MAC Play Continues with Trip to Northern Illinois
10/4/2017 10:35:00 AM | Football
Game Notes Golden Flashes Radio ESPN3 Live Stats
Kent State looks for its first road win over Northern Illinois since 1966 Saturday at Huskie Stadium. As Mid-American Conference play heats up, the Golden Flashes hope to end NIU's nine-game series winning streak. Saturday will be the Huskies' 2017 homecoming game.
Facts In A Flash
• The Flashes amassed 24 first downs and 444 total yards of offense against Buffalo. Both were the most in the team's last 27 games.
• Senior cornerback Demetrius Monday has 11 career interceptions and ranks fourth in the nation with four picks in his last four games.
• Junior quarterback George Bollas threw for a career-high 242 yards, completing 17-of-26 passes.
• Sophomore MannyLawrence-Burke made his first career interception against Buffalo and led the Flashes with 9 tackles, including 7 solo stops and 2.0 TFL. He's made 25 tackles in his last 3 games.
• Junior kicker Shane Hynes has made his last three field goals and sits in sixth place among Kent State career leaders with 26 field goals made.
• Sophomore receiver Trey Harrell had career-highs of six catches and 122 yards against Buffalo.
• Sophomore Derek Adams ranks eighth in the nation in punting average. One of only seven sophomores on the The Ray Guy Award Watch List, Adams has pinned 13 punts inside the 20.
• Senior Nathan Puthoff was chosen to wear the No. 54 jersey in honor of late teammate Jason Bitsko. Puthoff is also on the Rimington Trophy Watch List, honoring the nation's best center.
• Junior Raekwon James has 1,532 career all-purpose yards.
• Kent State returns 12 players who have earned Academic All-MAC honors in their career and three MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes.
Video/Radio
Saturday's game game can be seen on ESPN3 with Dan Gutowsky (play-by-play) and Marcus Ray (analyst). The game can be heard live on WHLO 640 and Golden Flashes Radio on iHeartRadio. Ty Linder will handle the play-by-play duties and is joined in the booth for the eighth year in a row by color analyst Rob Polinsky. Jacob Pavilack will be on the sideline. iHeartRadio can be heard on a computer, smart phone or tablet.
All-Time Series
Northern Illinois leads the all-time series 20-7 and carries an 11-2 edge in DeKalb. The last time the teams met at Huskie Stadium, NIU hung on for a 17-14 win in 2014. Last season at Dix Stadium, the Huskies pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 31-21 road win. Kent State's last win in the series came in 2001. The Huskies have won 17 of the last 19 meetings, including the 2012 MAC Championship Game in double overtime.
White Back to old ways
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Kris White made his first four catches of the year against Buffalo, picking up 50 yards. White was primed to become KSU's top pass catcher last season, before suffering a season-ending leg injury in week 1 at Penn State. White made 47 catches in his first two seasons.
MAC Play
Northern Illinois and Toledo will be the final two teams to begin conference play on Saturday. Four teams opened Mid-American Conference play on Sept. 23 as the East Division went 2-0 against the West. Six more teams opened MAC play this past Saturday. In each of the previous two seasons, Kent State has gone 2-6 in conference play.
Crum Gets First Start
True freshman quarterback Dustin Crum made his first career start against Buffalo and threw his first career touchdown pass (75 yards), the Flashes' longest offensive play of the season. Crum made his collegiate debut at Marshall and completed a 40-yard pass on his second attempt. The following week he rushed for 62 yards at Louisville.
More Big Plays
Along with Crum's 75-yard touchdown pass to Kavious Price, the Flashes had five other plays of 20 yards or more. Price had a 24-yard carry and George Bollas had a 22-yard carry. Trey Harrell caught passes of 54 and 25 yards from Bollas, while Justin Rankin caught a 23-yard pass from Bollas.
• The 75-yard catch by Price was his first career touchdown.
Rankin's Dual Threat
Sophomore running back Justin Rankin combined for 88 yards of offense against Buffalo (39 rush, 49 rec.). Last year, according to Pro Football Focus, Rankin was fourth among true freshmen for highest elusive rating. He totaled 846 yards of offense (rushing/receiving) and scored four TDs.
Rankin had six offensive plays on the year of 30 yards or more. At Penn State, he rushed for 82 yards on 13 carries. His 181 yards receiving vs. Akron were the most by a KSU player since 2009.
Adams Pinning Them Back
Derek Adams was named MAC East Special Team Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, after averaging 48.5 yards on four punts aginst Buffalo. Adams is on the Ray Guy Award Watch List for the second straight season. At Clemson, Adams. had four punts of 50 yards or more and the following week against Howard he placed 4-of-5 punts inside the 20.
As a freshman Adams pinned 29 punts inside the 20 with only one touchback. Following the Flashes final road game, Adams earned MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week honors. He set career-highs for his longest punt three different times at Alabama with a 51-yarder in the first quarter followed by a 56 and 67-yarder. He averaged a career-high 46.0 yards on nine punts with three downed inside the 10-yard line, including two of them downed at the Alabama two.
Balance on Offense
The offensive performance against Buffalo was the first time the Flashes ran for over 100 yards (124) and threw for over 300 yards (320) in the same game since 2014 (vs. Army). Aside from four Buffalo sacks, the Flashes totaled 152 rushing yards on 36 carries.
Pass Defense
For the first time in seven games, an opponent offense (Buffalo) was held under 150 yards passing.
Previewing Northern Illinois
• The Huskies lead the Mid-American Conference in rushing defense and rank seventh in the nation in tackles for loss.
• On Sept. 16, Northern Illinois became the first Mid-American Conference program to defeat Nebraska (21-17).
• NIU held the Cornhuskers to 85 rushing yards on 36 attempts and made three interceptions.
• Despite losing at San Diego State this past Saturday, the Huskies outgained the Aztecs in total yards 429-263 and picked up 23 first downs to SDSU's 10.
• NIU made six consecutive MAC Championship Game appearances from 2010 to 2015, winning three titles in that span.
Key Players To Watch
• Senior tailback Jordan Huff rushed for 148 yards on 25 carries against the Aztecs. The veteran now has 1,777 career rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
• Sophomore quarterback Daniel Santacaterina threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns at San Diego State. Santacaterina took over at QB for the last three games of the 2016 season and led the Huskies to a comeback victory over Eastern Michigan behind his 91 yards rushing.
• Senior receiver Christian Blake caught 13 passes this past Saturday for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Last season, Blake made 34 grabs for 457 yards.
•Sophomore defensive end Sutton Smith leads the nation with 10.5 tackles for loss and ranks 12th in the nation in sacks.
• Senior linebacker Bobby Jones is averaging 10.0 tackles per game and has 4.0 tackles for loss on the year. Last season, he tallied 59 tackles.
