A touchdown worth of takeaways from Kent State's loss at No. 1 Georgia
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Kent State has officially emerged from the most strenuous September schedule in Mid-American Conference football history with $5.2 million in the coffer and a ton of confidence.
The Golden Flashes (1-3) gave No. 1 Georgia (4-0) a much better ballgame than anyone could have ever imagined, aside from the players and coaches themselves, before falling 39-22 Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium in Athens. The 45-point underdogs were within one score late in the first half, and were a successful 2-point conversion away from making it a one-score game once again with 12:13 remaining.
This month the Flashes were competitive in the season opener against a Washington squad that's still unbeaten and ranked 18th in the nation, losing 45-20. They led Oklahoma, ranked sixth this week, 3-0 late in the first half two weeks ago before falling 33-3.
On Saturday they made a defending national champion Bulldogs squad that had outscored its first three opponents by a combined count of 130-10 play four quarters, a statement previous 2022 Power Five opponents Oregon (49-3) and South Carolina (48-7) certainly can’t make.
Over the past two seasons, only two teams have scored 20 or more points against the Bulldogs: Alabama and Kent State.
“We have a really talented club that’s gone through tremendous adversity, tremendous conflict, in the month of September. And they embrace it, and they get better because of it. Our character grows stronger because of it. We get tighter as a ball club because of it,” said fifth-year KSU head coach Sean Lewis, whose national stock no doubt soared on Saturday. “I couldn't be prouder of the effort they put forth today. It's true confidence that we can take going forward. I love where we’re at in the locker room right now. I’m not happy with our record, but I know we’re a high character team because of the tests that we’ve been through. I’m excited to go forward with my kids.”
This week’s touchdown worth of takeaways features splash plays generated by the Flashes in all three phases of the game against the top-ranked team in the land.
Splash plays: Defense
Georgia’s offense had gone through defenses like a hot knife through butter this fall, but encountered some surprising resistance against a Kent State unit that once again proved it’s vastly improved compared to the last several seasons.
The Flashes defense produced a pair of first-half turnovers that kept the team in the game, giving the offense time to find its footing.
Midway through the first quarter the Bulldogs were leading 7-3 and driving when senior cornerback Montre Miller undercut a seam route and gave senior quarterback Stetson Bennett his first interception of the season at the KSU 5.
Georgia was up 9-3 and driving again when Flashes junior tackle CJ West beat sophomore right guard Tate Ratledge with a middle rush and sacked Bennett for a 10-yard loss, forcing a field goal. The Bulldogs had given up just one sack in their first three games.
Then grad student linebacker Marvin Pierre, who had missed last week’s game due to an injury, ripped the ball away from Georgia sophomore wide receiver Ladd McConkey and recovered the football at the KSU 32.
“Just being opportunistic and playing with relentless effort,” said Lewis of his defense. “We've got guys that are running to the ball. Guys like Marvin, (grad student linebacker) Khalib Johns, (grad student safety) Nico Bolden, they’re flying to the football. They know when they can just hunt and be aggressive.”
Splash plays: Offense
A Flashes offense that struggled early, finishing the first quarter with 10 yards on 12 plays, fed off the turnover forced by Pierre.
Two plays later, junior quarterback Collin Schlee tossed the ball sideways to wide receiver Devontez Walker. The speedy sophomore cut off a block by grad student tight end Kris Leach and exploded down the sideline for a 56-yard touchdown that trimmed Georgia’s lead to 12-10 early in the second quarter.
Junior running back Marquez Cooper also broke loose twice, ripping off a 22-yard run and sprinting 27 yards on a screen pass aided by a devastating downfield block by grad student center Sam Allan. Cooper both took and dished punishment throughout the afternoon while rushing for 90 tough yards on 21 carries.
No player had rushed for more than 37 yards against Georgia in its first three games of the season.
“We did some base things at a really high level against a good opponent. That gives our players some life, some confidence,” said Lewis. “We knew there weren’t going to be many explosive plays because of the way they play defensively and what they’ve done in the past. To move the ball efficiently, to put up 22 points - shoot, that’s two more touchdowns than anyone in college football has scored against them [this season].”
