Flashes to Battle Ball State Saturday

ESPN3 Game Notes in PDF Live Stats

After trading punches with No. 23 Northern Illinois for three quarters, Kent State visits another high-powered offense Saturday at Ball State's Scheumann Stadium. The Golden Flashes won a memorable 45-43 shootout with the Cardinals last season, highlighted by a 15-play, 86-yard drive in the final two minutes. Ball State is off to a 5-1 start, averaging 41.3 points per game. In its last road game, Kent State picked up a 32-14 victory at Western Michigan.

Facts In A Flash
• The Flashes have won 13 of their last 16 conference games, including a 13-2 mark against current MAC teams since the midway point of 2011.
• Kent State is in the midst of playing five road games in five other states over six weeks.
• The Flashes have won seven of their last nine true road games.
• The Golden Flashes' offense picked up 26 first downs at WMU, its most in 15 games.
• Kent State's defense allowed only 13 first downs at WMU, the fewest by an opponent in 15 games.
• In his first and only kickoff return of the season, senior Dri Archer raced for a 100-yard touchdown against Northern Illinois.
• Junior tailback Trayion Durham has run for 236 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games.
• Senior Roosevelt Nix is second among active FBS players in career tackles for loss (59.0), fifth in forced fumbles (10) and 14th in sacks (21.5).
• Archer and Nix were both recently named to the Senior Bowl Watch List
• Senior Tyshon Goode recently surpassed 2,000 yards receiving and is in second place among Kent State's career reception leaders with 159.
• Senior safety Luke Wollet has made interceptions in each of his last two games.
• Redshirt freshman Colin Reardon had a career-high 209 yards passing against the Huskies.
• Behind, sophomore Anthony Melchiori the Flashes rank sixth in the nation in net punting (42.4) and rank second in the MAC in kickoff coverage.

Paying Tribute
Kent State players will have helmet stickers with the initials HD in honor of Helen Dix, whose memorial service will be held Saturday in Kent.

The All-time Series
Ball State leads the all-time series with Kent State 19-7, which dates back to 1977. The Cardinals won 11 straight meetings from 1986 to 1996, but the Golden Flashes have won the last two meetings, both of which were at Dix Stadium. The Cardinals lead the series in Muncie 10-3, where Kent State has not won since 2001. Dri Archer has four career touchdowns against the Cardinals, including three in last season's 45-43 win. Trayion Durham ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns last year, while Chris Humphrey had three catches for 63 yards.

TV/Video/Radio
Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN3 with Jim Barbar (play-by-play) and Mike Hermann (color).
All Kent State games can be heard live on 640 WHLO and Golden Flashes Radio on iHeartRadio. Ty Linder will handle the play-by-play duties and is joined in the booth for the fourth year in a row by color analyst Rob Polinsky. Matt Miller is the sideline reporter. The iHeartRadio channel works on a PC, smart phone or tablet.

WebSite, Twitter & Youtube
For Kent State football stories, statistics, photos, video and more, visit KentStateSports.com. For daily football updates follow @ksuathletics on Twitter. For an extensive video library visit the GoldenFlashesTV channel on YouTube.

The Coaches
• Paul Haynes became the first Kent State head coach to win his debut since 1988, a feat not accomplished by the previous five head coaches. Haynes was a two-time all-conference defensive back at Kent State from 1987-91, despite joining as a walk-on. He returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1999 and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2000. After seven seasons on an Ohio State staff that won six Big Ten titles (2005-11), Haynes spent the 2012 season as defensive coordinator at Arkansas. (For a complete Haynes bio see page 11)
• Pete Lembo (Georgetown '92) is in his third season at Ball State and 13th season as a college head coach. Lembo went 44-14 at Lehigh (2001-05) where he was named Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year and Patriot League Coach of the Year. He spent the next five seasons at Elon going 35-22 and was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2007. In his first season in Muncie, he led the Cardinals to a 6-6 mark and a strong turnaround from the previous year. He followed that with a nine-win season in 2012.

Homecoming Guests
Saturday will be Ball State's 2013 Homecoming, putting Kent State in familiar role. Last October, the Golden Flashes spoiled homecomings for Eastern Michigan (41-14), Army (31-17) and No. 15 Rutgers (35-24).

Flashes Against the West
Saturday will be Kent State's third meeting of the season against a MAC West opponent. The Golden Flashes have won six their last seven conference games against West Division foes, dating back to 2011.

Rushing Battle is Key
Since last season, Kent State is 12-1 when outgaining opponents on the ground and 1-6 when the opposition runs for more yards. The Golden Flashes have outgained their opponent by over 100 rushing yards in each of their two wins this season. Opponents have outgained Kent State by over 100 yards rushing in each of the Flashes' last three losses.
• Kent State's 276 yards rushing at Western Michigan were its most in eight games and its 452 yards of total offense were its most in nine games.

As Is a Strong First Half
Since the beginning of last season, Kent State is 11-0 when leading at halftime and 1-7 when trailing at the break.

Archer's Return
Senior Dri Archer sat for the better part of the first four games, before making his presence felt at Western Michigan. In two games, Archer has scored three touchdowns with four plays of over 30 yards: a 33-yard run and a 31-yard TD catch at WMU and a 66-yard TD catch and 100-yard kick return against Northern Illinois. He was the first KSU player to go 100 yards on a kick return since 1979 (Norman Warren) and was named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week. He is now alone in fifth place among Kent State's career touchdown leaders with 32. The 2012 All-American was injured in the first quarter of the opening game against Liberty and appeared briefly in the first quarter of the LSU game.

Previewing Ball State
• The Cardinals (5-1) have the top passing offense in the MAC at 337.5 yards per game and the second highest scoring offense in the conference at 41.3 points per game.

• Ball State has won its last five home games, including a 3-0 mark this season.

• The Cardinals claimed a decisive 48-27 victory this past Saturday at Virginia. Ball State racked up 29 first downs and 506 total yards.

• The Ball State defense forced four turnovers at Virginia. The Cardinals rank 18th in the nation in turnover margin.

• The Cardinals lead the MAC in pass efficiency defense and are limiting opponents to 6.2 yards per completion.

• Ball State has scored on 29 of its 31 trips (94%) to the redzone, including 22 touchdowns (71%).

Key Players to Watch
• Senior quarterback Keith Wenning ranks 13th in the nation in completions per game (23.5), second in passing yards (1,196) and 23rd in passing touchdowns (11). Last season at Kent State, Wenning completed 32 passes for 445 yards and five touchdowns.

• Junior running back Jahwan Edwards ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns at Virginia. Edwards leads the nation with 10 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 93.5 yards per game.

• Sophomore running back Horactio Banks has five rushing touchdowns and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

• Junior receiver Willie Snead is second in the nation with 715 receiving yards. His 6.8 catches per game rank 23rd in the nation and he's caught five touchdowns.

• Sophomore receiver Jordan Williams caught nine passes for 159 yards and a touchdown at Virginia. He's made 33 catches for 520 yards and four TDs.

• Senior cornerback Jeffrey Garrett has two interceptions and has forced and recovered a fumble.

• Senior defensive tackle Nathan Ollie has a team-high 5.5 tackles for loss with 29 total tackles.

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