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

(09-05-2015 02:52 PM)Reno79 Wrote:  I hate it when we suck this bad - It never ends - it just goes on year after year

Your lucky. You could be aBrowns fan too.

(09-05-2015 03:42 PM)thanksjim Wrote:  Alright I'm convinced that PH isn't the guy for the job.

I am convinced Paul Haynes is in over his head. Too bad, I wanted him to succeed. This team isn't close to what it was 3 years ago!

(09-05-2015 04:36 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  So what's up with the use of Durham?? Should we only expect to see him inside the 5?

That's a good question. He actually looked good when he got in there, that's the confusing part. He had a nice 8 yard run to get it to the 1 then he had a strong TD run that was nullified by a receiver jumping early. Heck, if we're not going to give him the ball at least use him as a FB. Might open up some more lanes for our smaller backs.

(09-05-2015 07:43 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  

(09-05-2015 04:36 PM)shakermaker05 Wrote:  So what's up with the use of Durham?? Should we only expect to see him inside the 5?

That's a good question. He actually looked good when he got in there, that's the confusing part. He had a nice 8 yard run to get it to the 1 then he had a strong TD run that was nullified by a receiver jumping early. Heck, if we're not going to give him the ball at least use him as a FB. Might open up some more lanes for our smaller backs.

Yes- I was just asking in case you guys knew something I didn't. With the lack of offense we had today what would it hurt to give him more carries? Head scratcher to me. If we will only use him five yards out we may not see him hardly at all as our offense was just hopeless against the first teamers and still looked overmatched against the second team.

Very bittersweet day here as a whole I think the MAC performed really well with BG, CMU & WM all hanging in there and going toe to toe with the big boys (not even mentioning the wins we from OU, NIU up as I write this...heck EMU almost pulled it out!). Kent today was by far the eyesore for the conference.

I'm not mad cos we lost, but in how we lost, anemic offense, stupid penalties, too many turnovers, missed tackles, poor special teams(exception of Anthony punting) poor play calls and I can go on. Today we were not competitive, not even close! I will not judge the whole season on this one game, but all I can take from it is that we aren't progressing any. We had no business even being on a D1A field today.

There was no difference today between this team and The '13 team Haynes inherited and that's troubling. Haynes is running outta time to prove himself. He's had three years to build this team with his "guys" and the fact that they can't even be competive with a lower tier BIG 10 conference team is a tough pill to swallow. If this is a sneak preview of what we have to look forward to changes are gonna have to be made.

We are bad. Very bad.

Team will need to win convincingly next week. If it is a close game it will be hard for me to attend any other games this year.

All you need to know about Kent State football is that today we were called for "offensive encroachment."

Almost impossible to take any positives away from this game but now that I've had some time to relax and let that whooping settle in I'll say this. Not to make excuses, but the cancellation the night before didn't help us. The announcers said that they had trouble getting into a hotel and wound up splitting the team between 5 hotels. I think it was after 11 when the game was called so I'd love to know what time the guys actually got in bed, had to be real late.

As for positives from the game, I thought the freshmen backs showed some potential. Washington had a few decent runs which is saying a lot since the O-line was getting destroyed and he's a true freshman playing in his first college game against a Big10 school. James looks like he might be the better pass catcher of the two and his 43 yard kick return looked real nice. Between those two returning kicks and Melchiori bombing punts we might be able to win field position this year. Also, Bollas showed potential. Probably too early to start talking about the back-up QB but that 25ish yard TD pass he had that was nullified by a penalty looked really crisp and perfectly placed. A receiver being hit in stride on a deep ball is not something I'm accustomed too when watching Kent games. Basically, Bollas convinced me that if Reardon doesn't pick it up, we've at least got another decent option.

(09-06-2015 02:36 AM)anti-zip Wrote:  Almost impossible to take any positives away from this game but now that I've had some time to relax and let that whooping settle in I'll say this. Not to make excuses, but the cancellation the night before didn't help us. The announcers said that they had trouble getting into a hotel and wound up splitting the team between 5 hotels. I think it was after 11 when the game was called so I'd love to know what time the guys actually got in bed, had to be real late.

