Golden Flashes journey to Norman, Oklahoma, to tackle #5 Sooners

Game Preview

Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025

Time: 4:00 p.m. ET

Location: Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

Records: Kent State (1-3, 0-1 MAC) vs. Oklahoma (4-0, 1-0 SEC)

The Challenge Ahead

The Kent State Golden Flashes face their most daunting check of the season as they journey to Norman to tackle the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday afternoon. The Flashes want to snap a three-game dropping streak in opposition to an ideal Oklahoma squad that has steamrolled by way of its first 4 opponents.

This marks simply the second assembly between these applications, with Oklahoma claiming a 33-3 victory of their earlier encounter in 2022. 

Kent State’s Season So Far

Kent State opened the season defeating Merrimack 21-17 at house, however has since dropped three consecutive contests. After a 62-14 loss at Texas Tech, the Flashes fell 31-28 to Buffalo of their MAC opener earlier than struggling a 66-10 defeat at Florida State.

The offense has struggled to seek out consistency, averaging 18.3 factors and 290.5 yards per recreation. Quarterback Dru DeShields has been the brilliant spot, finishing 58.7% of his passes for 642 yards and 5 touchdowns with only one interception. His favourite goal has been Cade Wolford, who leads the crew with 9 receptions for 238 yards and 4 touchdowns.

 Gavin Garcia has carried the load on the bottom with 175 yards on 59 makes an attempt. Garcia enters the sport 70 yards away from 1,000 profession speeding yards. 

Defensively, Kent State has surrendered 44 factors per recreation and ranks close to the underside nationally in whole protection and scoring protection. Mason Woods leads the crew with 28 tackles, whereas CJ Young has contributed 24 stops and one of many crew’s two interceptions.

The Oklahoma Juggernaut

The Sooners have been dominant this season, outscoring opponents 125-36 whereas posting wins over Illinois State, Michigan, Temple, and Auburn. Oklahoma’s protection has been imposing, permitting simply 9 factors per recreation whereas rating first nationally in third-down protection (17.9%) and second in whole protection (207.5 yards per recreation).

Quarterback John Mateer has orchestrated the offense brilliantly, throwing for 1,215 yards and 6 touchdowns whereas including 5 speeding scores, however he’ll miss this recreation as a result of an damage sustained vs. Auburn. Backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. will make his first begin of the season. He’s supported by a trio of harmful receivers in Jaren Kanak (307 yards), Isaiah Sategna III (284 yards), and Deion Burks (265 yards, two TDs). Running again Tory Blaylock has rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

The Oklahoma protection is led by Kip Lewis (23 tackles) and Sammy Omosigho (20 tackles), whereas the Sooners rank second nationally with 4 sacks per recreation. 

Keys to the Game

For Kent State, the Flashes should:

Protect the soccer – Oklahoma thrives on creating stress and forcing errors

Establish some semblance of a working recreation – Can’t be one-dimensional in opposition to this protection

Win third downs – The Sooners are elite at getting off the sphere on third down

Create turnovers – Oklahoma has been liable to giveaways with six turnovers this season

Play mistake-free soccer – No room for penalties or psychological errors in opposition to a crew of this caliber

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