A touchdown worth of takeaways from the Kent State football loss at Toledo
After watching Saturday’s contest, one has to wonder if the Kent State football team will ever win again in Toledo.
The Golden Flashes (2-5, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) jumped out to a 21-0 lead just 5:20 into the contest, led 28-7 one play into the second quarter, then were blitzed 45-3 by the Rockets (5-2, 3-0) the rest of the way and fell 52-31 at the Glass Bowl.
Kent State dropped its sixth straight game overall to Toledo, and has still not won on the Rockets’ turf since 1977.
“When you’re going against a good program like this that’s had sustained success, had continuity with the leadership in their program for many years, been able to recruit at a high level, it’s going to be a tough place to win,” said KSU head coach Sean Lewis. “That’s the type of program that we are building here.”
Here’s a touchdown worth of takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Flashes get Finned
Sophomore Dequan Finn has been a solid starting quarterback at Toledo for the past two seasons. On Saturday, Finn was spectacular.
Finn tied a program record with six touchdown passes, and set a new mark with seven touchdowns overall thanks to his 27-yard TD run in the first quarter. He completed 16-of-22 passes for 263 yards, and added 87 yards rushing on 14 carries.
“I thought he did a good job extending plays. He had time to throw the ball, and when we moved him off his spot we didn’t quite get him to the ground,” said Lewis. “I thought his wide receivers did a good job in one-on-one situations when he gave them a chance on good, calculated shots down range. They made those plays, and the end result is a big-time day for him.”
Tough day for Kent State secondary
Finn’s first four touchdown passes were all deep balls that came in the first half when Toledo was trailing — 27 yards to junior Devin Maddox, 36 and 41 yards to sophomore Jerjuan Newton, and 39 yards to junior Mikel Barkley. All four plays looked eerily similar to Flashes fans. Finn would buy some time in the pocket then loft passes into the end zone that Toledo’s receivers would adjust to and catch while covered rather tightly.
“Our kids are in a good position,” said Lewis. “They’ve just got to do a great job looking back, tracking, leaning, playing through the receiver, and playing the ball so we can make those plays and end up on the right side of those things.”
Over the past two games, the Flashes have given up 12.8 yards per pass to Miami and 12 yards per pass to Toledo ― their two highest totals of the season.
Kent State offense starts fast, stalls
Kent State needed just three possessions and 5:20 to build a 21-0 lead. The Flashes went 53 yards in six plays and scored in 1:51 to open the game, marched 76 yards in six plays and reached the end zone in 1:39 on drive No. 2, then turned a fumble both forced and recovered by junior cornerback Montre Miller into seven points one play later on a 19-yard touchdown run by junior running back Marquez Cooper.
The Flashes finished the first quarter with 203 total yards, and junior quarterback Collin Schlee rushed 10 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to make it 28-7.
Then Kent State’s offense abruptly shut down. The final eight drives netted 180 yards and three points. The Flashes were outscored 24-0 in the second half, when they amassed just 93 total yards.
“I didn’t do a good job with my calls on first and second down, and that got us a little bit off rhythm and behind the sticks,” said Lewis. “I need to be better with the calls on first and second down, so our kids can execute them better and we can stay ahead of schedule the way we did earlier in the game.”
Schlee did not complete a pass in the second quarter. He wound up completing just 13-of-26 attempts for 162 yards with an interception. Schlee had thrown for over 300 yards the past two games.
“I thought we had some things that we really liked, we’ve just got to do a better job playing catch and winning the one-on-one battles down range,” said Lewis. “They did a good job with their front applying some pressure. Whether it was the wind or whatever the case might be, the timing of our throw game was a little bit off.”
With the pass game not clicking, the Flashes decided to run Cooper twice in third-and-long situations with the game still up for grabs and were stopped well short on each occasion.
“It comes down to one-on-one matchups and the strategy of the game, where we are on the field,” said Lewis. “I was thinking we could chew some of that [yardage] off and possibly go for it on fourth down there with the way that the game was going. Obviously, we didn’t get the yardage that we were looking for, and that forces you into a situation where you’ve got to punt.”
Marquez Cooper, receiving trends broken
Cooper finished with 166 yards rushing on 31 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Flashes. But like the offense as a whole, Cooper started strong then faded. He rushed for 90 yards and both scores in the opening quarter.
Kent State slipped to 8-2 when Cooper reaches 100 yards rushing. He did bounce back from a tough outing against Miami last week, when he managed just 32 yards on 13 carries following his 40-carry, 240-yard effort against Ohio on Oct. 1.
“Last week when he only had 13 touches, that’s on me. A playmaker like that has got to get his touches because he’s going to have a positive impact on the game,” said Lewis. “He's a great player. Every time he has the ball in his hands we’re better.”
The Flashes typically use successful Cooper runs up the middle to open up passing opportunities, but that didn’t happen on Saturday. Junior Dante Cephas and sophomore Devontez Walker, the MAC’s top two receivers who had each gone over 100 yards in the first two MAC contests, combined for just 100 yards against Toledo.
“I thought we had good, calculated shots down range where we had one-on-ones, and maybe the throw was a little bit off and we couldn’t come up with the receptions that we typically do,” said Lewis. “Those are our playmakers on the edge, and those are one-on-one shots that we feel good about. We’re going to continue to take them.”
Special teams breakdowns cost Kent State
After providing a spark early, special teams miscues aided Kent State’s downward spiral.
Following a Toledo touchdown that cut Kent State’s lead to 28-14 in the second quarter, a holding call negated a long kickoff return by Ja’Shaun Poke — who nearly broke one to open the game.
A 29-yard punt by sophomore Josh Smith gave the Rockets favorable field position they used to kick a field goal to tie the game at 31 in the third quarter. Smith later had to dodge a rusher right in his face before booting a short punt off the side of his foot that contributed to his 34-yard average on the day.
The most glaring error came with the game tied at 31. The Flashes drove 57 yards to the Toledo 18 and had a chance to take the lead, but sophomore kicker Andrew Glass missed a 35-yard field goal. The Rockets scored a touchdown on their next possession to take the lead, then pulled away down the stretch.
“Any time you have an opportunity to get points and you don’t, it’s big. It’s like a turnover,” said Lewis. “In all these games you want to just continue to gather points whenever you can, and anytime you have an opportunity to get them and you can’t it’s going to take a little bit of the wind out of the sails.”
Glass has made just 3-of-7 field goals in MAC play.
Ja'Shaun Poke continues to emerge
Poke made a major impact early in the game for the Flashes. He returned the opening kickoff 46 yards to the KSU 47, bouncing off a pack of tacklers near the 20, to set up his team’s first score. He then caught a 38-yard pass to ignite Kent State’s second touchdown drive and finished with his first three catches of the season for 57 yards to go with his 131 yards on five kickoff returns.
Poke has been a solid weapon for Kent State the past two seasons, catching four touchdown passes, but missed the first four games of 2022 due to an injury.
“Great to have him back. Tip of the cap to him and the work that he did to get back,” said Lewis. “This is really the first game where he had no limitations. I’m looking forward to having him the rest of the way.”
Extra Points: Kent State continues to deal with injury issues at the linebacker position. Junior CJ Harris did not play at Toledo. Earlier this week grad student Khalib Johns was ruled out for the season. True freshman Rocco Nicholl made his first collegiate start at Toledo. … Starting safety Antwaine Richardson and standout defensive tackle CJ West both left the game in the second half with injuries. ... Grad student safety Nico Bolden finished with a career-high 14 tackles.
Next: The Flashes will host rival Akron (1-6, 0-3) on Saturday at noon.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Six takeaways from the Kent State football loss at Toledo