Splash plays: Special teams
The Flashes were reeling early when sophomore punter Josh Smith banged a 44-yarder that was muffed by McConkey and recovered by senior Bryce Sheppert, a Stow native. Kent State cashed in with a 45-yard field goal by sophomore Andrew Glass.
“For Josh to get a great boot on that thing and for us to recover that muffed kick, get some points on the board early, gives the whole sideline life,” said Lewis.
Glass added field goals of 45 and 22 yards, going 3-for-3 on the day.
Smith resurfaced on the last play of the third quarter. Trailing 32-16 and facing a fourth-and-one on their own 34, Kent State executed a fake punt to perfection – with Smith lobbing the ball across the field to wide-open senior defensive lineman Zayin West for a 14-yard gain.
The drive wound up covering 75 yards and producing six points on a 1-yard Cooper touchdown run.
“The [special] teams are the glue that ties the offense and the defense together,” said Lewis. “Later in the game when we’re kind of wobbly a little bit and we need a play to inject some life to stay in it, for our punt team to execute that fake, that’s a big-time play. We're scheming things up for the guys that we know we can trust, our best players, and they’re showing up.”
Bowers delivers big plays for Bulldogs
The Flashes thought they were prepared as possible to face tight end Brock Bowers, an All-American last season as a freshman who is considered pro-ready as a 6-foot-4, 230-pound freakishly athletic sophomore.
On the second play of the game, the Bulldogs brought Bowers in motion and gave him the ball on an end-around. Bowers, who runs a 4.5-40, broke into the open field and sprinted past the only defender who had a shot at him for a 75-yard touchdown just 19 seconds into the contest.
“They’ve got a tight end that they can hand the ball to that goes 75 yards. That’s a little bit different than most teams have,” said Lewis. “Good player made a play. Really well executed by them.”
Bowers scored on the same play from 2 yards out in the second quarter, then set up a late first-half touchdown with a difficult two-handed grab on a 20-yard pass from Bennett to the KSU 2.
Bowers was quiet in the second half, catching just one pass for six yards, but still finished a stellar day with two rushes for 77 yards and two touchdowns and five catches for 60 yards.
“He's the real deal,” said Lewis. “I thought our kids battled hard against him. He's a special player that made some big-time plays.”
Leach clears way for Walker
Bowers wasn’t the only tight end making big plays on Saturday.
Kent State grad student tight end Kris Leach paved the way for the 56-yard touchdown catch by Walker. After Walker made the catch basically at the line of scrimmage near the sideline, Leach took out one defender with a punishing block then chipped another Bulldog to spring Walker.
“Early on we had a third-down conversion where we threw (Leach) a little tight end screen, and I think it had a chance to be a decent play but his feet got tangled up and he went to the ground,” said Lewis. “I think a real common response for a lot of young men would have been to hang their head and let that play carry over. It could have ruined their day. I thought Kris did an unbelievable job of clearing it. He refocused, and had a tremendous block. That's the type of effort that’s kind of invisible. That's the unselfish nature of our ballclub.”
Leach also had a key 6-yard catch to the Bulldogs 2 that set up Cooper’s 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Walker runs with the best
You could argue that Walker was the best receiver on the field Saturday. He certainly looked as fast as anyone while sprinting down the sideline with his 56-yard touchdown catch.
“That’s really impressive for him to be able to run and separate with the amount of speed that was on that field today,” said Lewis. “For him to be one of the fastest guys out there, that’s a big-time play and a testament to the work he’s put in since he’s been here.”
Walker caught five passes all of last year, but posted career-highs with seven catches for 106 yards against Georgia.
“He's really fast. He works really hard," said Lewis. "He's really developed his body and his skill set since he’s been here."
Extra points: Flashes senior cornerback Capone Blue returned to action after missing the last two games due to an injury. ... Johns and Bolden both left the game in the fourth quarter due to injuries and did not return. ... Georgia head coach Kirby Smart on Kent State: "We thought they were a really good football team and they proved that today. They’re going to be tough in that conference because of the teams they’ve played. Their kids play with great toughness and resiliency. They hit, they strike, they don’t run from contact. That’s SEC football."
Next: Kent State opens MAC play by hosting Ohio University (2-2) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Six takeaways from Kent State's loss at No. 1 Georgia
