Kent State Can’t Get into Offensive Groove in 9-3 Setback to Miami

Josh Pleasant

Final	1	2	3	4	Final
Miami (Ohio) (2-4)	0	0	7	2	9
Kent St. (1-6)	3	0	0	0	3
Kent, Ohio | Dix Stadium

Miami (Ohio)	Kent St.
Pa: DYSERT, Zac - 125 Ru: FINKLEA, Erik - 68 Rec: GIVENS, Chris - 47	Pa: KEITH, Spencer - 169 Ru: DURHAM, Trayion - 51 Rec: KIRKLAND, Sam - 59

TEAM STATISTICS	Miami (Ohio)	Kent St.
Passing Yards	125	169
Rushing Yards	41	75
Turnovers	2	1
Time of Poss.	27:15	32:45

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Postgame Notes

Postgame Quotes

KENT, Ohio - The Kent State football team (1-6, 0-3) was in good position to capture its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season Saturday afternoon at Dix Stadium, but the Golden Flashes were unable to get in sync as a team in a 9-3 loss to Miami (Ohio).

The Kent State defense was up to the task in holding the second-ranked passing offense in the conference to just seven points; but those seven points, a 16-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, were enough to capture the win.

The Golden Flashes got on the board early in the game, when Roosevelt Nix (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) forced a fumble on the game's second play to gain possession deep in Miami territory. That drive resulted in a 32-yard field goal by Freddy Cortez (Fort Meade, Fla.).

Kent State had a second chance for points in the first half when Cortez teed up a 43-yard field goal attempt, but whipping winds guided the ball to the right. Winds gusted up to 35 miles per hour at Dix Stadium, forcing both teams to stay to the ground; Miami and Kent State combined for 70 rushing plays.

The Golden Flashes defense held Miami to just 125 yards passing and sacked Zac Dysert five times, but the one that got away proved to be too costly. Late in the third quarter, Kent State had Dysert under pressure, but the Miami quarterback broke free to find Chris Givens in the end zone to take a 7-3 lead with 1:02 to play in the stanza.

Miami (2-4, 1-1) added a pair of insurance points in the fourth quarter, when C.J. Marck sacked Kent State's Spencer Keith (Little Rock, Ark.) in the end zone for a safety.

After swapping possessions, Kent State had one last chance in the waning moments of the contest, as Keith marched the Golden Flashes down the field. Keith had completions on four of his first six plays during the final drive, but the Golden Flashes stalled on the Miami 33 before turning the ball over on downs.

Postgame Notes

• Junior Spencer Keith became the fourth quarterback in Kent State history to reach 5,000 career passing yards, passing Julian Edelman in the process.  He threw for a season-high 169 yards.

• Senior Jacquise Terry surpassed 2,000 yards of total offense (556 receiving, 1,481 rushing) in his career.

• Senior Chris Gilbert made his first start of the season and had career-highs of six catches and 56 yards receiving.

• Sophomore defensive tackle Roosevelt Nix forced a fumble for the third time this season.  He had a career-high six tackles, including two for loss, bringing his team-leading total to 10 TFL.  He also broke up a pass and had a pair of quarterback hurries.

• Junior C.J Malauulu ran his team-leading sack total to 4.0.

• Junior Freddy Cortez made his 30^th career field goal.  He has made 27 of his last 36 attempts.

Team Notes

• Kent State recorded a season-high five sacks.

• The Golden Flashes' defense held an opponent under 200 yards of total offense for the second time this season.

• Saturday was the fourth time KSU held an opponent to under 150 yards passing and the second time the Flashes held an opponent under 100 yards rushing this season.

Post-game quotes

Kent State Head Coach Darrell Hazell

Opening statement:
"It's a disappointing loss, obviously. We squandered some opportunities early, and we had good position and didn't capitalize; we went backwards instead of forward. The problems we thought we had to fix on the offensive line obviously weren't fixed because we came up short on a couple third-and-shorts. We weren't able to run the ball relatively effectively early in the game. I thought our defense played excellent, and I thought we played good special teams, but we had way too many penalties.

