25 Flashing Questions

What is their body of work?

They can't be happy to date. Their wins are over an FCS team and Akron. Their conference losses are to @Miami and @Toledo, both among the tougher teams in the MAC so far, and out of conference they lost understandably to BC and Penn State. Kent was expected to compete for the East title, and it sounds like things are a little rough over there.

What is their best recent result?

N/A.

What is their worst recent result?

I'm sure they feel really bad about the ying-yang performance at Toledo when they looked like the team of their dreams in the first half and then had a nightmare performance in the second half.

What is their turnover ratio?

They are -2 for the year, which is in the middle of the MAC pack.

Offense:

How is their QB Play?

Their QB play has not been as good as expected. Spencer Keith looked good last year as a freshmen, but he is 10th in the MAC in passing efficiency. There have been rumblings of a QB controversy, but the Coach said this week he is sticking with Keith. Keith will be facing a pretty thin and young BG secondary (with Lorenzi and Truss out), so it will be interesting to see if he gets well. He does not appear to be much of a running threat.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are simply struggling. They are 10th in the conference in scoring and 12th in yards per play.

Can they run the ball?

This was supposed to be their calling card. Eugene Jarvis was back and looking to have a big season, but he has only 11 attempts, and his replacements have been pretty average. They are 11th in rushing offense and 10th in yards per attempt.

Do they pass the ball?

While they are 6th in yards passing per game, they are 11th in pass efficiency. They complete only 56% of their passes and have 5 TDs and 9 INTs.

How is their run/pass balance?

Due to their run struggles, they are actually passing the ball on 52% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

Not surprisingly, they are 11th in this too.

Do they score in the red zone?

Their red zone is pretty average at 4.4 yards per visit. They have 3 stops and none of them are on missed FGs.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They have allowed 11 sacks, which is pretty good, 6th in the MAC.

This is a switch for us. We have played some good offenses the last two weeks, and now we are playing one that is struggling. We really need to bring the defensive effort we brought at Temple to this game. If we do, I think we can compete. We will need to hold them off the scoreboard, because they play good D. Read on, McDuff.

Defense:

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They are really good. They are 4th in the MAC in scoring defense, but first in yards per play allowed with 4.2, which is .6 yards per play below the next highest team, and 8th in FBS.

Do they defend the run effectively?

These guys are next to impossible to run on. They allow 2.3 yards per rushing attempt, which is first in the MAC and 3rd in FBS.

Could they be passed on?

No, they're pretty good. They are 3rd in pass defense efficiency. Their total defense doesn't look so good, but they are allowing far and away the most passing attempts per game, due to the run defense.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?

They are in the middle of the pack, here, with 40% conversion allowed.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They're really good. Their overall percentage is just under 80, which is nothing special, but that includes a ton of FGs. They have allowed only 9 TDs in 24 trips, and they average allowing 3.5 points per trip.

Do they pressure the QB?

They lead the MAC with 18 sacks, and have played only 6 games. Now, they have seen a lot of attempts, so that does have influence, but in general, they do get pressure.

Kent is clearly a very talented defensive team, which is what we expected at the start of the year. The BG team they will face has had struggles on the line and is not healthy, so this shapes up to be a pretty big challenge. BG will need to execute offensively if they have any hope of competing in this game.

Special Teams:

Punting?

They are 3rd in the MAC in net punting, very solid. They have been blocked once, and have put an amazing 16 out of 38 punts inside the 20.

Punt Return?

They are 11th in the MAC in punt returns, with a severe hit occurring when Jarvis is out.

Placekicking?

Not bad. He is 4-6 with a long of 45, and no misses inside 40.

Kickoff?

They are 8th in the MAC with opponents starting on their own 27.

Kickoff Return?

They usually start on the 27 off a kickoff. They lead kickoff returner is out, so that could impact their productivity.

Summary: Kent plays solid special teams.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Both teams are coming in looking for a win.

Kent cannot lose again, really, to have any chance at anything. A loss to us and it turns into a pretty ugly season, and their coach is probably already on the hot seat. They don't have a great winning culture there, and they had a tough loss last week. Some teams respond well to conditions like this, some don't.

BG needs a win for a completely different reason. We have been close but unable to get it done, and, facing facts, we don't have a ton of ripe victory opportunities coming home. If we lose this one, 1-11 is not out of the realm of possibility. So, you'd like to get this one, at home, and put yourself over the top.

Not all teams respond well to that, either.