Defending MAC East Division champion Flashes picked behind Miami in 2022 preseason poll
A two-horse race is expected to materialize in the Mid-American Conference East Division this fall, and Miami was declared a solid favorite over defending champion Kent State according to the annual preseason poll that was released to kickoff Media Day festivities on Tuesday at the House of Blues in downtown Cleveland.
The RedHawks received 20 of 24 possible first-place votes and totaled 139 points to finish well ahead of the Golden Flashes (7-7 in 2021), who were picked first on three media member ballots and finished with 116 points. Buffalo was a distant third with 78 points, followed closely by Ohio (72) and Bowling Green (71). Akron was a near unanimous vote to finish last in the East under first-year head coach Joe Moorhead.
Last November Kent State edged the RedHawks 48-47 in overtime in the final game of the regular season at Dix Stadium to claim its first MAC East Division title since 2012. Most MAC media members obviously believe Miami will return the favor when the two teams square off again Oct. 8 in Oxford.
Does fifth-year head coach Sean Lewis consider the distant second vote a slap in the face of sorts to his defending champion Flashes?
“Not really,” said Lewis. “Within our house I guess we’re always looking for different ways to create a competitive advantage. But if we’re relying upon external noise to drive our behaviors and our habits that’s a problem, because you can’t rely upon that. I’d rather be more concerned about what’s happening internally and our why as a program, why we go about things the way that we do. If that’s anchored and that’s right, then things will be done the right way.”
Why Miami over Kent State?
On paper, the RedHawks enter the 2022 season with three advantages over Kent State that voters surely noticed.
While Miami returns its starting quarterback in junior Brett Gabbert, who has thrown for over 5,400 yards and 41 touchdowns in 26 outings over the past three seasons, the Flashes will have a first-year starting signal-caller in junior Collin Schlee.
This year’s Kent State-Miami contest will be played in Oxford, and much earlier in the season than last year. While both teams will face a brutal non-conference schedule leading up to the October 2022 rematch, no team in the nation faces a more challenging September slate than the Flashes – who must tussle with defending national champion Georgia, perennial national power Oklahoma, and tradition-rich Washington all on the road.
Miami will visit Kentucky and Northwestern while playing Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium.
Program progressing
While acknowledging the difficult road his team will face when the 2022 season begins in September, Lewis remains focused on the present. He likes what he sees in late July of 2022, especially when looking back at where the program stood during the same month in his early years as KSU’s mentor.
“That very first July (2018), it was one of those deals where the players felt that the new culture was the new coaching staff’s culture,” said Lewis. “It's like the kids were driving a rental car. You don’t wash the rental car, you really don’t care for the rental car, you’re just going to turn it in. Fast-forward the video of life, now the kids know and understand the culture, the standard, the expectations, the core beliefs. We gave them this blueprint, but they own it now. It's their program that I feel very fortunate to be the steward of.
“The biggest thing I see is that it’s their car. They’ve grabbed hold of it and made it their own, and they’re driving it now, which is really cool.”
Despite going 17-14 overall and 14-6 against conference foes while winning an East Division title and the program’s first-ever bowl game over the past three years, the Flashes are still driven to change the image of a program that produced just two winning seasons from 1978-2011.
“I feel like we’re still going into each year trying to get respect from the conference,” said grad student defensive end Zayin West. “In the past they see Kent State as not being so good, not a team anyone worries about, but now it seems like the way we’ve been going these last few years we’ve won some respect. We keep wanting to get more of that each year.”
2022 MAC Football Preseason Media Poll
East Division: 1. Miami 139 points (20 first-place votes), 2. Kent State 116 (3), 3. Buffalo 78, 4. Ohio 72, 5. Bowling Green 71 (1), 6. Akron 28.
West Division: 1. Northern Illinois 122 (11), 2. Toledo 120 (9), 3. Central Michigan 112 (4), 4. Western Michigan 56, 5. Eastern Michigan 52, 6. Ball State 42.
MAC Champion: Northern Illinois 9, Toledo 6, Miami 5, Central Michigan 4.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State has been picked to finish second in the MAC East Division