Right now we've got a lot of guys in our locker room that are hurting. This is a time that we have to dig deep and do some soul searching and stay together; because if we don't, we have no chance."  

On the offensive line's struggles:
"I've got to watch the film and see what's happening up there. It's a little disappointing we can't make a third-and-one. It's hard for me to say right now. There were a couple of penalties in there, we're just not playing well enough right now, that's the bottom line.

"It's very frustrating. When you get stopped over and over in those situations - those are great situations to be in. Third-and-one, third-and-two, even a third-and-three, because we should convert those 75, 80 percent. We're just not doing that right now. Without looking at the film I can't tell you why, but obviously were doing something wrong, and we've got to get it fixed."

On what the bye week will do personnel-wise:
"We're going to move some guys around and find out who our best five (offensive linemen) are; see if there is a better marriage between two, three guys. Because we're stalling. We're flat-out stalling right now."

On the Miami play that resulted in a touchdown:
"They had him. They had him sacked, he got loose, and coverage broke down at the back. That's frustrating. But it shouldn't even come down to that, in my opinion. We had the ball down at the 35-yard line a couple of times, and we came up with no points. If we get down and score, and make it 10-0, it's a completely different ball game."

On Spencer Keith's play:
"From the sideline, from my perspective, I thought he played more comfortable. I thought he made some clean throws; he missed a couple, but by-and-large he took care of the football. It was good to see him make those improvements."

Kent State sophomore defensive lineman Roosevelt Nix

How hard is it to feel like you have to play perfect on defense:
'At the end of the day, we are all a team in the same locker room. There are going to be times where we may not being playing well and the offense may be carrying us."

What is the feeling this time around compared to last year?
"Last year was last year; that's in the past.  Our new coaching staff fights for us to be a family this year.  It's always a little frustrating, but I believe this is a whole new team with whole different beliefs.  It's impossible to win every time and we are going to fight through it."

On the team's preparation:
"We were well-prepared for this week.  We just executed and the one time we didn't it backfired on us."

About the bye week:
"It's going to be a great week for us to prepare and get stronger.  Keep building ourselves. The only one stopping us right now is us."
"I think people want to win on this team, so we are going to work for it."


Kent State Junior LB C.J. Malauulu

Transfer energy to Offense
"We try to just feed off each other."

"During practice this week, one day the defense had incredible energy and the offense didn't do so well.  The next day we challenged them and they came out great and matched our intensity."

Miami Head Coach Don Treadwell

On Kent State
"Hats are off to Kent State, they had a tremendous game plan and we knew from what we saw on tape that they're a very capable team.  Now that I have two games under my belt, you can truly see on any given day that pendulum can swing any way.  We knew that their defense was tremendous and Coach Heacock, we knew he was going to do a great job and he didn't let us down.  It just took us a little bit to get on track on offense."

On the wind factor
"We happened to have some plays left as it got towards the end there.  When you're in the red zone, your not looking to throw the ball forty yards in the air.  That's when the wind is a factor on those high long balls.  I think if you're throwing anywhere from twenty yards on in, it's probably not going to be a factor." 

On Miami's TD
"Initially, there was an opening, but we couldn't get the ball to him right away.  Zac (Dysert QB) had to side step the defender that came through.  He broke a tackle and kept his eyes downfield, which he does, quite often, and it paid off for us." 


Miami Linebacker Ryan Kennedy

On Momentum
"We have a tough game next week.  Anytime you get wins in this conference, you never know what's going to happen in the MAC.  In the East right now everyone has a loss, so we gotta play forward and see what happens." 

Miami Wide-Receiver Chris Givens

On Touchdown Catch
"All day Kent State's defense was solid, very strong.  Coach Darrell Hazell has a great defense, a great front five, great DB's in the back half and I was just in the right place at the right time.  Zac  (Dysert QB) put the ball in as position that  could adjust to it, and it all worked out and we put up a victory."