The point of having a Homecoming game is to win the game.

But when Kent State played its Homecoming game and first Mid-American Conference game of the season on Saturday, the score was 27-10, in Miami of Ohio’s favor.

The 2004 MAC East champions broke their four-game losing streak, which began last season in the MAC Championship game against Toledo.

Not only did the RedHawks break their losing streak, but the win was also Miami of Ohio coach Shane Montgomery’s first win with the RedHawks.

Too much went wrong for the Flashes to secure the win – or even have a lead for that matter.

Most of the Flashes’ mistakes were on offense, most importantly in the red zone.

The Flashes couldn’t capitalize on any of the opportunities staring them right in the face in the red zone.

The Flashes had three red zone chances that resulted in nothing.

Sophomore quarterback Michael Machen couldn’t pull the offense together to score anymore than the one touchdown of the game.

Machen completed 31 of 56 pass attempts, was sacked twice and had two key interceptions.

Despite that, Machen didn’t do half bad.

He threw for over 338 yards, making Saturday his first 300-yard game at Kent State.

That wasn’t enough to score more than one touchdown and one field goal, but the hope is still there and the season is still young.

The defensive side proved there’s still hope with another solid performance.

Senior linebacker Jon Sessler led the defensive with 12 tackles and posted his third game of the season with 10 or more tackles.

Even though it was only a little more than a week ago, the momentum has slowed since the Flashes’ home opener.

Now that MAC play has begun, the Flashes need to regroup if they expect to end this season with a MAC title, which has been the team’s goal since day one.

“Our team feels good right now. We knew that we could win this game,” Machen said. “We’re not down. None of our goals are out the door. We can still win the MAC. No one is depressed. Losing is not fun, but the season is not over yet. This is just the third game of the season.”

And homecoming was a little too early this season anyway.

Contact assistant sports editor Kali Price at [email protected].