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Published Aug 27, 2019
Kent State at ASU Preview
Joe Healey
Staff Writer

What can we expect from Arizona State’s season-opening opponent? Let’s take a deep dive into familiarizing ourselves with Kent State Golden Flashes.

Kent State Offense

Rated the No. 18 dual-threat quarterback prospect in the 2016 class with scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and many others, Woody Barrett chose Auburn as his college destination out of Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange High School. The No. 17 dual-threat quarterback prospect that year? Dillon Sterling-Cole.

Barrett’s stay with the Tigers was short-lived, as after redshirting in 2016 he transferred to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss. After spending one season at the JUCO level, he resumed his FBS career, choosing Kent State over Virginia prior to the 2018 season.

Last season, Barrett started all 12 games for the Golden Flashes and completed 229-of-390 passes (58.7%) for 2,339 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The beefy Barrett (6-2, 236) was also quite a force on the ground, with a team-high 163 carries and tied for the team lead with seven rushing touchdowns. His 782 gross rushing yards were the most on the roster, but after sacks and other losses, he finished with 503 net rush yards to rank third on the team.

Overall, Barrett ranked fifth in the MAC in total offense (236.8 yards per game) and had five games with at least 200 passing yards and six games with at least 50 net rushing yards. Some of his best efforts as a junior included a 270-passing yard, 117-rushing yard, three-total touchdown outing against Illinois and a season-high 314 passing yards against Ball State. He did, however, throw at least one interception in seven games and had two multi-interception games.

Barrett is joined in the backfield by fellow big-bodied back Jo-El Shaw (6-1, 230), who was the team leader with 657 net rush yards on 138 carries with seven touchdowns in 10 games.

Shaw posted four 100-yard games among his 10 appearances in 2019 after transferring in from the junior college level, including a 105-yard, three-touchdown effort against Howard, a 128-yard, three total touchdowns outing against Bowling Green and a 159-yard rushing performance against Eastern Michigan. Shaw also caught nine passes for 84 yards including two touchdowns.

Reserve running back Justin Rankin graduated after essentially being the third piece in a three-pronged rushing attack along with Barrett and Shaw. Last year, Rankin rushed 117 times for 574 yards with four touchdowns, caught 14 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown and was one of the team’s primary kickoff returners. He ranked seventh in the MAC in all-purpose yardage, averaging 85.6 yards per game.

Will Matthews is listed as the backup running back. He rushed 29 times for 115 yards with one touchdown last year and caught five passes for 47 yards.

The Golden Flashes had three players with at least 40 receptions last year and all three returned, headlined by Mike Carrigan, who caught 45 passes for team-highs of 597 yards and five touchdowns. Antwan Dixon posted a team-best 52 receptions and had 532 yards and two touchdowns. Isaiah McKoy had 42 catches for 423 yards with three touchdowns.

Kent State loses depth among its receiving unit, as Trey Harrell (23-217-0), Johnny Woods (7-104-0) and Raekwon James (10-94-0) – all among the team’s top-eight receivers last year – are gone from the 2019 roster.

In all, however, Kent State’s receivers showed little as downfield threats as of the seven players with at least 10 receptions last year, six averaged 10 or fewer yards per reception.

Redshirt freshman tight end Mark Williams appears to be prepped to make his first career collegiate start against the Sun Devils.

Kent State’s offensive line is slated to start senior Bryce Gibbs at left tackle, sophomore Julian Sams at left guard, senior Nate Warnock at center, junior Nathan Monnin at right guard and junior Adam Gregoire at right tackle.

Warnock has started all 24 games of the 2017-18 seasons, while Gibbs has started 14 over the past two seasons including six last year and Sams started all 12 games as a true freshman in 2018. Monnin made nine starts a year ago, while Gregoire made six starts in 2017 but missed the entirety of last year due to injury.

Though there is starting experience across the entire line, there is a very clear need for improvement as only one team in the country allowed more than the 3.58 sacks per game permitted by Kent State last season. The offensive line also contributed to Kent State’s standing as the second-most penalized team in the FBS last year (8.92 penalties per game).

However, in the ground game, the blocking was fair as Kent State ranked 61st nationally and fifth in the MAC in rush offense (171.7 yards per game).

