MAC East Leader Bowling Green Hosts Flashes Wednesday Night
11/9/2014 5:32:00 PM | Football
Game Notes ESPN3 Golden Flashes Radio
Kent State looks for its first Mid-American Conference victory and first road win of the season, visiting East Division rival Bowling Green Wednesday night. The Golden Flashes and defending MAC champion Falcons will be in the national spotlight for the second straight week of November MACtion on ESPN's Family of Networks. Kent State looks to carry the momentum of a strong second half against MAC West leader Toledo after outscoring the Rockets 20-14 in the final 30 minutes.
Facts In A Flash
• Twenty different Flashes (10 offense, 10 defense) have gotten their first career start this season.
• Sophomore QB Colin Reardon is in 6th place in both career completions (362), and career passing yards (3,841) and is in a tie for 7th in career TD passes (21) at Kent State.
• Kent State's offensive line has allowed only one sack of Reardon in its last five games.
• Senior tight end Casey Pierce has made 25 catches in four games for 231 yards and three TDs.
• Senior receiver Chris Humphrey is in eighth place in career receptions at KSU with 111.
• Sophomore safety Nate Holley ranks fourth in the nation in total tackles (12.2) and fourth in solo tackles (7.0) per game.
• Junior Anthony Melchiori ranks 16th in the nation with a 44.6 yard punting average. He placed four of his six punts against Toledo inside the 20.
• Senior cornerback Malcolm Pannell has five interceptions in his last 15 games.
• Sophomore Nick Holley ran for a career-high 95 yards against Toledo. Since game two, he is averaging 71.9 yards per game rushing/receiving.
• Kent State had a season-high 171 yards rushing against Toledo.
• Junior linebacker Matt Dellinger had a career-high 13 tackles against the Rockets.
• The Golden Flashes are wearing number 54 on the right side of their helmets throughout the year, paying tribute to Jason Bitsko.
The All-time Series
Kent State has played Bowling Green more than any other opponent as the series dates back to 1920. Wednesday will be the 82nd meeting. BGSU leads the series 56-19-6, including a 41-22 win in Kent last season. Colin Reardon threw two TD passes and ran for 58 yards in his second career start, but the Falcons closed out the game with 24 unanswered points behind 145 rushing yards and a touchdown from Travis Greene. The last time the teams met at Doyt Perry Stadium (2012), the Flashes clinched the program's first East Division title and gave themselves a three-game series winning streak against the Falcons for the first time.
TV/Video/Radio
Tuesday's game can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Tom Hart will be on play-by-play. David Diaz-Infante will be 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.
The Coaches
• Paul Haynes recently notched his first non-conference win (Army) over an FBS opponent. Last year, 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.
• Dino Babers (Hawaii '84) is in his first year at Bowling Green, following two seasons as head coach at Eastern Illinois. In just his third game at Bowling Green, he led the Falcons to a 45-42 victory over Indiana. Babers led Eastern Illinois to conference titles in each of his two seasons there and was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Prior to EIU, Babers served as special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Baylor. His 29 seasons in college football also including four seasons at UCLA as assistant head coach. As a player. Babers was a four-year starter at Hawaii.
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.
Security Blanket
Senior tight end Casey Pierce has now made three or more cacthes in 10 consecutive games and two or more catches in 16 straight games. He now leads the Flashes with 42 grabs on the year.
Solid on 4th Down
Against Toledo, the Flashes improved to 8-of-12 on fourth down attempts which ranks 18th in the nation. On the other side, the Kent State defense has held opponents to a 38 percent (5-of-13) conversion rate which ranks 26th in the nation.
Pass Defense
Kent State's pass defense ranks second in the conference (208.1) and 40th in the nation. In the Flashes' last road game, Miami QB Andrew Hendrix was held to 120 yards, going 11-of-28, despite averaging 310 yards passing per game on the year.
Drives Stall at the 40
The Flashes had a 1st-and 10 inside the Miami 40-yard line on six different drives, but only came away with three points on the game. One week later, the Flashes had three scoreless drives that made their way inside the Toledo 40 .
critical first half
Kent State's win over Army came with what has become a critical component, a halftime lead. Since the beginning of 2012, Kent State is 14-0 when leading at halftime and 1-18 when trailing at the break.
Bowling Green Connections
Paul Haynes began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 1994. Offensive coordinator Brian Rock graduated from Bowling Green and served as a part-time assistant from 1985-87. Rock is also originally from Bowling Green, Ohio. Special Teams Coordinator and tight ends coach Dave McMichael also graduated from BGSU and was a three-year letterwinner for coach Don Nehlen.
• Ten players on Kent State's roster had a high school teammate that now plays at Bowling Green.
• In the past decade, Carol Cartwright served as president at both universities.
Young Starters on "D"
Against Toledo, redshirt freshman Dustyn Moore (LB) and sophomores Terence Waugh (DE) and Brice Fackler (TE) became the 18th, 19th and 20th different players to get their first career starts this season. All but one of the 20 are freshmen and sophomores. Fourteen of those 20 starters played in their first career game at Kent State this season. Moore became the fifth different freshman to start on defense, joining NT Jon Cunningham, LB Marques Moore, DL Jontey Byrd, and CB Demetrius Monday.
