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Eugene Jarvis, shown versus Miami last year, excelled in Kent State's opener.

The win was the Flashes second in the last three season openers and eighth of the last nine lid-lifters at home (The lone exception was a 44-0 loss to Minnesota in 2006).

The victory also marked the first shutout for Kent State in 163 games (a 22-0 over Ohio).  The last season opening shutout at home was in 1967 (35-0 Northern Illinois)

“The good things about the game were things we haven’t had here in a long time,” Flashes head coach Doug Martin said after the game. “We played a really good football team tonight.”

“We had a lot of respect for Kent State coming into this game” Chanticleers head coach David Bennett said afterwards. “We had a chance to win the game, but our offense just couldn’t get the job done”

Jarvis, returning punts for the first time in his collegiate career, made the big play of the game in that role. With Kent State holding onto a tenuous 2-0 lead in the third quarter, thanks to a second quarter safety, the Flashes downed a punt at the Coastal two-yard line.

Kent State held on three consecutive plays to force a punt which Jarvis fielded at the Chanticleers 38 yard line and returned 33 yards to the five.

“We knew coming into the game special teams was going to be big in this game, so we practiced hard. On the kick, the pursuit was coming at me. My teammates did a great job in setting up a wall and then (I) tried to make a play,” Jarvis said.
 
From there it took just three plays to make the score 9-0 as junior running back Andre Flowers went around the left side and into the end zone for the touchdown.

From that point on, Kent State was never threatened.

“Tonight we won a game with special teams. That has been our Achilles heel for us for a couple of years” Martin said.

For their entire 2008 season, Kent State had a grand total of 90 yards in punt returns. The Flashes had 77 alone in this game.
 
The game started as a defensive battle with neither team moving the ball effectively,

Lott’s interception marooned the Chanticleers on their one-yard line, and the poor position led to the game’s first score. On the first play after the interception, running back Tommy Fraser was tackled in the end zone by defensive end Sean Hogan to give the Flashes 2-0 lead.

Morgan, who was redshirted last year, started his first game since 2007 and looked shaky at times, especially in the first half. Overall, the sophomore from East Pointe, Georgia completed 21-of-35 passes for 207 yards and had two interceptions.

“I like the way we threw the ball for the most part” Martin said. “He (Morgan) has a great arm, and we have receivers like we haven’t had here before”

Wide receiver Tayshon Goode, a true freshman from Syracuse, New York, led Kent State receivers with six catches for 84 yards.

The game had turned into a battle of punts and field position before Kent State went on the move. The Flashes moved the ball from their own 23-yard line to the Coastal 27 where they were faced with fourth and seven yards for a first down. Martin declined the opportunity to go for a 44-yard field goal attempt  and instead went for the first down. The gamble failed as Morgan’s pass for Pressley fell incomplete.

“He (Cortez) can hit that. I just did not want to have his first college kick to be from 44 yards.” Martin said. “I just wanted to get him off to a good start. I just didn’t want to have a true freshman to kick it that far”
 
The Chanticleers took possession on downs with 3:53 remaining the first half and moved the ball effectively for the first time in the game. But after advancing the ball from their own 27 to the Kent State 39, McDowall turned the ball over on an interception by Brian Lainhart. Blitzing linebacker Cobrani Mixon keyed the play with a hit on Mixon as he was releasing the ball.

With 1:22 remaining in the half, Morgan got the Flashes offense in high gear, hitting three of four passes in a 45-yard drive that reached the Chanticleers 15 yard line. After a rush that lost two yards, and a timeout, Morgan connected with Jarvis for 11 yards down to the Coastal Carolina six.

After Morgan’s pass intended for Goode fell incomplete, freshman placekicker Freddy Cortez came out to attempt a 22-yard field goal but his first kick as a collegian was blocked.

Defensive back Dominique Davenport, who made the block, scooped up the ball amd returned it to the Kent State 26 yard line with two seconds remaining in the half.

“(Robert) Balkunas that was all him” Davenport said. “He created a crease for me. As soon as the ball moved, I was shooting through the gap. I was surprised I got there so quick and I was able to take it off his (Cortez) foot”

The Chanticleers, who had just 118 yards in total offense in the game’s first 30 minutes, still had a chance to take the lead going into halftime. However, placekicker Justin Durham, missed a 43-yarder wide left  and Kent State took that slim two-point lead into intermission.

“Our kicker is wide eyed and bushy tailed just watching the game…He was not ready to kick” Bennett said.

After the Flowers touchdown, the Flashes defense clamped down on the Coastal Carolina offense in general and specifically on McDowall

“Kent State did a great job tonight. They brought a lot (defensively) at us…11 (Mixon) and 31 (Lainhart) are great players” He said. They moved around a lot. They showed us some stuff we had not seen

“Our offense just couldn’t get it going. They (Kent State) did a great job of bringing pressure” Bennett said
 
A transfer from Wake Forest, McDowall completed just 12-of-26 passes on the night for 107 yards. It was the second lowest yardage total in his 12-game career as a starter. McDowall passed for 2,064 yards last season completing 61.3 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

The Chanticleers had one final chance to get back into the game late in the third quarter. After an exchange of punts, they took possession on their own 16-yard line and moved to the Kent State 37. McDowall, however, was hit by linebacker Monte Simmons, jarring the ball loose. It was recovered by Hull.

On the night Kent State held an offense that averaged 369.8 yards per game to just 185 over the full 60 minutes and just 67 yards in the second half.

“We did not do anything extraordinary.We just followed what our coaches told us to do. They gave us a good game plan, so all we had to do was make plays ” Mixon said.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Flashes took advantage of a second Coastal Carolina short punt and 27-yard return by Jarvis.

After a Morgan completion to junior tight end Jonathan Simpson moved the ball to the seven yard line. Two runs by Jarvis got the ball into the end zone and extended the Kent State lead to 16-0.

The scoring was completed late in the fourth quarter when, pinned deep in their territory, Coastal attempted a punt. The snap however, sailed over the head of punter Ben Erdman and out of the end zone for a safety to make the final score 18-0.

Kent State has won four of its last six games dating back to last season. That streak will be given a stiff test Saturday September 12  as the Golden Flashes travel to Boston College.

Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, now prepares for its home opener Sept 12 against the Monmouth (NJ) Hawks out of the Northeast Conference.

NOTES: The game was the first ever meeting between the two schools…Eugene Jarvis-KSU reached the 100-yard rushing mark for the 17th time in his career (33 games). His third quarter touchdown was the 27th of his career, moving him into eighth place on the all-time list…The win moved Kent State’s  record in season openers to 34-45-7 (19-9-4)…Kent State is 28-22 lifetime against the Football Championship Subdivision (2-0 against the Big South Conference)…Brian Lainhart’s interception in the second quarter was the ninth of his career, moving him into a tie for eleventh on the all-time list…Coastal Carolina is 0-2 against the Football Bowl Subdivision (It lost at Penn State 66-10 in the season opener last year)… Coast Carolina fell to 3-4 lifetime in season openers. The Chanticleers have lost their last four overall and four on the road…Coastal has been shutout the last two games dating back to last season and has not scored since the second quarter of their game at Presbyterian - a span of 10 quarters