Know Your Oponent: Kent State

The Mid American Conference has been one of the more compelling mid major conferences for quit a while now. In the early 00's, quarterbacks like Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Cribbs and Bruce Gradkowski created a ton of offense and played in many shootouts, despite the conference's teams normally getting beat up by teams from power conferences. The MAC has gotten better over the years though, and the conference has played some of the wildest games you will see on Tuesday night #MACtion, which has become a must watch event. This season, the MAC has knocked off a bunch of  BCS conference teams teams, including UConn, USF, Penn State, Iowa, Kansas, and Cincinnati, who was undefeated before losing to Toledo last week. Kent State is one of the better teams in the MAC this year, and Rutgers can not take them lightly. The Golden Flashes are a dangerous team capable of pulling off an upset.

Kent State So Far
Kent State is having a very good season so far with a 6-1 record, and they are inline to go to their first bowl game since 1972. The Golden Flashes won their opener against Towson, and were blown out by Kentucky the following week. Since then, they have gone on a 5 game winning streak with victories over Buffalo, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Army, and Western Michigan. They are scoring a lot of points, but also giving up a lot of points in the process.

Coaching
Kent State is led by second year head coach  Darrell Hazell, who has an 11-8 record through his first season and a half with the Golden Flashes. Hazell made a name for himself coaching wide receivers at Ohio State from 2004-10, and the New Jersey native was also an assistant at Rutgers from 2001-03. After starting 1-6 at the school, Hazell has overseen a big turn for the program, leading them to respectability after man years of struggles, thanks to  his calm demeanor and attention to detail.

Offense 39th in PPG 24th in yards per carry, 91st in pass efficiency, 65th in yards per play
Kent State is with out a doubt a run oriented offense. They will spread you out in doing so, but make no mistake: they are going to come right at you. Their best offensive player is running back/wide receiver Dri Archer, who is averaging 10 yards per carry in addition to 20 receptions and 14 total touchdowns. He is probably the best kick returner in the nation too, so you have to try to avoid kicking to him. He is pretty much college football's version of Darren Sproles. Their work horse running back is Traylon Durham, who has 144 carries on the year (4.5 ypc) and a load to bring down t 260 pounds. Up front the Golden Flash have a very experienced unit led by left tackle Brian Winters, who is the number three senior offensive tackle in the 2013 draft according to Mel Kiper. The Golden Flash don't have much of a passing attack, but senior QB Spencer Keith can get the ball out to Archer on some quick passes.

Defense 53rd in PPG, 67th in yards per carry, 64th in pass efficiency, 74thin yards per play
Kent State runs some what of a 3-4/4-3 hybrid, and they have had a middle of the road defense this year, despite returning most of the players from the very strong defense they had a year ago. Their best player is undersized defensive end Roosevelt Nix, who can be a menace in the backfield. So far this season he has recorded 3.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.  Senior Luke Batton leads the team with 71 tackles, and Darius Polk leads the team in passes defended. The Golden Flash may be with out two starters on Saturday: defensive end Jake Dooley and safety Jordan Italiano.

Conclusion
Kent State has a strong rushing attack on offense and a dynamic playmaker in Dri Archer, but they are not a very good passing team. Their defense is quick and makes plays in the backfield, but they can be overpowered and they give up points. This is a very solid MAC team that is well coached by Hazell, and are capable of pulling an upset if Rutgers isn't prepared.