
Loyola Chicago and Kent State play in NIT matchup
Kent State Golden Flashes (24-11, 12-8 MAC) at Loyola Chicago Ramblers (24-11, 13-7 A-10)
Chicago; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Loyola Chicago and Kent State play in the National Invitation Tournament.
The Ramblers' record in A-10 play is 13-7, and their record is 11-4 in non-conference games. Loyola Chicago is seventh in the A-10 scoring 73.6 points while shooting 45.7% from the field.
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Three years ago, Kent State was coming off a disappointing 5-7 years ago, it went to a bowl game, won 22 games, and took home the 2019 Frisco Bowl under Sean Lewis. And then it all fell - now the head coach at San Diego State - left to be Coach Prime's offensive coordinator at Colorado, Kenni Burs took over the Golden Flashes in an all-time do-over after losing just about everyone of note through the transfer portal, and it's been a struggle - to be nice. Kent State went 1-23 under Burns, with the lone victory coming over Central Connecticut State from the FCS ranks. Out of the 22 losses to FBS teams - there was a loss last year to Saint Francis from the FCS - 21 of them were by double was let go after reports of alleged contract violations, offensive coordinator Mark Carney stepped in as the interim head man, and now Kent State is starting from scratch once been hard stretch to find the right transfers to fill in the gaps, there's no real depth, and it all means Carney can let it State went 1-21 in 1982 and 1983, and bounced back with a four-win 1984 season. Anything close to being competitive will be good enough. Kent State Golden Flashes Preview 2025: Offense X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN- Mark Carney will serve as the offensive coordinator, for now, along with the head coaching duties. He'll have to find something, anything that works, after finishing dead last in the nation in total offense, scoring offense, and third down One is to try piecing together a line that returns one starter, Dustyn Morell, a versatile blocker who can work at right tackle but might settle in at guard. The transfer portal will take care of the rest, desperately needing 6-6, 310-pound Junior Diallo (Emory and Henry) and Jamarcus Hill (SE Missouri) to be decent at tackle. - The running game was the second-worst in college football - yay, Colorado - but it was dead last in yards per carry. Ky Thomas is done after being the only Golden Flash to run for more than 145 yards, and now it'll be up to Minnesota transfer Jordan Nubin to handle the work. He ran for 559 yards as a sophomore, but only managed 11 carries last year.- The quarterback situation will be a work in progress. CJ Montes from Fordham should be the best option, but Devin Kargman is a big option with a little experience. Neither one has top target Crishon McCray to throw to - he left for Michigan State - and with Luke Floriea also gone, just one touchdown catch from last year Jay Etheridge will work on the outside after making 14 grabs with that one score, and Dashawn Martin was fourth on the team with eight grabs. JUCO transfer Da'Realyst Clark and tight end Christian Berry from Davidson have to be factors right away. Kent State Golden Flashes Preview 2025: Defense - As bad as the offense was, the defense was even worse. Dead last in the nation in total defense, scoring defense, run defense - it was rough. For good and bad, there's more returning production to build around. It starts with the linebacking corps, where Mason Woods is back in the middle after finishing second on the team with 68 tackles, and with Canaan Williams adding 46 stops with a few plays behind the line. - The secondary also has plenty of parts back. 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All rights reserved.
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