FLASHback Week 8: Flashes Sack Bobcats
10/24/2020 10:00:00 AM | Football
KENT, OHIO- It is week eight of our Kent State Football FLASHback series powered by Ganley Chevrolet. This week we take our shortest trip of the season, back to 2009 and a road contest against the Ohio Bobcats.
Kent State was coming off a resound 28-6 win at Eastern Michigan to improve to 3-4 overall on the season and 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The game at Athens loomed large, Ohio sat at 5-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 heading into the matchup. The Flashes would have been 3-0 in the MAC also if not for a 19-point BG comeback two weeks prior.
The Golden Flashes' defense kept their momentum going from a strong performance against the Eagles. Kent State held the Bobcats to minus-9 yards rushing on the day. The Bobcats defense was up to the challenge early and both teams kicked a red-zone field goal and went to the half tied at three.
After exchanging interceptions to start the third quarter, the Flashes took control of the game. Freddy Cortez kicked a field goal midway through the quarter and Kent State never looked back. The Golden Flashes forced turnovers on three of the next four possessions and turned them into two touchdown passes from Spencer Keith to Tyshon Goode, opening a 20-3 lead.
The Ohio Bobcats got a late punt return for a score but were bottled up by the Golden Flashes all game. The Flashes recorded seven sacks in the victory, the most since 1994 and held the Bobcats to just 164 yards of total offense. Kevin Hogan led the pass rush with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.
The 20-11 Kent State victory moved both teams to 3-1 in the MAC. It would be the lone regular-season conference loss for the Bobcats, who won the east division but lost the MAC title game to Central Michigan. The Flashes would defeat Western Michigan the following week but would drop the final three games of the season, two by one score. Kent State would go 5-7, 4-4 in both 2009 and 2010 under Doug Martin, who'd resign after the 2010 season to take a job at New Mexico State.
Week nine of our FLASHBack series will be our longest trip back in time as we take a look at a 1933 contest against Marietta.
