Darren Goodson hits a game-winning 3 against Akron with 1.6 left. Final score Kent State 60 Akron 57

Oh yeah!!!

KENT STATE vs. AKRON Game-Winner

The Flashes showed great effort at Toledo but unfortunately their low basketball IQ cost them another game. What exactly is basketball IQ? Basketball IQ is having instincts for the game. Examples include knowing what is a smart foul, and knowing how to position ones self for getting rebounds. Toledo had 37 rebounds and Kent State had 34. Not much difference in rebounds but let's take a look at free throws. Toledo made 27 of 39 free throws and Kent State made 9-14. Huge difference there.

Basketball IQ is the ability to pick up on what is being coached. Examples include knowing the playbook and defensive schemes and how to execute them. A player with a high basketball IQ can usually get the "big picture" of plays, understands how they are supposed to work, and see them developing on both offense and defense.

Let's examine the last few minutes of the game. With 3:37 left on the clock, Derek Jackson's basket gave Kent State a 70-68 advantage. But Toledo scored the next six points to start a 9-2 run, taking a 77-72 lead with 1:02 remaining in the game.
The beginning of poor play actually started after Kris Brewer's layup with 9:07 on the clock. Brewer's layup made the score 63-57 in favor of Kent State but the Flashes then shot 5-14 from the field. Team's with a high basketball IQ usually know how to execute offensively and defensively to close out a game. Unfortunately, the Flashes are still learning how to finish against a good team.






This post was edited on 1/26 9:53 PM by nashvillegoldenflash

Valiant effort comes up short in Toledo

With signing day coming up on February 5, I thought you might want to know where the nation's Division I college football players come from. In this interactive map (see link), you can break it down by conference, position or school and look at the raw numbers that show where each university has had the most success recruiting.




Where Football Players Call Home

The Kent State Golden Flashes get a C- for the 2013 football season. I had expected a better record this year but admit the schedule was certainly a difficult one. I'm not sure Darrell Hazel could have done any better with the schedule the Flashes had this year. BTW, Hazell gets a D- in his first year at Purdue (see link).

Six FBS teams had A+ seasons

Oh how I miss the good old days when players could actually shoot the basketball and make most of their shots. I also miss not seeing tattoos up and down player's arms and miss the team's ability to shoot free throws and find the open man on the court.



1984-85 Kent State Golden Flashes[/B]

#20 Anthony Grier, G, Sr., (21 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.6 APG, 54.9 FG%)
#24 Larry Robbins, G-F, Sr., (19.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG)

This post was edited on 1/9 5:56 AM by nashvillegoldenflash

1984-85 Kent State statistics

I really can't explain the MAC's poor bowl performance this year. One could make the argument that the MAC's weaker teams made the stronger teams look better than they really were but the current RPI rankings have the MAC ahead of the Sun Belt and Conference USA (see link). I agree that wins over Miami, WMU, and UMass might have helped pad the win-loss records of Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ball State, and Ohio but the RPI ranking shows that the MAC's overall strength of schedule was better than Conference USA. The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider things like margin of victory, only whether or not a team won and where the game was played. So the blowout wins over Miami, WMU, and UMass did not affect the MAC's RPI as some fans might believe.

Although the MAC's 0-5 bowl record is extremely disappointing, take comfort in knowing the conference still finished ahead of the Sun Belt and Conference USA.




Football Conference Rankings (2013-2014)

The Flashes lost to Cleveland State 78-70 at home and fell to Princeton on the road, 73-68. As expected, Gary Waters' team shot well from the field (53.4 percent) and 87.5 percent from the line and played tough defense. By comparison, the Flashes shot 40.7 percent from the field but more importantly missed 10 of 29 free throws.

On the road, the Flashes lost to a disciplined Princeton team that made 29 out of 40 free throws (72.5 percent) compared to Kent State's 63.6 percent from the line. Some people may find it hard to understand how a team with players without tattoos and vertical leaping ability can win but I don't. Hopefully, one day other people will figure this out too.





This post was edited on 12/31 5:46 PM by nashvillegoldenflash

Princeton game

This is an interesting chart. It ranks the current Top 25 in college football based on who has the the best graduation rates for their football players. If the BCS title game was based on this, then Duke would be playing Northern Illinois.


