Golden Flashes Fall to Gamecocks, Look Forward to Home Opener Versus Wofford

Saturday, September 5

Columbia, SC

12:45 PM ET

Kent State University

0-1 , 0-0

University of South Carolina

1-0 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Kent St.	0	0	0	0	0
South Carolina	7	22	14	14	57

Golden Flashes Fall to Gamecocks, Look Forward to Home Opener Versus Wofford

9/5/2026 5:10:00 PM | Football

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Kent State Golden Flashes opened the 2026 season on the road Saturday, falling to South Carolina 57-0 in front of 77,559 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium, which was the hottest recorded game in Williams-Brice Stadium history.

The Gamecocks (1-0) set the tone early, closing out the first quarter with a seven-play, 87-yard scoring march capped by Matt Fuller's 7-yard touchdown run. South Carolina never let up from there, outgaining Kent State 645 to 179 in total yards and converting 7-of-8 third-down opportunities on the day.

Three more Gamecock scores came in the second quarter. LaNorris Sellers connected with Mazeo Bennett Jr. for an 18-yard touchdown, a score that came with a successful two-point conversion, before Jabree Coleman broke free for a 60-yard burst and Sellers found Donovan Murph on a 29-yard strike to push the margin to 29-0 at halftime. South Carolina converted a perfect 3-of-3 on third downs in the period.

Kent State's most productive stretch of the afternoon came on a second-quarter possession that saw quarterback Dru DeShields break free for a 26-yard scramble and the Flashes string together seven plays and 31 yards. A penalty and a sack ultimately stalled the drive, and Jake Stoeckel was called on to punt.

The second half offered no reprieve. Sellers hit Murph again for a 37-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter, and backup quarterback Cutter Woods added a 7-yard scoring strike to Mike Tyler later in the period to push the lead to 43-0. Isaiah Augustave and Coleman added fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns to close out the scoring.

DeShields completed 12-of-20 passes for 63 yards and chipped in 27 yards on the ground to lead the Kent State offense. Mason King was the Flashes' most versatile playmaker, rushing eight times for 26 yards and hauling in two receptions for 21 yards to total 47 all-purpose yards.

Stoeckel was a consistent bright spot in the punting game, averaging 46.2 yards on eight punts with five downed inside the 20.

On defense, linebacker Rocco Nicholl led Kent State with seven tackles and the team's lone sack, a 4-yard loss, while A'tiq Muhammad also finished with seven stops. Sayed Abuhamdeh recorded six tackles, and both Hayden Dawahare and Trey Rubinstein contributed tackles for loss.

Kent State returns home to Dix Stadium to host Wofford on Saturday, September 12. Kickoff is set for noon. Purchase your tickets for the home opener today by visiting KSUtix.com.

Coach Carney Post Game Press Conference

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