Kent State Offense Summary

Kent State was a slightly above average rushing team last year and figures to be the same – if not better – in 2019 with its one-two backfield punch of Barrett and Shaw.

The Golden Flashes ranked around the bottom third of the FBS last year in total offense (82nd nationally, 383.6 yards per game) and pass offense (84th nationally, 211.9 yards per game), while struggling on the scoreboards to the tune of 23.9 points per game, tied for 103rd nationally.

Oddly – and this point will surface on defense as well – Kent State was excellent in the red zone on offense, as the Golden Flashes ranked 12th in the FBS by scoring on 90% of their red zone appearances.

When on offense Thursday, Kent State will hope to have improved protection from its offensive line to buy time for Barrett to operate in the pocket. However, even if things break down, ASU cannot sacrifice discipline for a haymaker on the quarterback as Barrett is entirely capable of breaking through for chunks of yardage on the ground even in the face of pressure.

Kent State Defense

Kent State operates out of a 3-4 base defense, with ends Alex Hoag and Zayin West around Nose Tackle Dominic Hill.

The entire defensive line depth for the Golden Flashes shows a distinct lack of size with Hoag (250 pounds), Hill (277) and West (246) all weighing under 280 pounds. Also, the heaviest reserve at any of the three line positions listed on the depth chart maxes out at 241 pounds.

Hill collected 15 tackles including one sack last year, while West had six total tackles. Hoag posted one tackle in three games played.

Theo Majette, listed as a reserve defensive end behind West, returns after leading Kent State with 4.5 sacks in 2018.

Nick Faulkner and Kesean Gamble are listed as starters at outside linebacker with Cepeda Phillips and Matt Bahr shown as the starting inside linebackers.

Last season, Bahr tied for the team lead in total tackles (91), as the team leader with 7.5 tackles-for-loss and ranked second on the team with 3.0 sacks.

Phillips totaled 50 tackles including 3.0 for loss with two fumble recoveries last year, while Gamble added 39 tackles including 2.0 for loss and Faulkner had 36 tackles including 5.0 for loss.

In the secondary, Keith Sherald, Jr. and Jeremiah Salaam are noted as the starting safeties with Jamal Parker and Elvis Hines as the first-string cornerbacks.

Last year, Sherald tied with Bahr for 11th in the MAC in tackles-per-game (7.6) while also matching Bahr’s team-high 91 total tackles. Sherald also added 5.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks, six pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Salaam had seven tackles in seven games last year.

Parker ranked third on the team with 83 tackles, adding team highs of seven pass breakups and two interceptions. Hines notched 41 tackles including 2.0 for loss with seven pass breakups and one interception.

Kent State Defense Summary

Last season, Kent State had multiple defensive deficiencies as the Golden Flashes ranked 117th nationally in total defense (467.3 yards allowed per game), 116th in scoring defense (36.7 points allowed per game) and 114th in rush defense (220.3 yards allowed per game).

Kent State ranked better but still not great in areas such as team sacks (tied for 73rd nationally), turnover margin (77th), third down defense (83rd) and pass defense (93rd).

One outlier existed in Kent State ranking seventh nationally in red zone defense (73.3%), though no team in the nation’s top-40 in red zone defense allowed more touchdowns in the red zone than the 44 given up by the Golden Flashes.

In terms of defensive personnel, Kent State returns its top three tacklers from 2018 but has lost four of its top eight from a year ago, so a handful of defenders will be called into increased roles starting Thursday.

In all, Kent State loses 47% of its defensive starts from 2018 (62 of 132), with four players to have started all 12 games departing from last season’s roster as well as another three that combined for 14 starts. The Golden Flashes return two players that started all 12 games last year, another two that started 11 games and one that started nine.

On the surface, the main area ASU could exploit Thursday is Kent State’s three-man defensive line, a group that collectively lacks size and game day productivity at the college level.

Kent State Special Teams

Kent State’s only First-Team All-MAC honoree in 2018, placekicker Matt Trickett connected on 14-of-17 field goals including 13-of-14 inside 40 yards.

Punter Derek Adams returns after being one of three players on the roster with at least 10 punts in 2018 – one of which was Trickett – as Adams punted 31 times for a team-best average of 40.2 yards with a long of 77.

