FOOTBALL: Live Blog, First Quarter at Toledo

By David Carducci

Director of New Media

It’s always nice to get a lead before the offense takes the field.

That was the case for Kent State today as Ryan Siebert recovered the football in the end zone after a bad snap on Toledo’s punt to end the first series of the game. Siebert made a great play on the football, ripping at the ball as punter Nick Ellis appeared to be in position to recover.

With 14:21 to play, the Flashes had a 7-0 lead. That advantage stood up after the second series when kicker Jameson Vest missed wide left on a relatively short field goal.

Unfortunately, the Kent State offense hasn’t done a whole lot despite finding some holes early in the running game. A holding penalty derailed a promising first KSU drive that saw Raekwon James pick up 16 on the first play and then another big gain into Toledo territory. 

The Flashes ran for 32 yards on seven plays. The passing game, meanwhile, managed just 10 yards on 2-for-6 attempts by Colin Reardon.

Toledo took advantage of a few KSU penalties on an 8-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Phillip Ely finding Corey Jones for a 3-yard touchdown. 

A bad early trend has been penalties as KSU has already been flagged four times for 23 yards, including a couple of drive killers.

This crew seems a bit penalty happy. One of the flags helped Kent State in a big way, though, as a block in the back took away a touchdown return for Toledo on the opening kickoff. It was an obvious call, though, as the entire KSU sideline erupted on the block. Most of the stadium did not see the flag until long after the play came to an end. Many of us on the Flashes sideline thought the officials missed it.