There were not many flashes of greatness to take away from Saturday’s football contest against the Ohio State Buckeyes. In front of a healthy mix of Ohio State and Kent State fans, Ohio State handed the Flashes a Buckeye beating, and 104,404 fans on hand at The Horseshoe witnessed the difference in level of talent between the the Big 10 and Mid-American Conference.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and never looked back. Ohio State dominated the Flashes in every facet of the game and went on to win, 66-0.

“When you go through adversity like we have been through, it shapes you,” Kent State head coach Paul Haynes said in the postgame press conference. “These games are shaping us. We will be a good football team, but right now we are not showing it. We have to get better at the little things, and we will continue to do that.”

Statistically, on paper, the game was ugly, and the stat sheet on Kent State’s side of the football was an eyesore by the end of the game.

Sophomore starting quarterback Colin Reardon finished with just 76 yards on 14-of-27 passing, and he only averaged only 2.8 yards per completion. He also threw three picks, two of which were deflected, and finished the game with a low quarterback rating of 10.2.

The Flashes run game didn’t fair much better than their aerial attack. Combined, the Kent State running corps rushed for 47 yards on 23 carries, averaging about two yards per carry.

Lastly, Kent State’s special teams didn’t contribute much to the stats page, as there were no field goal opportunities presented to the Flashes in the game. The only special teams player who kept busy Saturday was junior punter Anthony Melchiori, who kicked a total 11 punts for a combined 478 yards. He averaged 43.5 yards per punt, and four of his punts sailed more than 50 yards, and four more were downed inside the 10-yard line.

On the flipside of the stat column, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett put on a clinic under center. After failing to lead the Buckeyes to a victory against Virginia Tech Hokies last weekend, Barrett looked to make a statement this weekend. He bounced back and led the No. 22 Buckeyes to a decisive victory over the Flashes.

According an article by the Associated Press, Ohio State paid Kent State $850,000 to make the trip down to Columbus.

“Not how we wanted to show up today, and I give them credit,” Haynes said. “They bounced back and played well. We knew we had to play our best football to be able to beat them, and we didn’t do that.” 

Through the air, Barrett matched a school record with six touchdown passes, five of them in the first half alone. He completed 23 of 30 passing, averaging 10.4 yards per pass, and posted a quarterback rating of 81.2.

The Buckeyes inflicted just as much damage on the ground as well, as nine players combined for 284 total rushing yards to complement Barrett’s 344 yards through the air.

“They have good athletes, and we have to give them credit,” said sophomore safety Nate Holley, who led the Flashes with 14 tackles, including 12 solos. “Fundamentally we were not sound, though. There were things we needed to do, like wrap up or keep our eyes up. We didn’t do them. They were throwing stiff-arms out there, and we weren’t breaking the stiff-arms off and making the tackle. It was partly on us because of our technique, but then again, we were playing some good dudes.”

The Flashes will take a bye week to regroup and will return to action Saturday, Sept. 27, to face the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.