Jo-El Shaw and Jamal Parker are listed as the top kickoff returners with Kavious Price at punt returner. Parker averaged an impressive 30.1 yards on 10 kickoff returns last year, while Shaw averaged 19.8 yards on five returns. Price did not return punts last year but did so earlier in his college career.

Overall Summary

Thursday’s kickoff game marks dives both teams into unknown waters as never before on the football field have Arizona State and Kent State faced one another.

On top of that, ASU playing any team from the MAC is extremely rare as the only two other such matchups the Sun Devils have ever had came in the form of a 1951 Salad Bowl loss to Miami (Ohio) and a win over Toledo in 1979 that later was forfeited due to player eligibility issues for ASU. Likewise, Kent State has never played a team during active membership in the Pac-10 or Pac-12 Conference.

Aside from a borderline miraculous 2012 season in which Kent State finished 11-3 and appeared in the MAC Championship Game, the program as a whole has struggled tremendously for virtually its entire existence. Kent State has only made three bowl appearances since its football program began in 1920 – the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl, the 1972 Tangerine Bowl, and the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.

Since 1988, Kent State has won more than six games just twice and its 1972 team – coached by Don James, who later would lead the University of Washington to prominence and featuring players such as Nick Saban, Jack Lambert, and Gary Pinkel – remains the only conference champion squad in program history.

More recently, Kent State has a combined record of 16-55 in the past six seasons since its 2012 bowl appearance and enters the 2019 season on the heels of consecutive two-win outings in 2017-18.

As is to be expected from a team with back-to-back two-win seasons, there is an overall absence of top-level talent, as Kent State does not have a returning player on offense or defense who was named first-team, second-team or third-team all-conference in 2018.

Head coach Sean Lewis enters his second season in charge of the Kent State program and came to the Golden Flashes after serving as the co-offensive coordinator at Syracuse.

The Golden Flashes were picked in the preseason to finish fourth in the MAC East division – a finish, if true, would be the program’s best since 2012.

Keys to a Sun Devil Victory

Welcome, Freshmen: As we all know by now, Thursday will mark a historic day in Sun Devil lore as Jayden Daniels will become the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener in Arizona State football history. Though he’s the most notable newcomer figured to play a key role this week, he certainly isn’t the only. Kent State should serve as a great opportunity for the newcomers – true and redshirt freshmen and transfers – to acclimate to this level of play. However, that acclimation period is something that cannot create too much collateral damage, as even though Arizona State is more than a three-touchdown favorite in this game it still must execute with efficiency.

No Overlooking: A common concern in an opening game against an FCS team or a typically subpar Group of Five team is that ASU will overlook its inferior opponent to what presumes to be a steeper challenge the next week. In an oddly helpful way, that component should not be a concern this week – though it very well could be next week – as ASU faces FCS level Sacramento State next Friday following this week’s opener against Kent State. That said, no FBS team should be approached as a surefire victory and ASU should prepare for this as they would any Pac-12 Conference game.

Attack: A basic concept, but still a valid one for ASU to employ in all facets of the game. On offense, the Sun Devils have a senior-heavy offensive line with a tremendous size advantage over the defensive front of its opposition and, by the way, returns an All-American running back in Eno Benjamin. Attack. The Sun Devil defense is expected to make leaps this year and Kent State’s offensive line was one of the most porous in the nation last season. Attack!

Did You Know: Kent State

· Cornerback Capone Blue (Murrieta, Calif.), nose tackle Dominic Hill (Fort Worth, Texas) offensive lineman Adam Tourville (La Habra, Calif.), wide receiver Isaac Vance (Las Cruces, New Mexico) and wide receiver Isaiah Wooden (San Diego, Calif.) are the only players on the Kent State roster from a state west of Louisiana.


· Thursday will mark the first time Kent State will have played an active member of the Pac-10 or Pac-12 Conference. The Golden Flashes did, however, play Colorado in Boulder in 1977.


· Thursday’s game against Arizona State marks the most distant road trip west for the Golden Flashes since Kent State played at Nevada in 1996. Since World War II, the only other trips to the “west” taken by the Kent State program were at Hawaii in 1993, Air Force in 1978 and San Diego State in 1973. The last time Kent State played a team from the “west coast” in any game was its 2002 home meeting with Cal Poly.


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