It would be an understatement to say Kent State's offense has been underwhelming this season.
The Golden Flashes rank 105th in points scored, 71st in rushing yards and 122nd in passing yards. With 139.4 passing yards per game, that places them above just six teams, three of which run the triple option –– an almost exclusively running offense.
Kent State runs the ball as much as it can. The Golden Flashes rank 110th in run/pass ratio, passing the ball 37.7 percent.
The reasons for the difference, however, were not done by choice.
Quarterback Justin Agner started the season for the Golden Flashes –– he has since suffered an injury and is out for the season. Two more quarterback injuries later, Kent State is scraping the bottom of the barrel on its options behind center. Sophomore running back Myles Washington, if Nick Holley isn't healthy enough to play, will get the start at quarterback.
This comes with Colin Reardon, the quarterback for the past three seasons, still on the sideline as a wide receiver after having made the transition in the offseason. The information is per Henry Palattella of KentWired, the student newspaper at Kent State.
Got all that?
Breakdown
With the offense's head still spinning, I took a look at a simpler time for the Golden Flashes on this YouTube video, just two quarterback injuries in at this point.
After Mylik Mitchell left this Alabama game with an injury (he won't be available for Saturday), Holley entered the game with two minutes left in the half and the score at 41-0 (!).
Just because Holley was the backup, doesn't make him less dangerous. He won Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks before, you guessed it, suffering an injury. His status for Saturday against the Bobcats is unknown.
At 23:29, Holley is in the shotgun taking snaps. Starting in a five wide empty formation, the slot receiver on the left comes across in motion on a jet play. Holley looks to take what is a designed quarterback run up the middle, faking the jet sweep.
Holley freezes the defense long enough to take a run up the middle for a 16-yard gain.
The Bobcats defensive front seven will be key this weekend. With the Golden Flashes running the ball nearly two out of every three plays, the linemen and linebackers will be crucial to staying in their lanes and keeping the running offense in-check.
That play shows how elusive Holley can be, something the Bobcats are assuredly aware of. If he'll even play.
If he doesn't play, then the Kent State's offense will be interesting to say the least.
Judgement
It was tough to get a read on Kent State.
Not only was the game I watched against the No. 1 team in the country, but that game was also two quarterbacks ago. Holley is a bigger running threat than a passing threat, so the Golden Flashes offense won't change terribly much even if he can't play.
But if Washington has to start at quarterback, the Bobcats will be sitting pretty. Not only does the defense thrive against the run, but Washington is almost a zero on the threat to throw scale.
Basically, with Holley out of the lineup, the Bobcats will load the box the entire afternoon with the same mantra: we dare you.
