Kent State
11th MAC2-9
Virginia
12th ACC5-7
Kent State @ Virginia preview
Scott Stadium
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Coming off a loss at Brigham Young and still smarting from a season-opening setback against UCLA, Virginia isn’t likely to overlook visiting Kent State on Saturday. This is the Cavaliers final nonconference game before stepping into ACC play and with an arduous slate ahead, Virginia cannot afford a slip-up against the Golden Flashes. “A lot of this is about us getting better, eliminating mental errors and assignments and things that caused issues for some of these games we didn’t win,” Virginia coach Mike London told reporters. “It’s been a learning process for us. But at this point of the season, it’s about us taking our game to another level.”
This is the third consecutive year Virginia has started 2-2 and the Cavaliers finished south of .500 each of the last two seasons, making the Kent State game critical to their postseason hopes. Mid-American Conference teams have a history of being dangerous and Virginia’s 48-27 loss last season to Ball State in Charlottesville remains fresh. Nevertheless it doesn’t appear winless Kent State, who lost twice at home and was punished 66-0 last week at Ohio State, is on the same level as Ball State.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: Virginia -27.
ABOUT KENT STATE (0-3): The Golden Flashes' offense has been heavily dependent on short and intermediate passes by Colin Reardon, who has 553 yards and five touchdowns. Averaging just 1.9 yards per carry, Kent State’s difficulty running the ball may continue against a solid Virginia front seven. The defense runs a 4-2-5, Cover 4 scheme led by safety Nate Holley, who paces the MAC with 13.7 tackles per game.
ABOUT VIRGINIA (2-2): Running back Khalek Shepherd stepped up against BYU with a career-high 73 yards rushing as the team ran for 192 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry. There has been little drop off with the rotation of quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns, which likely will continue for the fifth straight game. The defense didn’t register a sack or create a turnover against the Cougars.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Virginia set a program record with 102 offensive plays last week against Brigham Young, breaking the previous mark of 98 plays against South Carolina in 1968.
2. Kent State is 11-24 against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
3. Virginia MLB Henry Coley leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, including four sacks, and has forced two fumbles.
PREDICTION: Virginia 41, Kent State 20
Coming off a loss at Brigham Young and still smarting from a season-opening setback against UCLA, Virginia isn’t likely to overlook visiting Kent State on Saturday. This is the Cavaliers final nonconference game before stepping into ACC play and with an arduous slate ahead, Virginia cannot afford a slip-up against the Golden Flashes. “A lot of this is about us getting better, eliminating mental errors and assignments and things that caused issues for some of these games we didn’t win,” Virginia coach Mike London told reporters. “It’s been a learning process for us. But at this point of the season, it’s about us taking our game to another level.”
This is the third consecutive year Virginia has started 2-2 and the Cavaliers finished south of .500 each of the last two seasons, making the Kent State game critical to their postseason hopes. Mid-American Conference teams have a history of being dangerous and Virginia’s 48-27 loss last season to Ball State in Charlottesville remains fresh. Nevertheless it doesn’t appear winless Kent State, who lost twice at home and was punished 66-0 last week at Ohio State, is on the same level as Ball State.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: Virginia -27.
ABOUT KENT STATE (0-3): The Golden Flashes' offense has been heavily dependent on short and intermediate passes by Colin Reardon, who has 553 yards and five touchdowns. Averaging just 1.9 yards per carry, Kent State’s difficulty running the ball may continue against a solid Virginia front seven. The defense runs a 4-2-5, Cover 4 scheme led by safety Nate Holley, who paces the MAC with 13.7 tackles per game.
ABOUT VIRGINIA (2-2): Running back Khalek Shepherd stepped up against BYU with a career-high 73 yards rushing as the team ran for 192 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 4.4 yards per carry. There has been little drop off with the rotation of quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns, which likely will continue for the fifth straight game. The defense didn’t register a sack or create a turnover against the Cougars.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Virginia set a program record with 102 offensive plays last week against Brigham Young, breaking the previous mark of 98 plays against South Carolina in 1968.
2. Kent State is 11-24 against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
3. Virginia MLB Henry Coley leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, including four sacks, and has forced two fumbles.
PREDICTION: Virginia 41, Kent State 20