Kent State University
Akron
History On the Line Saturday in Wagon Wheel Rivalry
10/15/2018 10:06:00 AM | Football
Tickets Game Notes Live Stats ESPN+
The all-time Wagon Wheel series (tied 23-23-1) advantage hangs in the balance Saturday, when Kent State hosts its Senior Day against archrival Akron at Dix Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The Golden Flashes have played their best football at home, with the offense averaging 491.5 yards and 25.5 first downs per game. The defense is forcing 4.0 turnovers per game on its home turf.
Facts In A Flash
• The last two Wagon Wheel meetings in Kent have seen two lead changes in the final five minutes.
• Cornerback Keith Sherald Jr. posted a career best 14 tackles at Miami with 10 solo stops and a sack.
• The Flashes forced four turnovers in their last home game against Ohio, including three in the redzone. Kent State ranks 11th in the nation in turnovers gained.
• Freshman Isaiah McKoy had a career-high 118 receiving yards against Ohio on eight catches with a touchdown.
• Freshman Matthew Trickett was named MAC East Special Teams Player of the Week last week after going 4-for-4 on field goal attempts against Ohio, including a 49-yarder.
• Sophomore Woody Barrett ranks 19th in the nation in completions per game (22.4). Barrett completed 27-of-35 passes against Ohio, his highest completion rate (77%) of the season.
• Senior linebacker and Campbell Trophy semifinalist Matt Bahr ranks 36th in the nation in total tackles per game (9.3).
• In first halves, KSU's defense has allowed just three points at Illinois, seven at Ole Miss, seven against Ohio and kept Howard scoreless.
• Junior Justin Rankin ranks 44th in the nation in rushing yards (511) and 32nd in all-purpose yards per game (120.4).
• Junior safety Jamal Parker has six career interceptions including two this season.
• Kent State returned 11 players who have earned Academic All-MAC honors in their career and two MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes.
TV/Video/Radio
Saturday's game game can be seen on ESPN+ with Michael Reghi (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst). The game can be heard live on 640 AM WHLO and the free Golden Flashes Radio channel on iHeartRadio with a one-hour pregame show. Ty Linder handles the play-by-play duties and is joined by 10th-year color analyst Rob Polinsky. Jacob Pavilack will be on the sideline. By 2017, iHeartRadio reached over 100 million registered users.
The Wagon Wheel
Since 1946, the Wagon Wheel has been the prize to the winner, with the Golden Flashes and Zips tied 23-23-1. The wheel itself dates back to the middle of the 19th century.
• Legendary stories abound as to the roots of the Wagon Wheel...Perhaps the foremost is the one that includes John R. Buchtel, the founder of Buchtel Colege, which eventually became the University of Akron...It was said that Buchtel in the spring of 1870, began a horse wagon search for a site for a proposed college around Kent...Legend has it that Buchtel's wagon became stuck in a pool of mud somewhere on the present site of Kent State University...The wheel remained embedded in the ground and was just a piece of wood when it was found in 1902 during a pipeline dig.
The wheel was eventually in the possession of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who was the dean of men at Kent State in the 1940s...He suggested the wheel as a reward to the winner of the Kent State-Akron game in 1946. Manchester had the wheel painted in the school colors (of both schools) blue and gold.
• The two campuses are just 11.6 miles apart.
• Arguably, the most famous Kent State Wagon
Wheel victory came in 2003, when Josh Cribbs led a late comeback in a 41-38 win at the Rubber Bowl.
• In 11 of the last 13 meetings, the team that has
scored last, has won.
Hall of Fame
Prior to Saturday's game Kent State will hold its 40th annual Varsity "K" Hall of Fame inductions. The 2018 class includes former defensive back Usama Young, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Saints and was on the winning side of the Wagon Wheel in both 2006 and 2003. Young is the Saints' career leader in special teams tackles.
