In recent years, Kent State hasn’t been known for its strong football program. The Golden flashes haven’t had a winning season since 1987 and have only won three games in as manyseasons.
Previous records are no concern for Bowling Green’s Urban Meyer. The Falcon head coach is concerned about his team’s Homecoming match with the Golden Flashes Saturday.
“When I got here I heard Kent this … Kent that,” Meyer said. “I know wins and losses haven’t been good for them, but I know that program is headed in the right direction. Dean Pees is doing a great job because that is a good team that we’re getting ready to play this week.”
Kent State is 1-3 on the season, with its lone win coming in a 38-17 handling of Bucknell. It opened the season with a 51-0 smashing at the hands of Iowa, but played West Virginia in a hard–fought 34-14 defeat.
One of Meyer’s main concerns with Kent State comes in a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound package. Meyer said Joshua Cribbs, the Golden Flashes’ true freshman quarterback, is a player to watch out for.
“This kid is dynamic,” Meyer said. “He had 87 yards running against West Virginia. Nowadays athletic quarterbacks are the way to go. He scrambles. All of a sudden it’s third down and six … he goes back to pass, everybody’s covering, (then) it’s first down and 10 because he scrambled for a first down.”
BG is coming off its first loss of the season, a heart-breaker, 37-31 to Marshall. The main question concerning the Falcons is: Can they regroup?
“Marshall was one of those games that makes you physically sick you couldn’t win,” BG running back John Gibson said. “There was still shell-shock on Monday. We have to make sure that we stay focused. We need to play BG football.”
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots that came out of last Saturday’s game. Falcon receiver Robert Redd had a breakthrough game in which he cracked the Falcon receiving yards record, totaling nine receptions for 215 yards.
Redd said after the Marshall game that first and foremost he wanted to thank God for being back at BG and being able to have the opportunity to set the record. But Redd still had a long look on his face even after he got word that he set the record.
“It’s more bitter than sweet,” Redd said. “No individual performance can overrule a loss. We just have to come back hard against Kent.”
Notes: The Falcons are still nationally ranked in a number of categories. They are eighth overall in rush defense, giving up 60.5 homes per game. BG is also 12th in turnover margin (+1.5), 28th in scoring defense (18.25 ppg), 28th in total defense (304 yards) and 30th in scoring offense (32 ppg).
Individually Janssen Patton is sixth in the country in interceptions per game (.75) and running back Joe Alls is 19th country in kickoff returns averaging 28 yards per return.
Last Saturday, wide receiver Kurt Gerling extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 33.
