Kent State’s football team kicked off conference play with an underwhelming performance against Miami University (OH). After forcing a three-and-out by the RedHawks and driving down the field, Kent State kicked a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. 

Those first quarter points would be the only points for the Flashes for the entire afternoon. 

After forcing another Miami punt, Kent State was faced with a punting situation as well. Coach Kenni Burns elected to run a fake punt, which was unsuccessful. 

However, the defense continued to shut down Miami’s offense, giving up no yards and forcing a field goal that would tie the game at a score of  3-3.

Things began to go south from there for the Flashes. After being forced to punt again, Charlie Durkin’s kick only had a net of 19 yards, setting up the RedHawks at their own 43. It took just four plays for Miami to go 57 yards and score the game’s first touchdown, taking a 10-3 lead late in the first.

Kent’s offense continued to sputter as they punted on their next three drives to close out the half. Miami would pick up another field goal, making the halftime score 13-3.

The Flashes appeared to make no halftime adjustments on offense as their offense was unable to stay on pace with the offense of Miami.

Miami would score 10 points in the third quarter and none in the fourth, winning by a final score of 23-3, starting their season with an impressive 4-1 record with their lone loss on the road to Miami of Florida.

There are many reasons that the Flashes lost this game, but what stood out the most was the lack of offense and dissatisfying play calling.

The offense gained just 206 yards of offense and, as a result, could not find the end zone. 

The play calling appeared to be missing an intermediate game. Most plays were either runs, very short throws or deep balls down the sideline. There were a few intermediate throws, including 7-10-yard hitch comeback routes on the sideline, but they were few and far between. 

There were an alarmingly low amount of throws across the middle. Most everything was short and to the sideline or deep to the sideline. 

The reason for this could be the lack of starts for transfer quarterback Mike Alaimo. He appears to be overly cautious about throwing an interception. 

Many of his throws are too far wide of the receiver because it looks as if he is trying too hard to keep it away from the defender. Too many of his deep balls ended up out of bounds or overthrown. 

The Flashes defense played tough most of the game, surrendering just two touchdowns along with three field goals. 

Though they were unable to force any turnovers, they were the reason that despite the offense only scoring three points, Kent State still had a shot until late in the third quarter when Miami delivered the knockout punch, scoring a touchdown to go up 23-3.

The Miami offense was slow at times but steady, and its ten third quarter points were what put the game away. Their defense had few missed tackles and played well, preventing the Flashes from reaching the red zone after the first drive. 

Special teams also favored the RedHawks, averaging a net of 45.2 yards per punt, while the Flashes averaged 31.625 yards per punt. 

Miami’s average starting field position was nearly ten yards better than Kent’s, with its average starting field position being just shy of its own 35-yard line and Kent’s being just beyond its own 25-yard line.

The Flashes will look to pick up their first Mid-American Conference victory next week as they travel to Athens to take on Ohio (4-1, 1-0). 

Miami will look to continue their strong start, heading home to play Bowling Green (2-3,0-1).

Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].