The Golden Flashes and Falcons meet for the 92nd time in history.
Bowling Green (2-4, 1-1 MAC) looks to rebound from a tough loss against Northern Illinois when they hosts a winless Kent State squad.
In what is a bit of a shocker, this weekend’s game is the first Saturday matchup for these former divison rivals in Bowling Green since the Dri Archer days back in 2012.
Game notes
- Time and Date: Saturday, October 19th at 3:30 p.m.
- Location: Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio
- Viewing options: The game will be available on ESPN+. A valid subscription is required for viewing. Jim Barbar (play-by-play) and Randy Buffington (color) will provide commentary.
- Radio options: For Kent State, Rob Polinsky (play-by-play) and Tom Evans (color) will provide the call on the Kent State Radio Network. For BGSU, Todd Walker (play-by-play) and John Gibson (color) will provide the call on Eagle FM 99.
- Gambling considerations: Bowling Green (-21), over/under 56 per DraftKings.
- All-time series: Bowling Green leads 61-24-6
- Last Meeting: 11/8/2023, BG def. Kent State 49-19
What Happened Last Time?
The Falcons and Flashes faced off in Midweek MACtion last November. Ta’Ron Keith led the Falcons with 103 rushing yards, 130 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 49-19 rout. The Falcons earned bowl eligibility that night, while Kent State lost their seventh straight game.
Getting to know the Falcons
Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images
The Falcons stalled out last week against Northern Illinois. After scoring on their first drive, the Falcons were shutout for the remaining 51:55 of game time. Not helping matters was starting quarterback Connor Bazelak going down with an injury early on. He tried to come back, but it wasn’t worth any future issues. Lucian Anderson III was essentially thrown into the gauntlet, and couldn’t get anything going.
Coach Loeffler mentioned that Connor Bazelak is day-to-day; if Bazelak were to miss a portion of the game, Anderson will be the next in line as Cam Orth is also out due to injury. Bazelak only finished with 88 passing yards against NIU, but still remains top five in passing yards for the MAC.
The Falcons have rushed for 836 yards (sixth in MAC), with Terion Stewart leading the pack at 334 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Jaison Patterson follows with 223 yards and three touchdowns.
Harold Fannin Jr. still leads the Falcons with 702 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Despite the off day against NIU, Fannin is still tied for fifth in the NCAA in receiving yards, and the only tight end within the top 34. He is on the verge of breaking his own coach’s record for career receiving yards by a tight end at Bowling Green. (For reference, Alex Bayer had 1,543.)
Defensively, the Falcons still have one interception by Jacorey Benjamin. Edward Rhambo has the lone fumble recovery for the Falcons. Bowling Green has the second-=best passing defense (allowing 175.7 pass yards/game), and the third-worst rushing defense in the MAC (allowing 187.5 rush yards/game).
Getting to know the Golden Flashes
Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images
The Flashes had a very close loss against Ball State last week. It saw Tommy Ulatowski throw for 394 yards, with Chrishon McCray having 213 of those yards and three touchdowns. Kent State cut the lead to 30-28, but Ball State ripped off a late rushing touchdown to put the game out of reach.
After Tommy Ulatowski stepped in for Devin Kargman and JD Sherrod at Penn State, he has thrown for 739 yards, completing 50 percent of his passes, along with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also been sacked ten times in the last two games.
Receiving-wise, “Big Play” Chrishon McCray is still “Big Play” Chrishon McCray. He leads Kent State with 522 yards and seven touchdowns on just 25 receptions, averaging 200.5 yards per MAC game so far. Luke Floriea follows up with 421 yards and four touchdowns on the year. This is a receiving corps that gets overshadowed by the win-loss record.
For the Flashes, running the ball has been a struggle. Ky Thomas has 206 yards and one touchdown. Ayden Harris follows up with 87 yards and one touchdown. The Flashes will have an opportunity to face a defense that gives up 187.5 rushing yards per game.
The Flashes do have two interceptions on the season, with Kameron Olds and Alex Branch notching one each. Olds also leads the teams with three sacks. The Flashes ranke dead last in the MAC, giving up 553.2 yards per game, allowing 280.3 passing yards and 272.8 rushing yards per game on average.
What Each Team Needs
The Falcons can’t afford to give this game away. If that were to happen, more questions would be asked about what happened to the team that played so well against Penn State and Texas A&M. The team has to play well on both sides.
Kent State needs to build off the positives of last week’s close loss. There were a lot of good things and some things that didn’t go their way. It all starts on defense. If the Flashes can clean it up, it will be a closer game than the Falcons would like.