As for positives from the game, I thought the freshmen backs showed some potential. Washington had a few decent runs which is saying a lot since the O-line was getting destroyed and he's a true freshman playing in his first college game against a Big10 school. James looks like he might be the better pass catcher of the two and his 43 yard kick return looked real nice. Between those two returning kicks and Melchiori bombing punts we might be able to win field position this year. Also, Bollas showed potential. Probably too early to start talking about the back-up QB but that 25ish yard TD pass he had that was nullified by a penalty looked really crisp and perfectly placed. A receiver being hit in stride on a deep ball is not something I'm accustomed too when watching Kent games. Basically, Bollas convinced me that if Reardon doesn't pick it up, we've at least got another decent option.

I don't mean to shoot the messenger, but the excuses are getting as tiring as the blow outs.

There are no excuses for a pathetic performance against a bottom tier Big10 program in complete turmoil. None. Not one. Nada. We can't even take our typical "morale victory" away from the opening game.

(09-06-2015 07:58 AM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(09-06-2015 02:36 AM)anti-zip Wrote:  Almost impossible to take any positives away from this game but now that I've had some time to relax and let that whooping settle in I'll say this. Not to make excuses, but the cancellation the night before didn't help us. The announcers said that they had trouble getting into a hotel and wound up splitting the team between 5 hotels. I think it was after 11 when the game was called so I'd love to know what time the guys actually got in bed, had to be real late.

As for positives from the game, I thought the freshmen backs showed some potential. Washington had a few decent runs which is saying a lot since the O-line was getting destroyed and he's a true freshman playing in his first college game against a Big10 school. James looks like he might be the better pass catcher of the two and his 43 yard kick return looked real nice. Between those two returning kicks and Melchiori bombing punts we might be able to win field position this year. Also, Bollas showed potential. Probably too early to start talking about the back-up QB but that 25ish yard TD pass he had that was nullified by a penalty looked really crisp and perfectly placed. A receiver being hit in stride on a deep ball is not something I'm accustomed too when watching Kent games. Basically, Bollas convinced me that if Reardon doesn't pick it up, we've at least got another decent option.

I don't mean to shoot the messenger, but the excuses are getting as tiring as the blow outs.

There are no excuses for a pathetic performance against a bottom tier Big10 program in complete turmoil. None. Not one. Nada. We can't even take our typical "morale victory" away from the opening game.

I agree 100%. It is time to put up or shut up.

If the game was on Friday night originally didn't we have rooms set for Friday night? I can't believe we were just going to fly or drive back after the game.

(09-06-2015 11:46 AM)dannyb73 Wrote:  

(09-06-2015 07:58 AM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(09-06-2015 02:36 AM)anti-zip Wrote:  Almost impossible to take any positives away from this game but now that I've had some time to relax and let that whooping settle in I'll say this. Not to make excuses, but the cancellation the night before didn't help us. The announcers said that they had trouble getting into a hotel and wound up splitting the team between 5 hotels. I think it was after 11 when the game was called so I'd love to know what time the guys actually got in bed, had to be real late.

As for positives from the game, I thought the freshmen backs showed some potential. Washington had a few decent runs which is saying a lot since the O-line was getting destroyed and he's a true freshman playing in his first college game against a Big10 school. James looks like he might be the better pass catcher of the two and his 43 yard kick return looked real nice. Between those two returning kicks and Melchiori bombing punts we might be able to win field position this year. Also, Bollas showed potential. Probably too early to start talking about the back-up QB but that 25ish yard TD pass he had that was nullified by a penalty looked really crisp and perfectly placed. A receiver being hit in stride on a deep ball is not something I'm accustomed too when watching Kent games. Basically, Bollas convinced me that if Reardon doesn't pick it up, we've at least got another decent option.