This post was edited on 12/16 7:15 PM by nashvillegoldenflash

2013 Academic Bowl Championship Series

The Flashes are favored by 17.5 (see link).

Las Vegas Odds

As a MAC fan, I love the month of November. Below is the schedule for MACTION during the month of November.

Tuesday, Nov. 5[/B]

- BGSU @ Miami, 8 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)*;
- Ohio @ Buffalo, 8 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)*;

Wednesday, Nov. 6[/B]
- CMU @ Ball State, 8 pm ET (ESPN2);

Tuesday, Nov. 12[/B]
- Ohio @ BGSU, 7:30 pm ET (ESPNU/ESPN3)*;
- Buffalo @ Toledo, 7:30 pm ET (ESPNU/ESPN3)*;

Wednesday, Nov. 13[/B]
- Ball State @ NIU, 8 pm ET/7 pm CT (ESPN2/ESPNU)*
- Miami @ Kent State, 8 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)*;

Saturday, Nov. 16[/B]
- CMU @ WMU, 12 Noon ET (ESPN Plus/ESPN3/ESPN Game Plan);

Tuesday, Nov. 19[/B]
- Kent State @ Ohio, 8 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)*;
- Buffalo @ Miami, 8 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)*;

Wednesday, Nov. 20[/B]
- NIU @ Toledo, 8 pm ET (ESPN2);

Tuesday, Nov. 26[/B]
- WMU @ NIU, 7 pm ET (ESPN2);












This post was edited on 11/4 8:52 PM by nashvillegoldenflash

In this video, the Flashes discuss their loss to Akron (see link).

Football Weekly Press Conference 11/4/13

"60 Minutes" profiles Alabama's head football coach & Kent State alum Nick Saban on Sunday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET (see link).

Preview: The Perfectionist

"This is a tough one," said Kent State head coach. Paul Haynes. "It's not the outcome we wanted, especially in this game. Our guys will take a snapshot of what happened at the end and we will prepare like crazy to never let this happen again.

"The bottom line is we can't turn the ball over in games like this. We have drives going and stub the foot by turning the ball over. We teach that the football is the program. When the ball is on the ground, the program is on the ground."

"At key times, we turned the football over," said Haynes. "We have to grind a little more and do things better … We control the outcome. We have to look ourselves in the mirror as coaches and players and we have to do a lot better to get a better outcome."




Postgame Press Conference - at Akron 11/2/13

The Golden Flashes have had a difficult schedule to this point having faced all three of the remaining undefeated teams in the MAC along with Bowling Green and a pair of schools from BCS conferences. The Zips have not had an easy road either and they held their own against Michigan and NIU. Akron can be a dangerous team when it comes to play, but it has been anything but reliable in the early stages of the Bowden era.


Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Kent State 31, Akron 21

The Sports Network

Once small time always small time, IU guys go hard at Senderoff and Haut

Once Small Time always Small Time

Kent State WR Chris Overton's little brother, Jordan, is a class of 2016 ATH prospect with three offers to his credit already, including one from Kent State. He talks about his early offers in the article below.

Jordan Overton article

Paul Haynes, Casey Pierce, and Nate Vance discuss the upcoming game against Akron.

Football Weekly Press Conference 10/28/13

I sure hope the Flashes are able to win at Akron because a loss to the Zips could cause irreparable damage to the program that could set us back years. Fair or not, a loss to Akron would seriously hurt the confidence in this coaching staff and its ability to recruit.





Las Vegas Odds

Coach Haynes knows this is Akron week and as a former player he understands the importance of keeping the Wagon Wheel. According to him, "It's life or death. You don't lose to Akron, bottom line. We said in the locker room, every ounce of energy, every mind, body and soul goes into this game, and that's it. Whatever we have to do, we're going to win this game."





Post game Press Conference - vs. Buffalo

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The Flashes are favored by 7 (see link).

Las Vegas Odds

Paul Haynes, Luke Wollet, and Pat McShane talk to the media about the upcoming game against Buffalo on Saturday.

Football Weekly Press Conference 10/21/13

Miami University is ranked the second sexiest college in the nation (see link).

Miami University

In this video, Paul Haynes, Chris Humphrey, and Mark Fackler talk about the Ball State game and their next game with South Alabama on Saturday.

Football Weekly Press Conference 10/14/13

Disappointing loss to say the least (see link).

Kent State at Ball State