(11-12-2022 09:50 PM)Ken Barna Wrote: Dear Friends,
I watched some of the Kent vs. Bowling Green game, and if Kent plays that well against Eastern, we could be in for a long night.
I agree with that, but I also watched their game the week before and they looked very beatable in their loss to Ball State. As '93 said, we need Evans to be ready to roll, Kent State had a very hard time stopping Steele. Their quarterback didn't seem overly impressive to me, and they were without their #1 WR (who might be the best in the MAC), he played against Bowling Green but only had one catch. So, we'll see how much of a factor he is this week.
I think they are actually a pretty similar team to us. They can move the ball and score, their RB is good (already over 1,000 yards). As much as we complain about defense, they give up more yards and basically the same amount of points.
It will be a game that if we can stay on schedule we'll be right there and have a chance to win, similar to the Buffalo game. We were in that game and it was basically first offense to stub their toe would lose...that ended up being us. I see it being an offense-driven game, but not some 56-52 game, probably more like 34-31 because both teams will want to (and can) try to run the ball and control the game as much as they can.
One thing to keep an eye on is the kicking game. We could have a big advantage there. We know how good Gomez has been for us, but their kicker has struggled. He has made all his extra points, but is only 15-24 on FGs. Even on easier kicks he has had a hard time (3-7 between 30-39 yards, 6-11 between 40-49 yards).