I don't mean to shoot the messenger, but the excuses are getting as tiring as the blow outs.

There are no excuses for a pathetic performance against a bottom tier Big10 program in complete turmoil. None. Not one. Nada. We can't even take our typical "morale victory" away from the opening game.

I agree 100%. It is time to put up or shut up.

Not making excuses. I'm just saying I'm not going to give up entirely. We had no chance to win this one anyways and based on what the announcers said about the hotel situation the deck was even more stacked against us. If we look that bad against competition closer to our level I'm all for blowing it up, but for now we got destroyed by a big10 school, it happens. Do I wish we looked better? Yes. Would looking better make a difference in our? No chance in hell.

(09-06-2015 01:16 PM)KSU93 Wrote:  If the game was on Friday night originally didn't we have rooms set for Friday night? I can't believe we were just going to fly or drive back after the game.

You would think so. I just know what the announcers said.

(09-06-2015 01:16 PM)KSU93 Wrote:  If the game was on Friday night originally didn't we have rooms set for Friday night? I can't believe we were just going to fly or drive back after the game.

They never spend the night of the game. They come in a day early and leave right after the game so I am sure they wouldn't have rooms for Friday night, still no excuse for that performance

One good thing is Joel's job probably depends on football. One more bad coaching selection might end his tenure. That team three years ago bought him some time. However nothing has gone well since. In fact I don't think any sport has improved under him. Many have had unusually bad years under his tenure. Women's basketball, gymnastics and men golf come to mind. Even wrestling and baseball had some issues last year. I know you can explain each one away as one of "those things". However as "those things" keep piling up one has to wonder. He obviously came in determined to change Laings culture and in the process removed some of the older coaches because they weren't his preferred style of coaches. If you don't replace them with equal or better coaches you get in trouble real fast. Losing won't change a culture for the better. I'm worried that is what's happening.

(09-06-2015 09:40 PM)burden Wrote:  One good thing is Joel's job probably depends on football. One more bad coaching selection might end his tenure. That team three years ago bought him some time. However nothing has gone well since. In fact I don't think any sport has improved under him. Many have had unusually bad years under his tenure. Women's basketball, gymnastics and men golf come to mind. Even wrestling and baseball had some issues last year. I know you can explain each one away as one of "those things". However as "those things" keep piling up one has to wonder. He obviously came in determined to change Laings culture and in the process removed some of the older coaches because they weren't his preferred style of coaches. If you don't replace them with equal or better coaches you get in trouble real fast. Losing won't change a culture for the better. I'm worried that is what's happening.

I hate to rain on your parade and that long paragraph, but Joel is quite safe. Even another football hire gone wrong wouldn't change that.

Despite some on here showing some animosity towards Joel, our athletic dept. is clearly fiscally responsible in the eyes of the administration and the nation and while some of you don't like the direction of some of our individual programs, we still compete for and win Reese and Jacoby trophies. Donations are up under his watch and he is working on facilities too (think about all the upgrades that have been done - even if it isn't the upgrade you would have spent the money on or wanted to happen). Those things are really all that matters.

Just trying to get something going. The board has been dull lately. We'll see what happens soon. Raising money and facilities are good only if they lead to winning. If you keep losing they become a waste of money. By the way I wish it would rain on my parade we need some.

I agree that Joel's job is safe. Look at Laing's tenure under football. The bar's not set very high.
However, I do remember how openly upset Joel got after games like this his first couple years.

I don't deny Joel is safe. Even in my scenario where he hires another bad coach it will take three to four years to know that. That's the definition of being safe in sports. My concern is if you don't improve football and your other sports get worse shouldn't you be accountable for that. I realize one year is only an opinion not a trend. But I think this could be an important year. Two years starts to become a trend.

After seeing WMU at least compete with MSU, and CMU with Okie St. (which is probably a better comparison to Illinois), I'm concerned about the desire to even play "winning football".

There's no other way to put it....that was embarrassing Saturday. Just my 2 cents, but everything looked broken....every single aspect.