The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(09-02-2014 02:34 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  

(09-02-2014 07:31 AM)DavidCarducci Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 10:52 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  Was out of town on a football trip this weekend in Syracuse (Carrier Dome and upstate New York are INCREDIBLE) i missed the game and just now had a chance to read this thread. Looks like our worst fear coming into the season came true... No running game :(

I was semi-optimistic after reading Carducci's blog on the youngsters we had at RB a couple weeks ago, but it obviously seems like summer camp didn't carry over into week one... If that's all the production we get outta the backfield it's gonna be another long year. My question is if it's even worth using Durham 3 weeks from now if he's still not 100%?

Sure him going 75% in conference is better than what we got Saturday, but the thought of him red shirting (Goode Style) and being 100% next year along with another year of experience for Reardon seems better than anything we're gonna get this year after what looks like a possible 0-4 start at least... Am I just being dramatic here after one tough game against a pretty solid OU defense??... Your thoughts?????

Hi Shakermaker, I still think the young freshmen running backs are going to be very good. Only one of them played on Saturday. On his first carry he was hit four or five yards behind the line as soon as he was handed the ball, and he fought through two or three tackles just to get back to the line of scrimmage. We won't know how good those backs truly are until they find a little bit of room to run. It may take a little while as they reshuffled the line last week and have some players playing at different positions and new faces in the mix who played their first games on Saturday.

Thanks for all the responses gentlemen they all offer good perspective on the issue at hand. Dave- thanks for pointing that out about the youngsters I didn't realize only one of them played on Sat. I also had no intention on knocking your blog in any way so I hope you didn't take my reference as criticism. I really enjoy reading all the blogs you've done so keep up the good work

Looks like Coach Haynes has some shuffling around to do this week especially on the O-line. I'll be in attendance on Sat so here's hoping for some signs of improvement

Hi Shakermaker, there was absolutely no offense taken!!!

And I'm glad you are enjoying the blog.

Even after some 20 years as a reporter, I know sometimes I may not be completely clear. That can even be more the case with the blog when the writing can be a bit more informal.

Also, please feel free to ask questions or make comments on the blog, too, where I'll see them more often. Working for Kent State now rather than covering Kent State for a newspaper, there will be times I won't be able to answer everything, but if I can I will always try.

And I agree with OLNWFLSH that sometimes I do get overly optimistic. I try to temper the excitement when I see something encouraging, but I can be wrong quite often. There have been lots of times when I think someone will be better than the end up being. I can think of a few cases where I have seen guys who could have been very good MAC players and was impressed with them early on in practice, but maybe they didn't have the practice habits or the willingness to be coached to make the most out of those skills. We've had some players who were "busts" here who had a ton of talent, and a few who have gotten their acts together and found success elsewhere, too.

(09-03-2014 12:24 PM)DavidCarducci Wrote:  

(09-02-2014 02:34 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  

(09-02-2014 07:31 AM)DavidCarducci Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 10:52 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  Was out of town on a football trip this weekend in Syracuse (Carrier Dome and upstate New York are INCREDIBLE) i missed the game and just now had a chance to read this thread. Looks like our worst fear coming into the season came true... No running game :(

I was semi-optimistic after reading Carducci's blog on the youngsters we had at RB a couple weeks ago, but it obviously seems like summer camp didn't carry over into week one... If that's all the production we get outta the backfield it's gonna be another long year. My question is if it's even worth using Durham 3 weeks from now if he's still not 100%?

Sure him going 75% in conference is better than what we got Saturday, but the thought of him red shirting (Goode Style) and being 100% next year along with another year of experience for Reardon seems better than anything we're gonna get this year after what looks like a possible 0-4 start at least... Am I just being dramatic here after one tough game against a pretty solid OU defense??... Your thoughts?????

Hi Shakermaker, I still think the young freshmen running backs are going to be very good. Only one of them played on Saturday. On his first carry he was hit four or five yards behind the line as soon as he was handed the ball, and he fought through two or three tackles just to get back to the line of scrimmage. We won't know how good those backs truly are until they find a little bit of room to run. It may take a little while as they reshuffled the line last week and have some players playing at different positions and new faces in the mix who played their first games on Saturday.

Thanks for all the responses gentlemen they all offer good perspective on the issue at hand. Dave- thanks for pointing that out about the youngsters I didn't realize only one of them played on Sat. I also had no intention on knocking your blog in any way so I hope you didn't take my reference as criticism. I really enjoy reading all the blogs you've done so keep up the good work

Looks like Coach Haynes has some shuffling around to do this week especially on the O-line. I'll be in attendance on Sat so here's hoping for some signs of improvement

Hi Shakermaker, there was absolutely no offense taken!!!

And I'm glad you are enjoying the blog.

Even after some 20 years as a reporter, I know sometimes I may not be completely clear. That can even be more the case with the blog when the writing can be a bit more informal.

Also, please feel free to ask questions or make comments on the blog, too, where I'll see them more often. Working for Kent State now rather than covering Kent State for a newspaper, there will be times I won't be able to answer everything, but if I can I will always try.

And I agree with OLNWFLSH that sometimes I do get overly optimistic. I try to temper the excitement when I see something encouraging, but I can be wrong quite often. There have been lots of times when I think someone will be better than the end up being. I can think of a few cases where I have seen guys who could have been very good MAC players and was impressed with them early on in practice, but maybe they didn't have the practice habits or the willingness to be coached to make the most out of those skills. We've had some players who were "busts" here who had a ton of talent, and a few who have gotten their acts together and found success elsewhere, too.

