Kent State Suffers Third Straight Blowout Loss, Falls to Western Michigan 48-20

By: Dan Lukas

For now the third time in a row, Kent State has been blown out in conference play. This time, the Golden Flashes fell to Western Michigan 48-20. Once again the offense struggled mightily and turnovers led to 21 points for the Broncos. The problems on offense remain obvious as Kent State once again used two quarterbacks, but to no prevail.

Kent State fell behind 14-0 very quickly after the Broncos scored on their opening drive and then intercepted George Bollas for a touchdown on the Golden Flashes’ first drive. Kent State responded strongly, scoring on their next two drives thanks to two rushing scores by Justin Rankin. Unfortunately, the game wouldn’t remain tied much longer as the Broncos then rattled off 34 straight points.

It began with a Jarvion Franklin 7-yard touchdown rush to give the Broncos the lead back 21-14. Then turnovers hurt the Golden Flashes, as the Broncos intercepted Bollas a second time again for a touchdown. The Broncos went into halftime up 31-14 and the game was all but over.

Dustin Crumm took over in the second half for the Golden Flashes offense but was unable to get much of anything going. The Broncos defense silenced the Kent State offense throughout the third quarter and continued to blow this game wide open as another turnover killed the Golden Flashes, this time a scoop-and-score fumble for the Broncos to expand the score to 41-14.

Crumm was able to lead the Golden Flashes offense to a garbage time score late in the fourth quarter after ripping off a 58-yard rushing score to finish off the scoring at 48-20. The offense continued to be a big problem for Kent State, as they are still struggling scoring points and maintaining possession which is making things very hard for their defense.

After this loss, Kent State now falls to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play. They are currently in a tie for 6th place in the MAC East.

Kent State will return home next Tuesday to face off against the Central Michigan Chippewas for the final game at Dix Stadium this season.