Junior quarterback Dustin Crum threw for 310 yards, more than any Kent State quarterback since 2014, and the Kent State offense finished with a school-record 750 total yards.

Crum finished with three touchdowns, while completing 26-of-31 throws. It was the first 300-yard performance since 2014 when Colin Reardon threw for 360 yards in a 39-17 win against Army. 

“I just tried to take advantage of their coverage with RPO (run-pass option) and all that new fancy stuff,” Crum said. “Our receivers did a great job today with run after catch so that helped a lot.”

The Flashes went on to win 62-20 to improve to 2-2 and 1-0 Mid-American Conference on the season. Bowling Green dropped to 1-3, 0-1 MAC. It’s their third straight game losing by four touchdowns or more.

The Flashes appeared to be willing to throw the ball down the field more than any other game since Sean Lewis took over.

“We wanted to attack them early,” Crum said. “We definitely felt like our receivers could threaten them vertically, which they did, and we tried to take advantage of it.”

The Flashes first score came on a wide receiver pass from senior receiver Kavious Price to sophomore tight end Keenan Orr. The score put the Flashes up 7-0 just two minutes into the game. 

It was the third game that Crum threw a 50+ yard touchdown pass. He found senior receiver Mike Carrigan, who beat his man off the line of scrimmage running straight down the right sideline to extend the lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

“That’s just work put in over the summer,” Crum said. “A big part of our offense is taking shots and we try to pick and choose them.”

An interception by senior safety Jamal Parker off the hands of RB Marlow III ended a promising Bowling Green drive that could have cut it to a single score game at the beginning of the second quarter.

“It really stopped their charge offensively,” Lewis said. “It was one of those plays that provided a spark and that’s what we expect Jamal to do.”

Carrigan improved drastically from his production last week. He finished with six catches for 94 yards and one touchdown. The Flashes targeted him on three straight red zone plays on the first drive. He caught two of them.

“It wasn’t necessarily a deal where we say, ‘Hey, early on let’s get it to Mike and play the game through Mike.’ But having him back in the fold to use him as another weapon for us to be able to distribute the football too,” Lewis said. “The opportunities presented themselves, and we were able to recognize them and take advantage of it.’”

Carrigan also caught another deep pass down the right sideline for touchdown, but it was called back because of a chop block penalty.

Senior running back Jo-El Shaw ran for a season-high 109 yards on 15 carries. He added his first two rushing touchdowns of the season.

Freshman running back Joachim Bangda one-upped Shaw, finishing with seven carries for 114 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown run on the Flashes final offensive play. It was the first time the Flashes had a 300-yard passer and two 100-yard rushers in a game.

“It’s nice because I don’t have to answer questions about balance,” Lewis said with a chuckle. “The plays by themselves are only as valuable as the ink and the paper or the grease board and the marker whatever that value is…but plays come alive because of players. We have great players.”

The Flashes next game is Oct. 5 at No. 13 Wisconsin. The Badgers are coming off a 35-14 win against No. 11 Michigan.

Contact Ian Kreider at [email protected]