 KENT, OH– Rain, lightning, turnovers and penalties put a damper on Kent State's home opener Saturday night as the Golden Flashes fell to Louisiana-Lafayette, 20-12, at Dix Stadium.
The Flashes were plagued by nine first half penalties for 90 yards and a pair of costly turnovers, creating a 17-7 deficit at the break. While the Kent State defense kept the game within reach, two more second half turnovers stymied the offense.
Louisiana-Lafayette opened scoring with an interception return. A first quarter pass by Spencer Keith sailed deep and into the arms of Louisiana's Lionel Stokes, who weaved his way through the KSU offense, going 63 yards into the end zone with 5:32 remaining in the period.
Kent State responded, in part thanks to an interception by Josh Pleasant at 3:21. Keith tossed a swing pass to Jacquise Terry, who scampered six yards into the right side of the end zone to tie the game 7-7 with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Starting a second quarter drive on their own four yard line, disaster struck the Flashes again. Intending to hand off to his tailback, Keith hit fullback Tim Erjavec with the edge of the ball, which jarred loose and was recovered by the Cajuns at the one. Qyenda Griffin found the front corner of the end zone on a sweep to the left side on third-and-goal.
A pair of 15-yard personal fouls during Louisiana's final drive of the half contributed to a Cajuns' field goal and a 10-point lead at intermission.
Lightning entered the area a short time later, and with 9:13 left in the third quarter delayed the game for an hour and twenty-two minutes.
Two plays after the delay, junior linebacker C.J. Malauulu forced an intentional grounding penalty, giving the Flashes a safety. Another strong defensive stand gave the Flashes the ball back in Cajun territory and led to a Freddy Cortez field goal that closed the deficit to 17-12.
Any KSU momentum, however, fizzled with a pair of turnovers down the stretch. Another Kent State fumble gave Louisiana-Lafayette possession at the KSU 38 with 11:42 remaining. Ten plays later, Brett Baer connected on a 28-yard field goal that stretched the UL-L lead to 20-12.
The Flashes' final drive began at their own two-yard line and went 40 yards, before another fumble sealed the road victory for Louisiana. Spencer hit Kirkland on a 19-yard pass play, but Dwight Bengley forced a fumble.
The two teams combined for eight fumbles in wet conditions. Kent State lost all three of its fumbles. The Cajuns lost two of five fumbles. Together, KSU and UL-L gained 345 total yards of offense and 19 first downs (10 for UL-L and nine for KSU).
Kent State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 17 at Kansas State.
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics
|
