[PatrickKelly]

1. We can't turn the ball over.

2. We've got to put them in throwing situations. 3rd and short will be tough for us. I would expect we'll have to put 8 guys in the box and try to contain the run. They're breaking in 3 new OL so we may be able to put some pressure on them.

3. Special teams will have to step up and play well.

4. We'll have to control the clock and have some long drives.

I saw Kent St. in person last year when they played at UK and UK just demolished them. It was never close. UK started quickly and used their athletes in space and Kent St. couldn't keep up. I think we can stay close if we can start quickly and don't allow them to score early.
Kent St. 38- LU 28

[jlread]

Liberty 20- Kent st 28

[Chris Lang]

That Kentucky game was weird for them ... they also went on the road and destroyed a Rutgers team that was undefeated and ranked inside the top 15 at the time. Of course, having watched Rutgers up close in Orlando, I can see how that could have happened. Knights were just an awful offensive team. I've never seen a coach play for overtime with eight minutes left in a tie game like Kyle Flood did. That's how little confidence he had in his QB's ability to complete even a simple pass. But they had good speed on defense and had no answer at all for Dri Archer.

[thepostman]

Kent St 26
Liberty 17

[BJWilliams]

We keep this one competitive but the Flashes get a couple touchdowns late and pull away

Kent State 37
Liberty 20

[Chippy]

Kent 31
LU 16

[jlread]

I averaged the past 5 FBS game scores for us and its 20.6 for LU and 30.6 for our opponent. It should be real close to that considering 2 of those 5 were MAC teams(ball St. And Toledo ).

[Purple Haize]

I averaged the past 5 FBS game scores for us and its 20.6 for LU and 30.6 for our opponent. It should be real close to that considering 2 of those 5 were MAC teams(ball St. And Toledo ).

Based on this statistical analysis: Kent State 35 Liberty 21

[flamehunter]

I averaged the past 2 MAC games' scores and the average comes out to 30.5 for LU and 29 for our opponent. I like that better than jlread's stats. I am going with that and say it will be:

LU 31
Kent St 28

[jlread]

I averaged the past 2 MAC games' scores and the average comes out to 30.5 for LU and 29 for our opponent. I like that better than jlread's stats. I am going with that and say it will be:

LU 31
Kent St 28

I agree that looks way better!

[LUnpretty11]

Liberty - 27
Kent St - 24

Lunsford hits a 54 yd fg with 4 seconds left.

[Sly Fox]

That actually was what I was thinking, LUnpretty11. This game reminds me a bit of the nearby Youngstown game when Bevins performed that type of magic. Of course, the Penguins didn't have talent on the scale of Archer & Nix.

Consider me an optimist. LU 30-28

[Flame Convert]

Kent State 31
Liberty 13

Trap Game. Flames looking ahead to clashes with Kentucky Wesleyan and Brevard

[rogers3]

Liberty - 27
Kent St - 24

Lunsford hits a 54 yd fg with 4 seconds left.

The same Lunsford that was reported as being injured?

[BJWilliams]

Lang said the walking boot was precautionary and he will be ready for the opener

[panther1]

Tough game to have as "first". LU is in a pattern of jelling as the season progresses. LU coaches experiment for a starting lineup. Hope for LU to hang in there as long as possible.

[LUnpretty11]

Liberty - 27
Kent St - 24

Lunsford hits a 54 yd fg with 4 seconds left.

The same Lunsford that was reported as being injured?

A bump on the foot is not a reported injury. If there was a "reported" fracture, then you have a point. I'm not worried until I hear otherwise. So yes, the same Lunsford that can kick 60 yard FGs.

[flamehunter]

He was wearing a boot as a precaution. If nothing else his practice time is being limited which means his effectiveness early in the season may be affected. That is a valid concern.

[rogers3]

Liberty - 27
Kent St - 24

Lunsford hits a 54 yd fg with 4 seconds left.

The same Lunsford that was reported as being injured?

A bump on the foot is not a reported injury. If there was a "reported" fracture, then you have a point. I'm not worried until I hear otherwise. So yes, the same Lunsford that can kick 60 yard FGs.

How about reading this, oh smarmy one! Lang reports on "nicks and bruises" as well as what appeared to be an injury to Lunsford's plant foot. Lang is a reporter, after all; I just was recalling what I had read on Tuesday and had seen nothing else about it. The last thing we need is to have an injury to one of our long range scoring threats! Since he is fine, I'll say he hits three and misses one, making the game final KSU- 30 LU- 16

[jlread]

Liberty - 27
Kent St - 24

Lunsford hits a 54 yd fg with 4 seconds left.

I can totally see this happening! Ill never forget his kick last year at Wake when he crushed it. I was on the wake side and they were laughing before, saying "that's silly he wont hit that"....then BOOM hits it with ease, could've made it from 50 yards or more. It got real quite after that, except for the random wake fan that constantly cursed at their coach after every single play. Haha

[jbock13]

Kent 38, Liberty 14

[BJWilliams]

I really dont think it will be that one sided...going back to 2006 (DR's first year) here are the margins from all of our FBS matchups

2006- Wake Forest -20 (34-14 most of that in the first half)
2007- Toledo -1 (35-34)
2008- No FBS game
2009- West Virginia -13 (33-20)
2010 Ball State +4 (27-23)
2011- NC State -22 (43-21)
2012- Wake Forest -3 (20-17)

So in 6 games against I-A/FBS teams we lost by single digits twice, between 10-19 points once and got "run out of the building" (20+ points) twice. In our last two games against MAC schools we have lost by one point and won by 4.

Im not saying we win this game, but its not going to be a one sided bludgeoning either

[adam42381]

Kent State 38
Liberty 24

[jbock13]

How exactly can you relate what happened seven years ago to what will happen this year? Cute stats, but its utterly meaningless. It's a whole new team, with a new coach too. I know we have this same argument every year when someone dares to guess it won't be close.

[BJWilliams]

how many times has the team exceeded expectations and made games closer than they were when the postmortem thread came up for an FBS game? Like I said, I don't think we win this game, but Im also not picking us to get blown out of Ohio by the time its over too.