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I hate to bring up the topic of football, but does anybody know how spring ball is going?

It ended today, I believe. Pretty quiet.

Does anyone know when the schedule will be released officially from the school?

The new and notes section of the Record Courier KSU beat had Martin sounding upbeat, but what would you expect. He was excited about the running backs, Jarvis and the the transfer from MSU. He was also encouraged by the O line and the fact that they are all over 300lbs. It appears that KSU instituted a training table for football that is paying off. Anyone know when they stopped this? I always assumed that there was a training table for at least f-ball and b-ball?

Training table was a part of the program when I began in '99 but it was stopped by '00 or '01. From what I remember, new management was taking over the KSU foodservice and wanting to charge astronomical price per plate/player. I guess to Pees it wasn't worth it and thought that money was better spent elsewhere. Plus most of it was coming out of the players scholarship checks and food plans ... Pees trusted that the players would use the extra money/food plan points on food ... not always the case though. Hopefully they are getting their food from a different cafeteria or they now have a new chef ... (though the all you can eat sure was nice)

The spring awards have been posted. Two interesting notes: Larry Brown earned Most Improved defense. I always thought he could be a big body in the interior. He will now be a senior and hopefully can get into the rotation. Also along the defensive line, Daniel Muir was given an award. He must have gotten a fourth year back. He was a partial qualifier initially. No reason not to be optimistic in March.

there is only one thing i want to see next season from the football team. i want to see some younger backups get a chance to play in the games. when the team is down big and the coach wont take one on the chin and put in the younger players, you wonder how the team will ever get better. also give the kids a chance, what will it hurt. also i would like to see that when you are in fieldgoal range, take the field goal on 4th insted of going for it.

KSUDan Wrote:Does anyone know when the schedule will be released officially from the school?

I don't know when the University will release the official schedule but some of the Web sites have Kent playing Minnesota, Army, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech. I know the Vanderbilt game was scheduled years ago and it is certain. The only uncertainty about the Minnesota game is the location (Canton or Kent). I was hoping the Virginia Tech game was dropped for someone more beatable. After looking at the tentative schedule below, who feels confident that the Flashes will get a win after playing their first five games? Army on paper appears to be the most winnable of the first five games but remember the Cadets beat the Zips 20-0 last year. After looking at this schedule, does anyone feel more optimistic than I am?

Despite what appears to be a brutal schedule, I will continue to support the football program and hope that things will get better. It's just unfortunate that the players can vastly improve but the results may not be much better than last year when they play this kind of schedule.

http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/colle...tstate.htm

http://theacc.collegesports.com/sports/m...aj.html#vt

We'd like to drop VT, but they are not letting us out. We open with Minnesota on the Thursday before Labor Day.

We play Minnesota, VT, Vandy and Army as our OOC games. I don't see us winning any of them. To top it off, we drew NIU and Toledo as cross overs.

So, I'd prefer to just skip to next November's tip off and forget we have a football prgram, but that''s just me.

Thanks for the info guys. I had a link to that National champs site, but the one I saw hasn't been updated for a while, and just shows like 2 opponents over the next few years..

It is a tough schedule. I will remain optimistic for now. At least it can't get much worse than last season.. VT is tough no matter what, but I really don't like playing them the week after they have Miami.

I understand why Kent has the home game with Minnesota. Glen Mason thinks he is doing Kent a favor by coming to Kent (or Canton) to help raise the attendance figures. But since the Gophers are an upper echelon team in the Big Ten, I am afraid the Flashes don

I will take your word for it on Vanderbilt. You are much closer to the school. But if we are running from games like Army and Vandy as suicidal, everybody else is right, just fold now. Don't play the season.

Good point. Just who exactly would we replace Vandy and Army with to have a better shot at a D-1A win? Seriously, we're talking about Vanderbilt and Army. Sure, Minnesota and Va.Tech are going to kick our butts, but at least we have a shot at the other two if we have any shot at all of winning an OOC game. I just don't want to see 1AA teams on the schedule. It would be nice if we could trade out VT for Temple, though.

Minnesota is coming to Kent once in return for TWO trips to the Twin Cities.

