Flashes Host UMass in MAC East Battle
10/8/2014 9:32:00 AM | Football
Game Notes Tickets ESPN3 GoldenFlashesRadio Kent City Schools Day
After a three-game road swing, Kent State returns home for a Mid-American Conference matchup with UMass Saturday at Dix Stadium. For the first time this season, the Golden Flashes put together four solid quarters of football at Northern Illinois. Kent State scored 11 unanswered second-half points and drove the ball down to the NIU 34, before two quarterbacks were injured and a long field goal attempt came up short.
Facts In A Flash
• Kent State totaled a season-high 22 first downs to Northern Illinois' 15.
• The Flashes 327 yards of offense and 83 net rushing yards were both season highs.
• Fourteen different Kent State players have gotten their first career start this season.
• Sophomore safety Nate Holley ranks third in the
nation in total tackles per game (14.4) and second in solo tackles (9.2). On Monday, He earned his second MAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
• The Flashes have forced three or more turnovers in three games this season.
• Sophomore QB Colin Reardon has 2,993 passing yards in 16 career games.
• Junior Anthony Melchiori ranks 13th in the nation with a 45.3 punting average.
• Melchiori put together a string of four straight field goals made.
• Senior receiver Chris Humphrey has 97 career catches for 1,154 yards.
• Senior tight end Casey Pierce has caught 50 passes, including six touchdowns and a two-point conversion in his last 17 games.
• Junior Jordan Italiano has had a hand in a turnover in three straight games.
• Sophomore Nick Holley is averaging 66.5 yards of offense over his last four games.
• The Golden Flashes are wearing number 54 on one side of their helmets throughout the year, paying tribute to Jason Bitsko.
The All-time Series
Saturday will be a first-time program meeting with UMass. The Minutemen are now in their third season in the MAC and are slated to host Kent State next season. UMass has two conference victories since joining the MAC with its only road win coming in 2012 at Akron.
TV/Video/Radio
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN3. Dave Wilson is on play-by-play with Dustin Fox as the color analyst.
All Kent State games can be heard live on 640 WHLO and Golden Flashes Radio on iHeartRadio. Ty Linder will handle the play-by-play duties and is joined in the booth for the fifth year in a row by color analyst Rob Polinsky. Matt Miller is the sideline reporter. The iHeartRadio channel works on a PC, smart phone or tablet.
WebSite, Twitter & Youtube
For Kent State football stories, statistics, photos, video and more, visit KentStateSports.com. For daily football updates follow @kentstathletics and @kentstfootball on Twitter and Kent State Golden Flashes Football on Facebook. For an extensive video library visit GoldenFlashesTV on YouTube.
The Coaches
• Last year, Paul Haynes became the first Kent State head coach to win his debut since 1988, the first to win his MAC road opener since 1986 and is one of only two KSU coaches (Glen Mason) to defeat both Miami and Ohio in his first year. He was a two-time all-conference defensive back at Kent State from 1987-91, despite joining as a walk-on. He returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 1999 and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2000. After seven seasons on an Ohio State staff that won six Big Ten titles (2005-11), Haynes spent the 2012 season as defensive coordinator at Arkansas.
• This season, Mark Whipple (Brown '79) began his second stint at UMass after serving as the Minutemen's head coach from 1998-2003. In that time Whipple led UMass to a Division I-AA national championship, two other playoff appearances and three Atlantic-10 titles. Whipple was also the head coach at Brown, leading the Bears to a pair of 7-3 seasons in four years. His head coaching career began at New Haven, leading the Chargers to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and an appearance in the Division II semifinals. Whipple was also an assistant coach in NFL for the Steelers, Eagles and Browns.
Breakthroughs for Brooks
One week after having his best day catching passes, sophomore James Brooks showed he can run the ball too. Brooks had a pair of 20-yard runs at NIU on reverses. The first led to a KSU field goal and the second led to a touchdown. In his fourth career game, Brooks made three catches for 76 yards and his first career touchdown at Virginia. His 45-yard TD catch from Colin Reardon was Kent State's longest play from scrimmage this season.
Another Threat at WR
Redshirt freshman Kris White posted career highs of four catches and 67 receiving yards at Northern Illinois, including a second-half, highlight-reel grab.
Close Calls
Three of the Flashes' losses have come down to the game's final minutes, beginning with a last second field goal by Ohio. At NIU, A 56-yard KSU field goal attempt came up short with just over a minute to play.
Hanging With The MAC's Best
The Flashes held Northern Illinois to 94 yards under their rushing average and held an opponent to under 200 yards passing for the second time this season.
• The three-point difference ties for the lowest margin of victory during NIU's 28-game home winning streak. Ball State (2011) has been the only other team to lose by three.
• Jordan Italiano's interception was the first pick thrown by an NIU quarterback this season.
• The Flashes' defense had a season-high 5.0 tackles for loss.
• Kent State converted on each of their only two fourth-down attempts of the season at NIU.
• The Flashes put together three drives of 80 yards or more, including a season-long 83-yard drive. All three Kent State trips to the redzone resulted in a field goal or touchdown.
Young up Front
At Virginia, true freshman right guard Nathan Puthoff became Kent State's fourth different offensive lineman to get his first career start this season. One game earlier, redshirt freshman Brock Macaulay got his first career start at Ohio State. The average career games played of the five starting linemen heading into NIU was 8.6.
• Two years ago, the average games played for a Kent State offensive lineman heading into game five was 29.0.
Previewing UMass
• Four of the Minutemen's losses have been by five points or less, including a 42-41 setback at Miami this past Saturday, where UMass took the ball down to the RedHawk two yard line just before time ran out.
• UMass ranks second in the MAC in passing offense at 318.8 yards per game.
• The Minutemen are also second in the conference in kick return average at 23.9. The team's top two kick returners combine for a 31.8 yard average on 15 returns.
• In two MAC games, UMass is averaging 41.5 points. The Minutemen have scored 31 or more in four games.
• The UMass defense is averaging 6.0 tackles for loss per game.
Key Players To Watch
• Junior receiver Tajae Sharp is a deep threat, averaging 16.5 yards per catch. At Miami, he made nine grabs for 154 yards. Since last season, Sharp has made 102 catches for 1,358 yards.
• Senior quarterback Blake Frohnapfel, a transfer from Marshall, is averaging 310.0 passing yards per game with 15 touchdown tosses. He earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 29.
• Sophomore running back Shadrach Abrokwah is coming off a breakthrough game at Miami with 128 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and a reveiving touchdown.
• Junior tight end Rodney Mills has a team-high five receiving touchdowns.
• Senior defensive lineman Daniel Maynes has a team-high 5.0 tackles for loss.
• Junior defensive back Randall Jette has a team-high three interceptions and eight pass breakups along with 43 tackles.
Up Next
Kent State will host Army in its annual homecoming game Saturday, Oct. 18. It will be the Flashes final non-conference game of the season. The Black Knights are coming off a 33-24 home win over Ball State. The Flashes' first win in the series came in their most recent meetinng (2012), a 31-17 road victory in West Point.