In the previous two weeks, three others (Byrd, S Nick Cuthbert and CB Kerrick Rhone) got their first career starts on defense. Cuthbert was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week (16 tackles 12 solo) in his only start. The other first-year starters on defense have been sophomores Elcee Refuge and Najee Murray.
• Six other freshmen (Zach Singer, Matt Sommers, Kevin Bourne, Eric Church, Jerrell Foster, James Alexander) have seen valuable time on defense.
holding their ground
Despite that youth taking on more of the load as the season goes, the defense has allowed 17 points or less in each of the last two road games.
Rushing Battle is Key...
Since 2012, Kent State is 14-2 when outgaining opponents on the ground. The Flashes are 2-17 when the opposition runs for more yards with their only wins during that time coming against Army in 2012 and 2014.
The Golden Flashes outgained their opponents by over 100 rushing yards in each of their four wins last season.
Reardon Joins Elite Company
In addition to having Kent State's first 300-yard passing game since 2009 against Army, sophomore quarterback Colin Reardon became the first Flashes quarterback with 400 yards of total offense in a game since Josh Cribbs in 2004. His three TD passes were the most in a game by a Kent State quarterback since 2010.
• Reardon is on his way to becoming just the sixth QB in Kent State history to throw for 2,000 yards in a season.
• Against Army, Reardon had a career-high 360 yards, three TD passes and ran for a TD.
• Reardon's 1,957 passing yards and 12 TDs in 2013 were the second most by a KSU freshman QB.
Top Targets
Since last season, the duo of (seniors) Casey Pierce and Chris Humphrey has combined for 150 catches, 1,673 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• Pierce had a career-hign eight catches against Toledo, including his third touchdown in three games. He was one of 38 tight ends named to the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List and is one of 33 on the Midseason list. He has caught 75 passes, including nine touchdowns and a two-point conversion in his last 21 games. After making one catch in 2012, Pierce had a breakthrough season in 2013, leading the Flashes with five touchdown grabs. His 33 catches were the most by a KSU tight end since 1999. Last year, Pierce was among 53 nominees for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the nation's best player that started his career as a walk-on.
Most catches in a season by tight end
1. 47 Jason Gavadza 1999
2. 42 Casey Pierce 2014
3. 33 Casey Pierce 2013
• Humphrey is in eighth place in career grabs at Kent State with 111. His 1,312 career receiving yards are tied for 11th place at Kent State. Prior to Ohio State, Humphrey made a catch in 22 straight games. His team-leading 51 catches last season, were the ninth most in a season by a Kent State receiver and his 613 receiving yards were the most by a KSU wideout since 2010. Humphrey has shown continued improvement since he first arrived in Kent, playing exclusively on special teams as a freshman.
• Sophomore slot receiver Ernest Calhoun made his firt career touchdown grab against Toledo and had the team's longest catch of the game (32 yards). His 11 catches against Ohio were the most by a Kent State receiver since 2010.
Flipping the Field
Three-time Ray Guy Award Watch List member Anthony Melchiori was named to Phil Steele's Midseason All-MAC First Team. His 71-yard punt to start the season is the second longest punt in the MAC this year. He has placed four punts inside the 20 in two games this year and four inside the 10 at Ohio State. Despite 21 punts inside the 20 on the year, only three have gone for touchbacks. Melchiori's had boots of over 60 yards in three games this year and over 55 yards in six games. His career long was a 75-yarder at Miami as a freshman.
• The Flashes are second in the MAC in net punting
Previewing Bowling Green
• The Falcons' top three running backs have combined for 19 rushing touchdowns and each is averaging over 5.0 yards per carry.
• With nine seniors starting on defense, Bowling Green has combined for a MAC-leading 66 tackles for loss, which ranks 19th in the nation.
• The Falcons rank 10th in the nation in redzone defense, holding opponents scoreless on 12 different redzone trips.
• Bowling Green has scored 31 or more points in a game six times.
• Since last season, the Falcons are 8-2 at home.
• BGSU's last loss against a MAC East opponent came against the Flashes in 2012.
• In their most recent win, the Falcons held Akron to 10 points and 94 yards rushing.
Key Players To Watch
• Sophomore running back Fred Coppet rushed for 113 yards at Akron and has five touchdowns on the season.
• Junior running back Travis Greene ran for 101 yards and a TD on only 14 carries at Akron. He leads the Falcons with 644 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Freshman wideout Roger Lewis caught his fourth touchdown of the year at Akron. Lewis leads the team with 57 catches for 742 yards.
• Junior Ryan Burbrink had a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown this season.
• Senior defensive end Bryan Thomas ranks fourth in the nation with five forced fumbles. He leads the Falcons with 4.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
• Freshman cornerback Nick Johnson is 20th in the nation and leads the conference with four interceptions. Johnson made two picks and had three pass breakups at Akron.
• Senior middle linebacker Gabe Martin leads the team with 77 tackles. He's made 9.0 tackles for loss, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
