After 1-11 season, Kent State heads to the Steel City and eyes first FBS win under head coach Kenni Burns.
Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday, August 31 at 12:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Gambling considerations: Pittsburgh (-24.5), with an over/under of 55.5
- TV options: The game will be on ESPNU, part of the ESPN family of networks. A valid cable subscription is required for viewing. Matt Schumacker (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (color) will provide commentary.
- Streaming options: The game will be available for streaming on the ESPN App or on applicable cable/satellite services. A valid subscription is required for viewing on either platform. Other streaming carriers include Sling, DirecTV Stream, fuboTV, Hulu Live TV, or YouTube TV.
- Radio options: Rob Polinsky (play-by-play) and Chase Ferris (color) will provide the Kent State call for The Word 1220 AM
- All-time series: Pittsburgh leads, 7-0
- Last meeting: Pittsburgh 43, Kent State 3 — September 6, 2003
- Current streak: Pittsburgh, 7 (1970-03)
Setting the scene
Kent State head coach Kenni Burns showed up to winter workouts wearing a hoodie with “1-11” embroidered across the chest. Another number featured on that hoodie was “133,” which was essentially the Golden Flashes’ final ranking of the 133 FBS teams in 2023.
That means Kent State has nowhere to go but upward after holding designation as the only team in the highest division to record zero wins over FBS competition. Burns enters year two at the helm, searching for that coveted first FBS win.
“Our guys have worked extremely hard,” Burns said. “We just got bigger, faster, stronger. We have more of a connected team. We talked about the word ‘interconnected’ all fall camp, and those guys did that. I’m just excited about the growth of our football team. It doesn’t guarantee you anything but it gives you a chance.”
His Golden Flashes travel east across the Pennsylvania-Ohio border for a Week 1 contest at Pittsburgh. Kent State is no stranger to challenging itself in its non-conference slates and it hopes an offseason full of improvements can pay dividends at an NFL venue in the Steel City.
Kent State Golden Flashes outlook
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The 2023 Golden Flashes were only two years removed from a MAC Championship Game appearance, but the team was nearly gutted of all its major contributors from that successful 2021 season after head coach Sean Lewis departed in December 2022. Kenni Burns took over the reins starting at essentially ground zero, losing all 11 offensive starters and all but three defensive starters prior to his first game.
The result was 1-11, but this time around, he’s heading into a season with a foundation. There’s returning talent across the board and Burns is instilling a culture that he believes can transform a program. Burns was an assistant on a Western Michigan team that finished the regular season undefeated just three years after posting a 1-11 record, and he hopes a similar transformation can be observed at a different MAC program.
“We knew our roster better,” Burns said. “We have a lot of returning players and knew what they could do. Like anything, after a year, you know your deficiencies. We knew what we were deficient at. We knew where we had to get better at. We really attacked them in fall camp. We have this term that says ‘a smarter player is a better player.’ Last year we were running plays a lot of the time. This year we understand how the play impacts the situation that we’re in.”
Kent State will feature a different starting quarterback in the opener for the fourth consecutive season. The Golden Flashes held an offseason quarterback battle consisting of two candidates with previous starting experience. Tommy Ulatowski (career stats of 839 passing yards, 8 TD, 2 INT, 50.0% completion, 110 rushing yards) started three games last November while Devin Kargman (career stats of 653 passing yards, 5 TD, 3 INT, 45.5% completion, -56 rushing yards) started the finale in addition to one week in 2022.
Factors Kent State assessed when deciding between Kargman and Ulatowski included tracked statistics in fall camp, mobility outside the pocket, leadership and response to adversity, and their performance in two intra-squad scrimmages. Burns said while he would feel comfortable starting Week 1 with Ulatowski, Kargman fits best with what Kent State wants to do offensively.
“We made a decision to go with Dev Kargman, but when you look at Tommy, I think they competed all the way up to the end there and it came down to the last scrimmage,” Burns said. “But you’ll see both of them utilized and I think that group, the growth they’ve made under (offensive coordinator) Coach (Mark) Carney is exceptional, and hopefully you’ll see that translate Saturday.”
Kent State’s running back room suffered a major loss in Gavin Garcia. Garcia ranked first on the team in rushing yards last season with 544 yards, but he is out for the entirety of 2024 with a knee injury suffered in fall camp and will instead take on a coaching role. Without Garcia in the mix, Kent State turns to Ky Thomas and Curtis Douglas as the main backs. Thomas was an 800-yard rusher at Minnesota under Burns’ stint there as a running backs coach, while Douglas totaled eight carries as a seldom-used backup last year. Burns says the distribution of carries will be a committee approach, with Marques Hicks serving as a tertiary option expected to finagle his way into the rotation.
