadership and the ability to have him, Dri when he gets healthy, and Humphrey and all of them on the field, that'll be big. He kept cramping up and then going back in so that goes to show how tough he is."
Â
What did you learn about your kicker tonight? – "Melchiori is a gamer, there are times in practice when he can be a little erratic, but when the lights come on, Anthony is a great kicker. I've always said this since day one, and I will again, he is a weapon, he's great punting, and he's got a strong leg to kick field goals for us."
Â
On Dri's injury: - "I don't know anything yet, from what I heard I think he will be fine."
Â
On the fansupport: - "I thought it was great, especially with our students. If we can continue to get them to buy in and get them to come back, we will have an awesome year."
Â
On receiving game ball after the game from DL Roosevelt Nix: - "It was awesome, first game back here in the blue and gold since 2000, it's an awesome feeling, I'm happy for these guys though, and the coaches, they put in a lot of hard work."
Â
Â
Kent State quarterback Colin Reardon
Â
On missed 4th down bootleg: - "Yes, it was a designed play. It was a little sloppy we had someone go the wrong way but it was still open, I was trying to get the ball to Mike Levandowski for the first down but the safety came up and I didn't know where I was on the field so I just held onto it, I should've thrown it to him that was a mistake on my part."
Â
On Trayion Durham's play: - "Trayion is 240 pounds and our offensive line was awesome tonight. You don't even have to blow the defensive line off the ball, if Trayion meets someone in the hole he's going to run someone over. Trayion's a good back and he knows where the first down is and he always finds a way to get it."
Â
On his first start: - "For everyone's first game your going to be anxious and I was, I was surprised I wasn't more nervous I was just anxious to get that first snap. Once I got that first pass to Tyshon Goode on the first play I knew I was feeling pretty good. It felt great to come over to the sidelines after that first touchdown pass."
Â
Â
Kent State wide receiver Chris Humphrey
Â
On his touchdown catch: - "We realized late in the game that the corner on me was getting tired so we just went with a quick three step throw, and I've always been taught to make the first man miss and the rest is a little easier. Colin made a great read and I couldn't of asked for a better ball."
Â
Â
Kent State defensive back Darius Polk
Â
On the defense's performance tonight: - "Our defensive line had a great game, all night they were able to get to the passer and not let him get rid of the ball. The defense played well all night including the back end and like coach said, it wasn't pretty but a win's a win."
Â
On the last two plays on the final defensive stand: - "I knew it was going to come my way, I knew I was going to get a deep ball, I just had to keep my composure. I just had to make plays because my team needed me in the clutch."
