Flashes fall 38-7 at No. 24 Toledo

Saturday, October 10

Toledo, Ohio

3:00 p.m.

Kent State University

2-4 , 1-1

University of Toledo

5-0 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Kent State	7	0	0	0	7
No. 24 Toledo	7	17	7	7	38

10/10/2015 6:57:00 PM | Football

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio – Kent State watched its early momentum and hope for a 2-0 start in Mid-American Conference play slide away late in the first half of a 38-7 loss to No. 24 Toledo on Saturday at the Glass Bowl.

The Golden Flashes grabbed a 7-0 lead even before their offense took the field as Ryan Seibert recovered a bad snap in the end zone when Toledo botched a punt on the game's opening possession.

Kent State (2-4, 1-1) opened with so much promise in all three phases of the game while battling the Rockets to a 7-7 tie after one quarter. Special teams won every battle. The offense found some running holes. The defense seemed up for the fight.

The story shifted early in the second quarter behind a few big plays by Toledo's offense, some missed tackles, and a slew of penalty flags thrown in the direction of Kent State players.

By halftime, the Rockets (5-0, 2-0) turned the deadlock into a 24-7 advantage.

"They are a good football team," said Kent State head coach Paul Haynes. "They are really good. They are physical. There is a reason they are 24th in the country. We aren't there yet.

"The biggest (questions) to come out of this game are, they are a good football team, but did we play our best? We didn't. Is our best good enough to beat Toledo? I don't know. But I wish we could have played better.

The Flashes were flagged nine times for 83 yards. Three of Toledo's scoring drives saw KSU defenders draw penalties for personal fouls while several false start and holding calls derailed promising drives by Kent State's offense.

"We took two steps backwards with the penalties," said haynes.

Terry Swanson helped to turn the game for Toledo in the second quarter, breaking free for a 23-yard touchdown run to give the Rockets the lead for good at 14-7 at the 11:51 mark, then racing 88 yards to set up a 2-yard Kareem Hunt score with 1:44 to play before the half.

Swanson finished with 161 yards on 14 carries while Hunt added 85 yards on 16 carries in his return after missing two games with a hamstring injury.

"We didn't tackle very well, and any defense is going to get exposed when (that happens)," said Haynes.

Toledo outgained Kent State 518-to-257, including a 288-to-123 advantage in the running game. In the turning-point second quarter alone, the Rockets outgained the Flashes nearly two-to-1 (195-to-100).

George Bollas jumpstarted the Kent State offense a bit after entering the game in relief of Colin Reardon late in the first half. The redshirt freshman quarterback led the Flashes in rushing with 48 yards on six carries. After completing his first three passes, Bollas finished with 77 yards and one interception on 10-of-21 passing. Reardon was 4-of-11 for 57 yards in the first half.

"We needed a spark … and (Bollas) gave it to us," said Haynes. "We moved the ball pretty well and shot ourselves in the foot and couldn't get in the end zone."

Junior Nate Holley led both sides with 15 tackles. Holley has now made 12 or more tackles in three of his last four games.

"We had a lot of missed assignments," Holley said. "We left a lot of plays out there. That's something we've got to clean up and take care of if we want to be a great team and a great defense. I feel like we beat ourselves."

The Golden Flashes displayed pink logos on their helmets and pink socks for breast cancer awareness month.

Kent State goes back on the road next week with a 3:30 p.m. game at UMass on Oct. 17.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE