Recordpub.com - Flashes lose game, QB Keith to injury

By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff writer

Kent State learned just how important true freshman Spencer Keith is to its football hopes during the second-half meltdown of a 47-13 loss to Temple on Saturday at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

Keith shredded the Owls’ defense for 30 minutes, completing 17-of-29 passes for 237 yards, while leading the Golden Flashes to a 10-9 halftime lead.

But when Keith was knocked out of the game with a separated right shoulder on KSU’s second offensive play of the second half, the Flashes completely fell apart. Along with the game, they lost all hope of winning a division title and claiming just their third winning season in more than three decades.

“We were going up and down the field in the first half, and it’s a shame Spencer couldn’t finish the game, because I thought he was on his way to doing something really special,” said KSU head coach Doug Martin. “When he got hurt, our offensive guys seemed to lose all of their confidence, because he had been making so many big plays. When he went out, that was a big blow to the whole team.”

With Keith out, the offensive line stopped blocking, the defense stopped tackling and the special teams weren’t without their struggles.

One-time starter Giorgio Morgan was thrusted in action and did not fare well in his three series.

Morgan failed to complete a pass in six attempts. He also fumbled deep in KSU territory to set up one Temple touchdown and led the Owls another score with a pass that Kee-ayre Griffin intercepted and returned 36 yards to the end zone.

Martin eventually turned to senior third-string quarterback Anthony Magazu to finish the day.

“Giorgio just wasn’t capable of doing it today,” said Martin.

Temple grabbed a 12-9 lead on a 28-yard Brandon McManus field goal to cap the opening drive of the second half. Two plays later, Keith was injured when blitzing linebacker Alex Joseph drove the freshman quarterback’s right shoulder into the ground on a punishing hit. Another two plays later, Temple running back Matt Brown took advantage of a missed tackle at the line of scrimmage, breaking into the clear for a 71-yard touchdown run.

The route was officially on.

It took Temple less than 10 minutes after Keith left the game to turn a slim 12-10 advantage into an overwhelming 40-10 lead.

“Things just started to snowball,” said Martin. “Our offense was pretty good in the first half. They weren’t great in the second half, and then we also gave up 14 points when our defense wasn’t on the field on that interception return and then on the punt return.”

The punt return was a 52-yarder for a touchdown by Delano Green with 13:56 to play in the fourth quarter. A few minutes later, Green ran 50 yards for another score, capping the Temple scoring.

Thanks to Green and Brown, the Owls had no problem overcoming the loss of their own true freshman star. First-year running back Bernard Pierce — the Mid-American Conference’s leading rusher at better than 130 yards per game — played on only two downs in the first quarter before leaving with an undisclosed injury. In his absence, the little-used Brown rushed for 164 yards on 18 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Like Pierce, Brown is a true freshman.

Kent State had its chances to build an early lead, marching into the red zone on its first three possessions. They squeezed as little out of that early success as possible, settling for a 21-yard Freddie Cortez field goal on drive No. 1, coming up empty on drive No. 2 when Cortez missed from 32 yards, then failing to score again on drive No. 3 thanks to a brilliant tipped-ball interception by Temple defensive lineman Adrian Robinson.

The Flashes finally reached the end zone with 4:48 to play in the second quarter when Keith rolled to his left and lofted a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Pressley for a 10-6 lead.

Keith completed his only second-half pass for a short loss on the same play. He watched the fourth quarter while standing on the sideline with his right arm in a sling.

With Keith, KSU’s offense picked up 15 first downs in the first half. Without him, the Flashes moved the chains just four times in the second half, while managing a meager 19 yards through the air. Kent State ran for only 64 yards all day.

Temple’s ninth consecutive win sets up a battle with second-place Ohio University next week for the Mid-American Conference East Division championship. The Owls (9-2 overall) lead the East with a 7-0 conference mark.

Kent State (5-6, 4-3) can still finish at .500 for the year and consider itself bowl eligible with a win over Buffalo on Friday at Dix Stadium.

“They still have a chance to be a bowl-eligible team for the second time in four years, which hasn’t happened in Kent State since the 1970s,” Martin said. “But, we’re about to do it without Spencer Keith, we’re going to have to overcome a lot to get it done. It’s just been a hard-luck team, they just haven’t gotten any breaks.”

•••

David Carducci can be contacted at dcarducci@recordpub.com