Flashes Look to Turn Fortunes Around at Virginia
9/23/2014 9:40:00 AM | Football
Notes   ESPN3    Golden Flashes Radio
Kent State continues its three-game road swing with its first program meeting at Virginia Saturday. With a number of young players in key positions, the Golden Flashes hope to take advanatge of extra preparation following their bye week. Six sophomores and two freshmen started on offense in the Flashes' most recent game, while four sophomores and one freshman started on defense.
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Facts In A Flash
• Each of the Flashes' first two losses came down to the game's final minutes, including a last second field goal by Ohio.
• Kent State's plus three turnover margin is tied for the MAC lead. The Flashes have not lost a fumble in their last four games.
• The Flashes' last win against a Power Conference opponent was a 35-23 victory at No. 15 Rutgers in 2012. The Scarlet Knights entered the game 7-0.
• Sophomore safety Nate Holley leads the MAC with 13.7 tackles per game.
• Sophomore Nick Holley averaged 5.7 yards per carry at Ohio State with a career-high six catches out of the backfield.
• Junior Anthony Melchiori leads the MAC with a 45.5 punting average.
• Sophomore QB Colin Reardon has 2,510 passing yards in 14 career games.
• Freshmen Marques Moore & Matt Sommers each had their first career forced fumble at OSU.
• Senior receiver Chris Humphrey has 87 career catches for 1,041 yards.
• Senior tight end Casey Pierce has caught 44 passes, including six touchdowns in his last 15 games.
Supporting MD Research
Kent State and Virginia coaches will join football staffs around the country wearing a Coach to Cure MD patch to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans can donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999."
The Series & The ACC
Saturday is the first meeting between the two programs. Kent State is 11-24 against six teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Nine of those victories came against Louisville. The Golden Flashes' only victory over an opponent that was actively in the ACC came in 1971 at NC State.
• In its most recent game against a MAC opponent, Virginia fell at home to Ball State (48-27) last year. Â
TV/Video/Radio
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN3. Shawn Kenney is on play-by-play with former Virginia head coach Al Groh as the color analyst. Â
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 @ksuathletics on Twitter. For an extensive video library visit the GoldenFlashesTV channel 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.
• Mike London (Richmond '83) earned his fourth career win over a ranked opponent, when the Cavaliers topped Louisville 23-21 on Sept. 13. Now in his fifth season, London led Virginia to a bowl appearance in just his second year in 2011. In two seasons at Richmond, he led the Spiders to an FCS national title in 2008 and a semifinal appearance in 2009. A former Richmond police detective, London was as assistant coach at Virginia for six seasons and spent one season as the defensive line coach for the Houston Texans. Â
A defensive back at Richmond, London was named Team MVP as a senior and signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys.
Previewing Virginia
• Each of Virginia's losses have come against Top 20 opponents (UCLA, BYU).
• The Cavalier defense ranks 14th in the nation in sacks (3.5/game) and 22nd in rushing yards allowed.
• The Virginia offense does not hesitate to go for it on fourth downs, converting on four of seven attempts this season.
• The Cavaliers are second in the nation in turnovers gained with eight fumbles recovered and five interceptions.
• Virginia ranks 14th in the nation in kick return average (25.9).
• The Cavaliers are coming off a season-best 519 yards of total offense at BYU on a program record 102 plays from scrimmage.
Key Players To Watch
• Senior middle linebacker Henry Coley leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss (4 sacks) and has forced two fumbles. Last season, he led Virginia with 91 tackles.
• Senior tailback Khalek Shepherd averaged 5.2 yards per carry at BYU, totaling 73 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.
• Senior receiver Miles Gooch is coming off a a career-best six-catch game at BYU.Â
• Sophomores Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns have each taken snaps at quarterback in all four of Virginia's games. They have combined to complete 63 percent of their passes for 937 yards and six touchdowns.
• Senior receiver Darius Jennings is a deep threat, averaging 16.7 yards per catch on 11 receptions this season. He is also averaging 28.2 yards on kick returns.
• Junior Ian Frye connected on a career-high four field goals at BYU, including two over 40 yards. He is 10-of-11 on field goals this season.
Young Up Front
An injury to senior right tackle Terrell Johnson gave redshirt freshman Brock Macaulay his first career start at Ohio State, making the average career games played of the five starting linemen 6.8. Sophomore starting center Alex Nielsen appeared in his first college game in the season opener. Junior left guard Jim Katusha also made his first appearance in Division I game to open the year. The only two linemen to enter the Ohio State game with more than two career games played were sophomores Reno Reda and Wayne Scott. True freshman Nathan Puthoff has also seen time in two games at guard and could get his first start at Virginia.
• Two years ago, the average games played for a Kent State offensive lineman heading into week three was 27.0.
• Last year, Reda, Scott and Johnson were a part of an offensive line that ranked in the nation's Top 20 in fewest sacks allowed.
