Kent State was able to hang into the second half with #5 Texas A&M last week. They took out their frustrations from coming up short there on VMI this week.
The Golden Flashes raced out to a 39-0 halftime lead on their way to a 60-10 win over the Keydets.
Kent State (1-1) scored three rushing touchdowns in the opening quarter as Marquez Cooper, Dustin Crum and Nykeim Johnson found the end zone on consecutive drives en route to the 22-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Andrew Glass registered a 20-yard field goal early on before Bryan Bradford scored on a seven-yard rush on the ensuing possession. Moments before the half, the Golden Flashes added one more touchdown on a Nykeim Johnson 20-yard reception to give Kent State a 39-0 lead at the break.
VMI (1-1) received the kick after halftime and went on a 9-play, 46-yard drive that culminated with a 43-yard field goal by sophomore Jack Culbreath, who registered his first career field goal at VMI to keep the Keydets from going scoreless.
Kent State would go on to log two more rushing touchdowns in the third quarter to make the score 53-3 with one quarter to play.
VMI freshman running back Hunter Rice scored on a five-yard run with 2:45 on the clock for his first career touchdown at VMI to give the Keydets their only touchdown for the day. Kent State’s Daniel Bangura ended the contest with a 49-yard touchdown rush just seconds later for the game’s final score.
Keydet quarterback Seth Morgan finished the game going 10-24 for 55 yards to go with three interceptions. Redshirt freshman Collin Ironside saw significant time on the field and went 7-12 for 91 yards and one pick.
Rashad Raymond led VMI with 57 net rushing yards while Hunter Rice finished with 39 yards on the ground.
VMI receiver Jakob Herres caught four passes for 23 yards and Leroy Thomas ended up with 13 yards on three receptions. Julio DaSilva earned a team-high 37 receiving yards on two catches.
Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum led the Golden Flashes’ attack by going 12-17 for 180 yards through the air with no picks and one passing touchdown. Cooper finished with 180 yards on the ground to lead the running backs and Nykeim Johnson ended up with 55 receiving yards on five grabs.
VMI will continue its road swing with an away contest at Cornell University of the Ivy League next Saturday, September 18 at 2 pm in Ithaca, New York.
Postgame: VMI head coach Scott Wachenheim
“Kent State is a very well coached football team and very talented and way better than they were last year. It was tough to judge that based on the four games last year and the game this year against the #5 team in the country, Texas A&M. They’re fast and their speed and their size was just too much to handle. But our kids fought the entire ballgame and I was glad to see us score in the fourth quarter. There’s a lot to learn from this tape and we’ll get back and look at it and make the corrections that we need and get ready to play Cornell next week.”
“We put a lot of young guys in there today and got a chance to see them compete against an FBS opponent and a team that is picked to win the MAC East again this year.”
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