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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> 2017 RECORD 2-10, 1-7 Mid-American Conference COACH Sean Lewis (=rst season) SERIES RECORD The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 5-0. MOST RECENT MEETING Trace McSor- ley threw for 209 yards and Saquon Barkley rushed for 105 to help Penn State cruise past the visiting Golden Flashes, 33-13, on Sept. 3, 2016. EXPECTED STRENGTHS The Golden Flashes have an experienced defense re- turning, a unit headlined by outside linebacker Jim Jones (eight tackles for loss, six sacks) and tackle Theo Majette (6.5 TFL, four sacks). They also have a very good punter in Derek Adams, who averaged 43.6 yards per attempt last season. Unless there's a dramatic turn- around on o>ense, Adams' punting prowess should come in handy. POTENTIAL CONCERNS Kent State is likely to rely much more heavily on the pass now that Lewis has taken over, so =nding a quarterback is a very high pri- ority. Juco transfer Woody Barrett might be the choice. Barrett, who spent his =rst college season at Auburn, enrolled in January and will have three years of eligibility. Also in the mix is sophomore Dustin Crum, who saw action in 10 games last season. There's nowhere to go but up a@er the team averaged a dis- mal 12.8 points per game in 2017. SCHEDULE The nonconference schedule features two Big Ten teams and one Southeastern Conference team. That's a tough draw, even though one of those Big Ten opponents is Illinois. The conference season begins on the road at Ball State and ends at home vs. Eastern Michigan, a team that Kent hasn't faced since 2012. GAME OF THE YEAR Kent State and Akron will battle for the Wagon Wheel on Oct. 20. It's a rivalry that dates back to 1923, and the Golden Flashes will be strongly motivated, as the Zips are com- ing o> a MAC East Division title in 2017. OUTLOOK Lewis, a former Wisconsin player who spent the past two seasons as o>ensive coordinator at Syracuse, has taken on a very big challenge in trying to rebuild Kent State's program. In fact, re- build might be the wrong word, since there's not been much to really build upon in recent decades. The Golden Flashes have put together only two winning sea- sons since 1978. Will this season be the third? Not likely, but there has been an uptick in Kent State's recruiting since Lewis and his sta> arrived, so the long- term future may be looking up. –M.H. KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES TOP RETURNEES PASSING Dustin Crum 16 of 30 | 232 yds. | 1 TD | 2 int. RUSHING Justin Rankin 123 att. | 490 yds. | 3 TD RECEIVING Trey Harrell 18 rec. | 337 yds. | 1 TD TACKLING Jim Jones 52 solo | 46 asst. | 98 total INTERCEPTIONS Miles Daniel, Elvis Hines, Mandela Lawrence-Burke, Juantez McRae, Jamal Parker, Quan Robinson 1 int. W E E K 3 | S E P T E M B E R 1 5 | B E A V E R S T A D I U M 2017 RECORD 2-10, 0-9 Big Ten COACH Lovie Smith (5-19 in two sea- sons at Illinois; career record: same) SERIES RECORD The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 18-5. MOST RECENT MEETING Christian Hackenberg threw for two touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass from backup running back Nick Scott, as Penn State shut out the visiting Illini, 39-0, on Oct. 31, 2015. EXPECTED STRENGTHS For all its shortcomings, Illinois appears to have a pretty solid defensive line. Defensive ends Isaiah Gay (four tackles for loss, one sack) and Bobby Roundtree (four TFL, four sacks) showed promise as freshmen last season, and Jamal Milan is a solid veteran at defensive tackle. The Illini are also welcoming a couple of highly recruited freshman DTs in Calvin Avery and Verdis Brown, so this unit should be OK. On o>ense, Illinois has some =ne receivers who have been held back by the team's frequent problems at quarterback. Talented but o@-injured slot receiver Mike Dudek is a =@h-year senior with 100 career catches for 1,300 yards, while Ricky Smalling led the team as a true freshman last year with 31 catches for 510 yards. The Illini also have a very good punter in Blake Hayes, a sophomore from Melbourne, Australia. POTENTIAL CONCERNS Illinois was le@ with only one scholarship quarterback this past spring following Je> George Jr.'s transfer and Chayce Crouch's decision to give up football. George had been ex- pected to compete with Cam Thomas, who completed 42.4 percent of his passes and threw more interceptions (=ve) than touchdown passes (none) in four games last year as a true freshman. With only a trio of walk-ons to challenge him, Thomas emerged from spring drills as the =rst-teamer, but he'll get some competition in August with the arrival of three scholarship freshmen and graduate transfer A.J. Bush, formerly of Virginia Tech. Did we mention that even the re- turning QBs are learning a new o>ense? Garrick McGee was =red in December, and his replacement is Rod Smith, who previously served as an assistant under ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI W E E K 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2 1 | M E M O R I A L S T A D I U M

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