Carney: Kent State Has Work to Do, But Two Weeks to Get It Right, as Fall Camp Closes
8/23/2026 6:27:00 PM | Football
KENT, Ohio — Kent State football closed out fall camp with its second and final scrimmage, and head coach Mark Carney was direct in his assessment: the Golden Flashes have real work ahead before their season opener against South Carolina.
"A lot, a lot still to work on. Thank goodness we still have two weeks to get stuff ready," Carney said. "The Gamecocks, SEC opponent, they're going to be ready for us. We got a lot of execution, energy, enthusiasm, things we need to work on before kickoff number one."
Asked to reflect on camp as a whole, Carney pointed to a familiar group of veterans who have continued to grow into their roles for another year in the program.
"It's the same guys, right? We continue to talk about them: Dru DeShields, Thomas Aden, Hunter Hopperton, Rocco Nicholl, and Trey Rubinstein," Carney said. "Those guys, in year two in this culture and in this program, have taken the next step, and that's extremely encouraging. What we have to do is get the middle part of our roster and the bottom third of our roster to raise their level of play. I think our ceiling's at a really high place, a really good place, we got to bring the floor up."
With two weeks remaining before kickoff, Carney said consistency across every phase of the game is the top priority.
"Energy and execution, we've got to be consistent with our operation in all phases of the game, offense, defense, and special teams," Carney said. "We're not ready to play just yet, but thank goodness we got two more weeks to get it right."
Carney also took a moment to reflect on a former Golden Flash making noise beyond Kent State after learning that receiver Luke Floriea had scored a touchdown earlier in the day.
"Yeah, that's our guy, Dollar Bills," Carney said. "Playmakers make plays, baby."
Asked which current players remind him of that kind of playmaking ability, Carney pointed to freshman receiver Brendyn Smith as a player who has consistently stood out on tape throughout camp.
"It's really been a ton of fun to watch Luke and hear Coach Monken talk about Luke, and the way he attacks every day and his enthusiasm for practice and work, that's a separator," Carney said. "He's a guy who constantly gets mentioned for winning one-on-ones. At the end of the day, this is an 11-man game, but it's all one-on-one matchups. Another guy that reminds me of him is this young guy, Brendyn Smith. He consistently shows up on tape in a lot of good, positive ways right now, so he's extremely encouraging."
The Golden Flashes open the 2026 season on the road at South Carolina, on September 5, at 12:45 p.m. Eastern. Season tickets for the 2026 season are available now at KSUtix.com.
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