The strongest unit within the skill positions is clearly wide receiver, a room which housed the team’s only First Team All-MAC selection in 2023. Chrishon McCray attained the honors after a tremendous breakout campaign, totaling 610 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 41 catches, complete with a 161-yard domination in his most recent outing. Luke Floriea returns as another All-MAC selection with 413 yards and four touchdowns on 39 receptions. It’s no question Kent State is equipped with two capable receivers, but Burns believes the supporting depth is promising as well, and there will be plenty of true freshman utilization at the position in Jay Jay Etheridge and Dashawn Martin.
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“The one thing I was curious about was our receivers. I knew we had Chrishon and Luke but I didn’t know what we had behind it,” Burns said. “We’ve had a lot of freshmen and transfers step up and do a really good job in that group. You look at Jay Jay Etheridge and Dashawn Martin, two freshmen that came in and you see exactly why they were highly-touted. They’re guys who are good at explosive plays and when the ball’s in their hands, they do exceptional things with it.”
Kent State’s offense ranked dead last at 133rd in scoring offense a year ago with 14.7 points per game. The unit was third-to-last in total offense, not finding a particular strength on the ground or through the air. An inexperienced offensive line certainly factored into those struggles as the front five strolled into 2023 with a collective two collegiate starts. But once again, there’s more experience this year with right tackle Cam Golden as the unit’s established anchor. There are new faces joining as well, and one of them is a true freshman starting center in Elijah Williams.
“We definitely have more depth than we had last year,” Burns said. “Is it where I want to be? Probably not quite yet. We’re a year better. I think that will show right away. I think we’re still trying to find out who those top five guys are and I think that will go into this game. We have competition. Last year at the offensive line, we didn’t have competition. This year you’re going to see guys rotating in because we have battles going on. We have seven or eight guys that can play.”
While wide receiver might be the best position group in terms of being top-heavy, the deepest group on the roster belongs to the linebacking corps. Kent State returns Nick Giacolone who finished second on the team in tackles a year ago, a talented backfield invader in Khalib Johns who suffered season-ending injuries the last two Septembers, and Rocco Nicholl who Burns cited as the team’s MVP in spring ball, among others. This group hopes to transform a run defense which ranked 108th a year ago and force more fumbles after the team only recovered three in 2023.
“I think our linebackers had a really good fall camp,” Burns said. “We have a lot of depth there in Khalib Johns, Mason Woods, Rocco Nicholl, Nick Giacolone, and Sayed (Abuhamdeh) — we’ve got a lot of good players there. Then Nylan Brown, a freshman, came in and did a really good job as well. I’m excited about that group. I think they were a big reason why we couldn’t get the run game going at times in fall camp because they were so disruptive.”
The secondary takes on a new look after losing leading tackler Bryce Sheppert and both starting cornerbacks Capone Blue and D.J. Miller. The most notable transfer portal addition to restock this group was former San Diego State starter Dallas Branch, who earned All-Mountain West honorable mention in 2022 for posting 34 tackles and three interceptions. Branch is just one of the many cornerbacks Burns hopes to rotate onto the gridiron in Week 1 to counter a Pitt passing offense which finished 12th-to-last in completion percentage last season.
“The thing I love about that group is you’re not stuck in a position where you don’t have enough talent,” Burns said. “We have more than enough talent at corner and they’re competing hard with each other. It’s finding out which ones are gonna give us the best chance to win. They all could give us a good chance to win, so it’s how are we gonna get them on the field in different ways?”
Pittsburgh Panthers outlook
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It was an uncharacteristic offseason in Pittsburgh, PA.
After 11 consecutive years of generating between five and eight wins, the Panthers finally punched through the ceiling in 2021, winning an ACC championship in an 11-win campaign. Pitt’s success sustained through 2022 with nine wins and a second-consecutive season-ending ranking. But it all came tumbling down in 2023.
Pitt wound up 3-9 last year to manufacture its worst record since 1998. The team wasn’t used to losing with that degree of frequency in head coach Pat Narduzzi’s first eight years on campus, and now it’s time for the Panthers to shake off that disappointment and prove it was a one-time fluke. That’s how Kent State is approaching this game, fully aware of the potency of past Narduzzi teams.
“The one thing I respect about him is how his teams play,” Burns said of Narduzzi. “We know they’re gonna play hard, they’re gonna play physical. It starts at the line of scrimmage for them. They’re gonna stop the run and force you to be one-dimensional. We’ve got to step up to the plate and handle that.”
Pitt’s most pressing struggles in 2023 transpired on the offensive side. The Panthers ranked 116th in the nation in scoring offense and the inability to push the ball on the ground was the most alarming result. Pitt checked in at 121st nationally in rushing yards per game at 101.9 and responded to those shortcomings by firing offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. Narduzzi looked toward the FCS level to hire his next director of the offense, settling on Kade Bell after he led Western Carolina to the best unit in the country with over 500 yards per contest.
“When you look Kade, he’s done a phenomenal job at Western Carolina where he was at,” Burns said. “They play obviously with tempo. They’ve got a ton of explosive plays. They’re high-scoring. They averaged 37.5 points per game last year at the FCS level. They led the FCS in total offense in 2023. And the one thing I love about the offense they brought in is it gives guys the opportunity to get in space and run around and do what they do.”