I said that Virginia Tech is the only team on Kent

1. The conference schedule is not set, yet.
2. We are coming off a 1-10 season, and we are ranked 114 for a reason. Every team from the SEC will have bigger and stronger players. I rank Vandy similar to Rutgers when KSU played them two years ago. They are a low-level but improving major conference team. With KSU's team a few years back, I would be more hopeful. But this is better than playing about 65 other teams. That is the point. Army beat Akron. But overall, the Cadets have not been very good for several years. Navy has had their way with Army in recent years. KSU played with Navy last year in the last game before the bottom really fell out.
3. Would playing 3 I-AA teams be better? And those teams would have to be weak sisters like SEMO. Most of the Gateway would have beaten KSU last year.

I think KSU will be much improved, but then again, I am always hopeful. Parrish had a good year and certainly Sessler was great when healthy. But this team lost few real impact players. Machen had some rough spots, but he was productive at times without any running game. That has to better. Jarvis and Howard sound at least talented. Hopefully, the line can block.

I stated a few months back that this non-league schedule was the best KSU could have. Sure Minnesota and VT will whip them, but every school in KSU's situation has those. If KSU is significantly better, Vandy and Army are games they can compete and possibly win in the fourth quarter. The same goes for Buffalo and OU in conference. If KSU is not significantly better, then it does not matter because every I-A team would beat them.

At one of the basketball games, the football team was doing the 50/50 tickets, and I asked one of them if they were indeed playing Minnesota at home. He said they were, and that he really thought it would be in Kent. I still don't believe very much until it is released by KSU.

nashvillegoldenflash Wrote:As far as I-AA schools are concerned, Penn State is not ashamed to play Youngstown State. Furthermore, Auburn and Georgia don't have a problem playing Western Kentucky. The point I am making here is a win against a I-AA team is better than a loss against a I-A team particularly when wins are very hard to come by.

There is no risk that Penn State will lose to YSU. KSU shouldn't play them. It kills recruting every time they play them and either lose and/or they even keep it close. It is a lose/lose for Kent. The only positive is an attendance bump and the risk is too great. They should NEVER play YSU. KSU cannot play top level D-1AA teams. Too much risk and very little reward. Better to play low end Big East, CUSA or WAC teams. Better challenge, no risk. No more 1-AA teams. If we want to play 1-AA, then let's fund only 65 scholies and move to the Gateway. Otherwise, schedule D-1A teams.

The Flash Wrote:Better to play low end Big East, CUSA or WAC teams. Better challenge, no risk.

I totally agree. But the point that I am trying to make is Kent is playing a top Big Ten team, a top ACC team, and a SEC team all in the same year. Again, I don't have a problem with Kent playing Army. After all the Cadets did lose to Central Michigan last year before they beat Akron in the Rubber Bowl.

In 2007, Kent plays at Illinois and that could be a winnable game. But for the most part even the worst programs in the Big Ten are too strong for Kent.

Along with low end Big East, CUSA, and WAC teams, Kent could also play teams from the Sun Belt.

Since no one else has shown concern about our schedule, does that indicate that everyone is confident with the Flashes this year? If so, how many games do you think they will win?

I am still concerned that the lack of depth will be a problem by the time the Flashes get to conference play. If a large number of injuries occur, I am afraid the results could be similar to last year. Another embarrassing season will only put the program further behind. Apathy will increase and some of the program's better supporters will start to lose interest.

Perhaps some people want to see the football program fail in hope that the University drops it altogether. No one can convince me that dropping football is in the best interest of Kent State.

Maybe I am being overly concerned and too sensitive about the football program. I just don't want to see another season like last year.

Hosting Minnesota is what every MAC team is trying to do. You can't get OSU or Michigan on your field, so get the next level. They have played a Big 10 team every year since the beginning of the decade if I am not mistaken. This is the least daunting. Unfortunately, KSU is coming off a 1-10 season. Last year, WMU turned their fortunes around quickly. They played Temple and beat them. I put Army and Vandy in that category. I know you love Vandy as much as KSU, but they had the best player they are going to have in a long while and went 5-6. Similar situation to KSU and Cribbs. KSU steadily gained ground on much of the MAC for the beginning of this decade. They lost a lot in a hurry. They are anybody and everybody's cupcake going into this season.

After last year, I think three or four wins would be successful. I figure Army, Vandy, EMU, OU and Buffalo are all games KSU can easily compete in if they are even a little better. Win three or four of those and we have progress again.

I guess this is a topic where we will probably not agree all the way up to Sept. I do not see why this schedule is so treacherous. As for the VT game, look at the rest of the MAC. Ball State plays Michigan in Nov. WMU goes to Florida State. This is what the 12-game schedule created.