Tag: Kent State

A look back at Kent State’s 1972 MAC championship football team

A look back at Kent State’s 1972 MAC championship football team with Don James, Nick Saban, Gary Pinkel and Jack Lambert.

No. 9 Tennessee (2-0) will host Kent State (0-2) Saturday during Week 3 of the 2024 college football season.

Kickoff is slated for 7:45 p.m. EDT at Neyland Stadium and the contest will be televised by SEC Network.

Saturday marks the first meeting between the Vols and Golden Flashes.

While not known as a traditional power, a former Kent State player and assistant coach was one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football.

Nick Saban played defensive back for the Golden Flashes from 1970-72 under head coach Don James. James won a national championship with Washington in 1991.

Saban played on Kent State’s only MAC championship team in 1972 along with former Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Lambert. Lambert won four Super Bowl championships as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Golden Flashes went 6-5-1 (4-1 MAC) in 1972, losing in the Tangerine Bowl, 21-18, to Tampa.

Following Saban’s playing career, he was a graduate assistant at Kent State under James from 1973-74. He also served as the Golden Flashes’ linebackers coach from 1975-76 under head coach Dennis Fitzgerald.

Saban won a national championship at LSU and six national titles at Alabama as a head coach. He retired from coaching in January.

Mickey Welsh/USA TODAY Network

Tennessee, Kent State football depth charts for Week 3

A look at Tennessee and Kent State’s depth charts for Week 3 of the 2024 college football season.

No. 9 Tennessee (2-0) will return to action on Saturday against Kent State (0-2). Rankings reflect the Week 3 US LBM Coaches Poll.

Kickoff between the Vols and Golden Flashes is slated for 7:45 p.m. EDT and SEC Network will televise the matchup at Neyland Stadium. Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic will be on the call.

On Monday, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed what he expects from Kent State and challenges the Golden Flashes will cause.

“For us defensively, heavy mix of zone, inside outside zone and a lot of window dressing with motions, shifts and trade,” Heupel said. “We have to do a great job of being gap sound and communicate at a high level. Offensively, multiple in their coverages and a lot of pressure, so we have to do a great job of identification, that’s in run games, pass pro and protecting the quarterback when we are dropping back. We have to win some one on ones.”

READ: Everything Josh Heupel said previewing Tennessee-Kent State football game

Below are Week 3 depth charts for Tennessee and Kent State.

Josh Heupel provides injury update for Tennessee ahead of Kent State game

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel provides injury update for the Vols ahead of playing Kent State on Saturday.

Josh Heupel kicked off game week on Monday for No. 9 Tennessee (2-0) in preparation for a matchup against Kent State (0-2).

Heupel met with media and provided an injury update for three Vols: Linebacker Kalib Perry, running back Cameron Seldon and defensive back Jakobe Thomas.

“We will see as the week goes on, but I anticipate all those guys being available for us this week,” Heupel said.

Perry has appeared in one game for the Vols this season and has not recorded any statistics. Thomas appeared in both contests for Tennessee through two weeks, recording five tackles, one tackle for a loss and one pass deflection.

In one game this season, Seldon has totaled 47 rushing yards on seven attempts, one reception for -2 receiving yards and one kick return for 35 yards.

Kickoff for Tennessee’s Week 3 contest versus Kent State is slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network).

READ: 2024 SEC football power rankings after Week 2

Cameron Seldon. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Kickoff times, TV networks announced for Vols’ first two home games

Tennessee announced kickoff times and TV networks for the Vols’ first two home games in 2024.

Tennessee will kick off its 2024 football season on Aug. 31 against Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium.

The 2024 campaign will be the fourth for the Vols under head coach Josh Heupel. Heupel compiled a 27-12 (14-10 SEC) record from 2021-23 at Tennessee.

A kickoff time was announced on Thursday for the Tennessee-Chattanooga game. The 44th meeting between the Vols and Moccasins will kick off at 12:45 p.m. EDT and will be televised by SEC Network.

Tennessee also announced a kickoff time for its contest with Kent State on Sept. 14. The Week 3 non-conference matchup is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EDT and will be televised by SEC Network.

READ: Tennessee’s 2024 football schedule

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Alabama basketball set to host Kent State as a part of 2024-25 non-conference schedule

Alabama basketball adds Kent State Golden Flashes to 2024 non-conference schedule

The Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program is coming off of arguably the best season in school history after making their first-ever Final Four appearance. However, this is still the beginning phase of Nate Oats’s tenure in Tuscaloosa as his ultimate goal is to win a national championship.

Oats and his staff are still eagerly awaiting Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson’s NBA draft decisions, which should come in the following days, but regardless of their decisions, the roster is in great shape. Keeping Grant Nelson around for one more year was the decision that got the ball rolling, then Oats went to work in the portal adding four valuable transfers and an outstanding recruiting class.

Heading into the 2024 season, the Crimson Tide will certainly have a case to be the top ranked team in the country. Oats and Alabama have made a huge emphasis on playing a tough out of conference schedule to help prepare them for the post season, and so far it has paid massive dividends.

For this upcoming 2024-25 season, the Crimson Tide have added a game against the Kent State Golden Flashes. The flashes are coming off of a 17-17 season in 2023-24, but look to be a much stronger team this upcoming season.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Notre Dame Football Offers West Virginia Grad-Transfer

Notre Dame hasn’t been as active in the transfer portal this spring as last but they did extend an offer to a Big 12 defender on Tuesday.

