Once again, the Kent State football team will be away from Kent to face another top-10 team as a massive underdog. This week, its opponent is the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0, 0-0). 

Last week’s blowout loss to No. 6 Tennessee was one to forget, as the Flashes were on the wrong side of a historic night. Kent State now reclaims its spot at the bottom of the CBS Sports’ college football rankings.

“I thought our guys didn’t play hard from an execution standpoint,” Burns said. “Watching tape, we didn’t execute at a very high level, and that starts with coaching. I know we have to coach better and put our guys in position to make plays offensively and defensively.”

The game started off just about as poorly as the Flashes could have hoped for, with Tennessee scoring 37 points in the first quarter alone. The second quarter was not much better, and the lead swelled to 65-0 at halftime. The Vols took out their starters and hit the breaks in the second half, only scoring a field goal in each of the final two quarters. Kent State however, was unable to put any points on the board, leaving Neyland Stadium with a 71-0 defeat.

Saturday, the Flashes will have a tough task when they head to Happy Valley to face another top-10 opponent in another top-10 capacity stadium. 

Penn State started the season with a successful road trip to Morgantown where it defeated West Virginia (1-2, 0-0) 34-12. The following week, the Nittany Lions faced a second-half deficit against Bowling Green (1-1, 0-0), but prevailed 34-27. After its bye week, Penn State is a 48.5-point favorite against the winless Flashes. 

Quarterback

Last week, redshirt junior Devin Kargman threw 15 passes and completed nine of them for 58 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He now has a completion percentage of 55.55% and averages 144 passing yards per game.

“Dev has to keep becoming more of a leader on the field,” Burns said. “When you get into a situation where you’re in the big lights like last week and you have a lot of inexperience around you, guys who haven’t been in that setting playing — that’s where the quarterback’s leadership has to be at the forefront of it. I thought that’s where Dev could have been a little bit better last week.”

Though Burns wants to see more leadership out of Kargman, he seemed to be satisfied with where the quarterback’s level of play is currently at.

“He’s done a solid job of getting us in the right plays and making sure he knows his gameplan, his checks, and where the ball is supposed to go,” he said.

On the other side, junior quarterback Drew Allar will be under center for the Nittany Lions. Allar has racked up 420 yards on 24-of-37 passing in two games. He has also thrown five touchdowns and an interception. 

Last year, in his first season as a starter, Allar completed 59.9% of his passes for 2,631 yards, 25 touchdowns and two interceptions on the way to a Peach Bowl appearance.

“The quarterback’s a good player,” Burns said. “But I think they start with wanting to run the ball and getting the running backs going.” 

Running Back

The Flashes could not get the ground game going last week, as the team picked up 1.7 yards per attempt. The team’s leading rusher on the season, senior Ky Thomas, had just seven carries for 10 yards, and has yet to crack 100 yards this season. 

The team’s second-leading rusher, the six-foot, 200-pound sophomore Curtis Douglas, has 22 carries this season for 73 yards. Both Thomas and Douglas have had minor injury problems.

“Ky Thomas has been nursing something, he played a limited role in that game [against Tennessee],” Burns said. “Then Curtis Douglas got his knee bent up in that game, so he’ll be questionable for this week, as well.”

The ground game comes first for Penn State, as the team ranks in the top 25 in rushing yards per game with 228. The Nittany Lions have two effective running backs, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, both averaging at least five yards per carry.  

Singleton is the team’s leading rusher with 233 yards on 26 carries. His nine yards per carry are the third most in the FBS among players with at least 25 attempts. He also has scored twice on the ground this season. Though his numbers are not quite as impressive, Allen has been productive, picking up 121 yards on 24 carries, putting his average at just over five yards per carry.

“We obviously have to tackle way better than what we’re tackling right now, and they’ve got two really good running backs.” Burns said, “I played against this team, played against these running backs when I was at Minnesota, and they are extremely talented and gifted guys. We have to do a good job of making sure that we limit the explosive plays — tackle the ball when we can, swarm to the ball, get 11 hats to the ball, and do the best we can.”

Receivers

For the first time this season, redshirt sophomore and preseason All-Mid-American Conference receiver Crishon McCray led the team in receiving with three receptions for 27 yards against the Vols. With only nine completed passes on the day, the receiving group was unable to have a big day. 

Freshman Jay Jay Etheridge was the second-leading receiver on the night with 16 yards on two receptions. Graduate student Luke Floriea caught three passes for 13 yards, and Ky Thomas caught one ball for two yards. Floriea is still the team’s leading receiver with 15 receptions, and his 13 yards against Tennessee put him over 200 yards on the season as he now has 209 yards in three games.

Through its first two games, Penn State’s leading pass catcher is its senior tight end Tyler Warren, who has 176 yards on 11 receptions and a touchdown. Wide receivers Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans are the next two leading receivers for the Nittany Lions. Wallace has 117 yards on five receptions and Evans has 89 yards on four catches.

Defense

After Tennessee put up 740 yards of offense, the Flashes are now last in the FBS in total yards allowed, giving up 569.66 yards per game. Through three weeks of the season, Kent State is also dead last in points per game allowed as the team surrenders 49.66 points per game. The 288 rushing yards per game are the nation’s worst as well. 

The Penn State defense, though they gave up 375 yards and 27 points to Bowling Green, is typically stout. Last year, the Nittany Lions gave up 13.46 points per game, and in their opener against West Virginia this season, they gave up 12. 

This will be the first time the Flashes head to Happy Valley since 2018 when the Flashes lost 63-10.

“As long as we’re learning from each game we’re playing, it should help us in the future,” Burns said.

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