Dave - I really do appreciate your reporting and insights - I am sure its not easy covering college sports - so thanks for all your hard work and commitment to Kent State. I wish we had a greater fan base but I appreciate MAC sports as they don't seem quite as tarnished by all the hoopla and money. I think the kids are making a sacrifice for the love of the game. Spent time at VaTech and the alumni there can be really obnoxious!!

Did Darren Goodson make it through camp and in uniform last Saturday? Any chance he'll see the field this year? I haven't heard anything about him so I guess the expectations are very low.

Thanks OLNWFLASH!
PH, I asked coach Haynes about Darren during our radio show yesterday. He said Darren is learning and he is a great teammate. While he is an asset in practice and on the sideline now, they are continuing to prepare him and hope that he can be an asset on the field as well. We talked about his possible use in the red zone down the road. It's not an easy transition considering he has really only had a month of on-field work. He was at practice but not in pads during the spring.

(09-05-2014 07:14 AM)DavidCarducci Wrote:  Thanks OLNWFLASH!
PH, I asked coach Haynes about Darren during our radio show yesterday. He said Darren is learning and he is a great teammate. While he is an asset in practice and on the sideline now, they are continuing to prepare him and hope that he can be an asset on the field as well. We talked about his possible use in the red zone down the road. It's not an easy transition considering he has really only had a month of on-field work. He was at practice but not in pads during the spring.

DavidCarducci (Dave),

Are Chris Fairchild, Da'Vante Strickland, & Anthony Pruitt injured, suspended, or just got beat out by younger players @ their positions, because I haven't seen them on the depth chart for the Ohio U & South Alabama games?

All,

I didn't get a chance to watch the Ohio U & South Alabama games live, as CenturyLink is my DSL provider here in Colorado and they block ESPN3 (awesome :(), so I have a few questions for those that went to the game or watched it on TV or online.

*On the 3 short FG misses (1 vs Ohio U & 2 vs South Alabama that all decided the outcome), did Melchiori just flat out miss them? Bad snap or snaps? Bad hold? Seems ridiculous to miss from that short as a junior with plenty of leg and experience.

*In the South Alabama game, with the very low completion %, was it more Reardon being inaccurate or the WRs dropping the passes?

*Is Anthony Meray injured or are Holley/Hibbler just outplaying him? Meray only had 2 carries in the South Alabama game, with Holley & Hibbler getting more carries in that game.

*Through 2 games, no interceptions thus far. Any good chances that were just dropped by KSU LBs or DBs?

*Nate Terhune, Nate Vance, & Richard Gray all have zero tackles for loss and zero sacks. If that trend continues, KSU will not win a lot of games, as those are 3 veteran guys who have produced TFLs & sacks in the past and you have to have your leaders/playmakers make plays to win.

Some interesting post game comments from a few KSU players/Coach Haynes:

Nick Holley: "Guys were fighting hard I just think we need to study more and work harder on off days and practice. Guys need to get in the film room more and study and need to take it seriously, we all need to fight our butts off every play and that's what it takes to win
With football momentum switches every other play. Once we start to pick up momentum, that's the thing about our team they wait till something good happens and then we go go go when we need to be able to create our momentum and continue from there
For the most part I think we did fairly well we just have a long way to go.
Losing is never fun, I hate to lose. Guys on the team hate to lose. Losing is enough for me."

Jontey Byrd: "We consider ourselves as a second half team so we try to come out and play harder in the second half."

Coach Haynes: "The game came up short, I still like our guys fight and attitude. We're not good enough to get negative plays and overcome them. That what we have to do a better job of is win on first downs so we don't put ourselves in the hole and do things better on a consistent basis and we gotta get ourselves to be that disciplined to do that and we will. There's a lot of football to continue to play and look at the things were doing well and continue to do those things and look st the things were not doing well and make sure we improve. Got a lot of good guys that are fighting we just gotta get it out of everybody. We gotta get better at them (field goals). Anthony is capable of making them, he's just not. When you're in a slump you gotta keep swinging. Gotta keep sticking with him and making sure that he's fundamentally sound. He's a good kicker. "

Melchiori missed 3? I only saw two and he shanked them both. The one against USA was a pulled just left of the upright and was an odd one. USA had a guy jump offsides, very obvious, so the KSU guys were all messed up and out of synch, some moved and some didn't, I think they thought it as so obvious Melchiori would get a freebie and he booted it but they never called it. Meray just isn't as good as the others IMO. No great INT opportunities, but those other guys have had chances for tackles for losses and fanned on them.

(09-08-2014 11:30 AM)GoFlashes7 Wrote:  Nick Holley: "Guys were fighting hard I just think we need to study more and work harder on off days and practice. Guys need to get in the film room more and study and need to take it seriously, we all need to fight our butts off every play and that's what it takes to win
With football momentum switches every other play. Once we start to pick up momentum, that's the thing about our team they wait till something good happens and then we go go go when we need to be able to create our momentum and continue from there
For the most part I think we did fairly well we just have a long way to go.
Losing is never fun, I hate to lose. Guys on the team hate to lose. Losing is enough for me."

Very telling statement right there by Nick. I like his mindset.

The Holley boys certainly are gamers and have a ton of heart. Good to see them contributing so well and so early as there were some who wondered if they had might not have the frame to hold up at this level.