The Kent State football team will look to turn the tide Saturday in Neyland Stadium against No. 7 Tennessee (2-0, 0-0) after losing at home in an upset to the Red Flash of Saint Francis.

Last weekend, Kent State (0-2, 0-0) fell behind 17-0 early in the second quarter, and was never able to recover, losing by a score of 23-17.

“I am disappointed in the loss,” Burns said. “We didn’t play very well, we didn’t execute very well, we didn’t coach very well. We have to be way better than what we showed on Saturday. I still believe we’re an extremely talented football team, but we are a youthful team, we’re young.”

The Flashes did wake up in the second quarter after falling down 17 points, but they were not able to produce enough offense to overcome the deficit. Kent found themselves down 20-14 at halftime and only surrendered a field goal in the second half. The Flashes themselves only mustered a field goal, resulting in the six-point loss.

Saturday, Kent State will travel to the sixth-largest stadium in the country to face an elite Tennessee Volunteers team under the lights at 7:45 p.m..

The Volunteers have won their two games by a total of 107 points, averaging a 53.5-point margin of victory. Tennessee still awaits its first conference game, which means it is tied with almost every team in the Southeastern Conference except for South Carolina (2-0, 1-0) and Kentucky (1-1, 0-1).

Quarterback

Redshirt junior Devin Kargman will start for the Flashes. Through two games, Kargman averages just 187 passing yards per game. He has also thrown three touchdowns and two interceptions to start the season.

The Flashes may also use junior Tommy Ulatowski — before the season began, Burns mentioned he would be used. Ulatowski has come in against both Pittsburgh and Saint Francis and connected with receiver Chrishon McCray for a touchdown against Saint Francis.

For the Volunteers, it will be redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava taking the snaps. Iamaleava is averaging 262.5 passing yards per game to this point. He has been picked off twice, but has thrown five touchdown passes and ran for another. 

“Their quarterback is extremely talented,” Burns said. “He’s a very good young player who’s playing at a very, very high level right now.”

Running Back

It was a slow day at the office for the Kent State backfield against the Red Flash as it only picked up 78 yards rushing on 26 attempts, gaining just three yards per carry. Redshirt senior Ky Thomas has been the leading rusher through the first two games, but he only averages 2.7 yards per carry. 

He will have to heavily improve on his 79 total rushing yards on the season in order to keep pace with the Volunteer ground game.

Junior Dylan Simpson leads the charge for the potent Tennessee rushing attack. He averages 128 yards per game to this point, totalling 256 yards, which is top-10 in the FBS. On just 32 carries, Simpson runs for an average of eight yards per carry. Simpson also has five of the team’s eight rushing touchdowns this season. 

“You have to tackle, that’s where it starts,” Burns said. “You have to tackle the ball, you have to get it down. They’re going to have their success, and we’re going to give up some things at times, but we’ll try to make sure you get the play down and try to limit the explosive plays.” 

Receivers 

Once again, it was graduate student Luke Floriea leading the way in receiving for the Flashes. 

Against Saint Francis, he caught six passes for 92 yards and pulled in his second touchdown of the season. Crishon McCray also snagged a touchdown pass on Saturday. 

Both Floriea and McCray have caught one touchdown in each of the team’s first two games.

Tennessee has four receivers with over 75 yards on the season, but none have more than Dont’e Thornton Jr., who has racked up 105 yards and two touchdowns on just three receptions. Three of the four receivers who have over 75 yards on the season average at least 14 yards per reception. Simpson has also been an effective pass catcher out of the backfield with six receptions for 66 yards so far.

“I’d argue they’re just as good in the pass game,” Burns said.

Defense

Defensively, the Flashes improved from week one to week two. Kent State gave up 567 yards against Pittsburgh, followed up by giving up 402 to Saint Francis. The Flashes defense has given up an average of 484.5 yards per game.

The Flashes will play a team that gains the fifth-most yards per game in the nation with 589 — the team is the second-leading team in scoring, with 60 points per game. 

KSU’s offense will be going up against a Tennessee defense that is sixth in yards per game allowed, giving up just 185 per game to go with its top-12 standing in points per game, with its opponents scoring 6.5 points per game.

Kent State will be traveling to the largest stadium it has played in since September 2021, when the team played at Kyle Field in College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies, which occurred before Burns was coaching the team.

The road trip to Knoxville will be a daunting task for the struggling Flashes.

“You have to go in there and keep the main thing,” Burns said. “The main thing is you’re there to play a football game and to win a football game and you have to be at your best come kickoff.”

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