One of the biggest questions heading into Saturday’s opener is how much input will Bell get in the offense. His style is strikingly different from what Narduzzi teams ran under past coordinators, and Bell injects significantly more tempo by abandoning huddles and flying to the line of scrimmage every play. Additionally, his quarterbacks typically throw well beyond 30 times per game and the majority of play-calls are RPOs — trusting his players to rely on quick decision-making to gain an advantage over defenders on every snap.
“It’s a little bit different from what they’ve done in the past,” Burns said. ”They’ve been more of a time of possession, control the clock kind of offense. This is kind of opening it up and putting a lot of points on the board… They’re gonna go fast and we’ve seen that before in UCF last year, which was kind of an up-tempo team that caught us off-guard with how fast they were going. We did some different things in fall camp and even in our practice preparation to make sure we’re ready for the tempo they’re gonna play with.”
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On the defensive side of the ball, there’s more stability. Defensive coordinator Randy Bates is back for his seventh year in the role and the Panthers’ defense wasn’t too shabby last fall despite the 3-9 record. However, the unit was gutted of much of its top producers and they’re relying on last year’s backups to step up rather than portal additions, as only two transfers crack the initial starting lineup.
“Randy Bates has been there for a long time. His system is in place,” Burns said. “He’s gonna stop the run, play sound and physical football. He does a great job in his defenses and we know between him and Coach Narduzzi who’s a defensive coach, we’ve got our hands full there. It’s really good football that they play and we know we have to be at our best in order to beat them.”
Defensively, Pitt returns its top two leading tacklers in free safety Javon McIntyre and strong safety Donovan McMillon. Losing star All-ACC cornerback M.J. Devonshire is a significant departure on that end, and Pitt will attempt to bottle up Kent State’s all-conference receiver tandem with a new-look corner pairing of Ryland Gandy (seven tackles last season) and Rashad Battle, who missed the entirety of 2023 with an injury.
Linebacker is a mix of returning starters and reserves, while the defensive line features two transfers at starting positions. Nate Matlack bolsters one defensive end spot after ranking second on Kansas State in sacks and third in tackles for loss in 2023, while 6’2”, 290 pound defensive tackle Nick James arrives from Indiana where he played 16 games despite not accruing a single start there. Getting to the quarterback was one of the premier strengths of Pitt in 2023 — ranking top 25 in the FBS in sacks — but of the Panthers’ 31 sacks recorded last year, only one sack was produced by a player active for the 2024 season (middle linebacker Brandon George).
Offensively, the Panthers place their trust in quarterback Nate Yarnell who the team turned to as the starter for the final two contests after shuffling between Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux for the majority of the season. It was a small sample size, but Yarnell’s production was promising. He posted an efficient completion percentage of 66.1, tossing four touchdowns to one interception. Yarnell pushed the ball downfield better than any other Pitt passer, averaging over 10 yards per attempt and leading his team to a late November upset over Boston College.
Rodney Hammond Jr. returns as the feature tailback after producing near-identical stats in each of his last three seasons, totaling roughly 500 yards on between 4.0 and 5.0 yards per carry every year. Bell also brings a former Western Carolina product in Desmond Reid to the backfield after he logged 897 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, complemented by heavy utilization in the receiving game.
When it comes to the receivers, former Akron transfer Konata Mumpfield likely becomes the number one guy as the team’s returning leader in receiving yards and touchdowns. But just like running back, a Western Carolina transfer followed Bell to Pitt and should see significant utilization in 2024. Raphael Williams Jr. is that transfer. Nicknamed “Poppi,” he racked up 1,617 yards and 15 touchdowns at the FCS level before transferring to San Diego State and sitting out the entirety of 2023, but he earned a starting spot on the opening depth chart.
The one other name Kent State’s defense must be highly cognizant of in the receiving corps is Gavin Bartholomew. Bartholomew has been one of the best tight ends in the ACC for quite some time now as a major contributor to Pitt’s 2021 ACC championship squad. Bartholomew will hunt for mismatches, especially down the seam, where he averaged over 18 yards per catch as the Panthers’ third leading receiver a year ago.
Prediction
Neither team produced the results they hoped for in 2023, so this opener presents a much-needed redemption opportunity for both.
Pitt holds homefield advantage, looking to showcase its new offensive scheme to thousands of fans decked in blue and gold. Nate Yarnell looked like the future of the program in a diminutive sample size last November and the Panthers hope his arm can lead the team back to bowl eligibility and ACC contention in 2024.
This is a challenging matchup for Kent State. The Golden Flashes are significant underdogs after finishing as the only 1-11 FBS team a year ago, and earning an ACC road win won’t be easy. But the team must demonstrate signs of improvement. Generating stops is key, but showing they can move the ball downfield consistently is the biggest “what-if” of 2024.
While Kent State still works out the kinks offensively, Pitt finds an early-season groove and rolls to victory in the 412.
Prediction: Pitt 42, Kent State 10