Notre Dame football hasn’t seen the anywhere near the same amount of departures via the transfer portal immediately following spring practice as they did a year ago.  It was then the likes of [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag], [autotag]Logan Diggs[/autotag], [autotag]Lorenzo Styles[/autotag], and others left.

So far for Notre Dame it has been just defensive back [autotag]Micha Bell[/autotag] and punter [autotag]Bryce McPherson[/autotag] who entered near the end of camp.

Notre Dame is on the prowl to find replacements apparently as Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish made an offer to a Big 12 veteran on Tuesday.

Montre Miller, who spent last year at West Virginia after spending the start of his college career at Kent State entered the portal on Tuesday.  It was seemingly just hours later that he announced a scholarship offer from Notre Dame on his social media.

Between 2021 and 2022 at Kent State, Miller made 99 tackles, forced a pair of fumbles while also recovering a pair, intercepted six passes, and was responsible for 19 pass breakups.

No word on how seriously he’s considering the Notre Dame offer but he did also announce offers from Mississippi State, UConn, and Texas State as of Tuesday night.

We’ll keep you posted at Fighting Irish Wire to anything that happens here or with any other Notre Dame transfer portal happenings.

Photos of Notre Dame’s first-round NCAA Tournament win vs. Kent State

See how the Irish’s first tournament game looked.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After Notre Dame wrapped up its final regular-season game, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] addressed the Purcell Pavilion crowd. While she didn’t say so directly, she more or less pleaded with the NCAA Tournament selection committee to give the Irish a top-four seed so that they could host the first weekend. Just to remove any doubt, the Irish won the ACC Tournament, and it became impossible for the committee to ignore them after that.

The Irish ultimately earned a No. 2 seed, so their fans fans found themselves back where they were three weeks ago. They provided a tough environment for Kent State in this first-round game, and the Irish rode that to an 81-67 win. That means they’ll get to see the team one final time this season in Monday’s second-round game and surely will be no less vocal.

If you missed the start to the Irish’s latest quest for their third national championship, here are a few examples of what it looked like:

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

Notre Dame knocks out Kent State to begin NCAA Tournament

One down, five to go.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A No. 2 seed never had lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame had no intention of becoming the first team to do that as it battled Kent State at Purcell Pavilion. With most of the crowd backing them, the Irish held a comfortable lead almost the entire game and advanced to the second round with an 81-67 victory.

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

Unlike last year’s first-round game against Southern Utah that pretty much was decided from the opening tip, the Irish (27-6) allowed the Golden Flashes (21-11) to score the first basket of this game and even keep the lead for the first three-and-a-half minutes. But the Irish were finished with generosity after that and proceeded to score 18 unanswered points with sound offense and forcing tough shots on defense.

The Irish mostly coasted from there, leading by as much as 21. There was a brief scare in the fourth quarter when the Flashes cut that lead to 12, but it was a passing threat at best. This wasn’t going to be anything but an Irish victory, especially with them scoring 23 points off 16 Flashes turnovers.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was by far the Irish’s best player with a game-high 29 points. Several of her buckets came on passes from [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who achieved a double-double in her first NCAA Tournament game of 14 points and 11 assists despite shooting only 5 of 14 from the field. She also had six steals, five of them coming in the third quarter.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, providing an early offensive spark along with Citron. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] flirted with her own double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Purcell Pavilion sold out for Notre Dame’s first NCAA Tournament game

Hope you have your ticket already.

After Notre Dame played its final regular-season home game at Purcell Pavilion, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] hoped to be back for the NCAA Tournament. Thankfully, she coached the Irish to the finish needed to make that happen. And now on top of that, their first-round game against Kent State has been sold out, so Ivey will get that loud South Bend crowd she loves so much:

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

It’s not known how much of that sellout crowd will stick around to watch Saturday’s second game between Ole Miss and Marquette. But for the first game at least, a loud partisan crowd will be on hand, so the Golden Flashes will have more than only the Irish to deal with. That’s just what the Irish have been playing for all year, and they have the luxury for the second straight year.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame earns No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament, hosts Kent State first

Did you expect them to be seeded this high?

Not long ago, Notre Dame was seen as nothing more than a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Some bracketologies had the Irish as low as a No. 6. Since then, the Irish have won eight straight games and the ACC Tournament championship. That was enough for the selection committee to make them the No. 2 seed in Albany Regional 1., the highest seed for any ACC team.

The result is the Irish will get to host the first two rounds of March Madness. They’ll begin their run to a national championship against No. 15 seed Kent State. The winner of that game will face the winner of the other first-round game in South Bend between Ole Miss and Marquette. The Irish’s only previous meeting with the Golden Flashes was a 66-41 victory in the first round of the 1996 WNIT.

While the seeding isn’t a complete surprise, it’s an improvement from most bracketologists’ final projections. One of, if not the only one that had the Irish as a No. 2 seed was College Sports Madness. ESPN, CBS Sports and Her Hoop Stats all projected the Irish as a No. 3. Needless to say, the Irish did everything they needed to be a tournament host and then some.

The one hiccup for the Irish is that they were seeded in the same bracket as South Carolina, the top overall seed and heavy favorite to win the national championship. Perhaps seeing the Gamecocks in the season opener in Paris will give them an advantage for what to expect. But they have a few other games to win before it gets to that point, and that’s why they play them.

So make your plans to be in South Bend this coming weekend. The Irish will need all the support they can get as they begin that national title run.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89