The McAlary Effect

[djp73]

seems like yall are rolling now

what do you have injuries at? i don't get any long term ones, even at 65

Made some tweaks to the playbook, OL is playing better and WRs might actually be better than last season. TE is more of a weapon too. Nice combo of contrasting RBs and decent QB.

Can't remember for sure but I think I am also at 65. Garcia had some wear and tear issues that last game but never got injured. Any significant injuries I've had have been on the defensive side which I sim since I am the OC.

[djp73]

MAC FOOTBALL KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Whooped 'em!
Flashes put up 63 in dominant win over NIU
By Don Knotts | @theotherdonknotts | October 19, 2025

@
63 | 17
Saturday, October 18 2025 | 6:45PM
DeKalb, Illinois | Huskie Stadium
(4-2/2-0)|14|21|14|14|63
(1-5/0-2)|10|07|00|00|17


GAVIN GARCIA CELEBRATES ONE OF HIS FOUR TOUCHDOWNS
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DeKalb, Illinois - Every once in a while a team will play a game where it seems like everything clicks. Kent State had one of those games yesterday (mostly), putting up 63 points and over 600 yards of total offense while picking up a whopping 39 first downs, six shy of a record, in an absolute dismantling of Northern Illinois.

"You don't get games like this too often." Head Coach Tyson Veidt said of Kent State's performance. "Not flawless but a lot went right."

Aside from a pair of interceptions, one of which NIU returned for a touchdown, the Flashes could do no wrong.

Gavin Garcia started things off for Kent State, scoring on a two yard run to cap their first drive. Garcia, who was a bit overshadowed in the last game while Curtis Douglas racked up four touchdowns, received a heavy workload as he carried the ball 33 times and picking up 166 yards and four touchdowns in the win. He also caught three passes for 12 yards.

Tommy Ulatowski connected with Dontrell Bennett for a nine yard score a few minutes later, giving Kent State a 14-0 lead. Things went south at the end of the first quarter with Ulatowski turning the ball over on back to back possessions leading to a 14-0 run for NIU after which they led 17-14 early in the first quarter. NIU would not score again while Kent State went on to score 49 unanswered points to secure their third straight win.

Ulatowski finished the day with 320 yards and four touchdowns on 25 of 33 passing.

Chrishon McCray also had a monster day, tallying three touchdowns and 134 yards on nine receptions.

Kent State's defense came to play as well, holding NIU to just 208 total yards of offense.

Additional Media









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Scoring
1Q KENT Gavin Garcia 2 Yd run (Will Hryszko kick)
1Q KENT Dontrell Bennett 9 yd pass from Tommy Ulatowski (Will Hryszko kick)
1Q NIU Jake Seibert 39 Yd FG
1Q NIU Jacob Finley 35 Yd pick six (Jake Seibert kick)
2Q NIU Justin Lynch 8 Yd run (Jake Seibert kick)
2Q KENT Gavin Garcia 1 Yd run (Will Hryszko kick)
2Q KENT Chrishon McCray 2 Yd pass from Tommy Ulatowski (Will Hryszko kick)
2Q KENT Chrishon McCray 40 Yd pass from Tommy Ulatowski (Will Hryszko kick)
3Q KENT Chrishon McCray 23 Yd pass from Tommy Ulatowski (Will Hryszko kick)
3Q KENT Gavin Garcia 1 Yd run (Will Hryszko kick)
4Q KENT Gavin Garcia 3 Yd run (Will Hryszko kick)
4Q KENT Preston Taylor 6 Yd run (Will Hryszko kick)
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Key Statistics

Passing - T. Ulatowski 25/33 320Yds 4TD 2Int, D. Kargman 1/2 6Yds
Rushing – G. Garcia 33Car 166Yds 4TD, P. Taylor 13Car 63Yds 1TD, C. Douglas 5Car 51Yds
Receiving – C. McCray 9Rec 134Yds 3TD, D. Lee Jr 5Rec 80Yds, M. Hazime 5Rec 67Yds
Tackles – H. Kutcher 7, M. Folk 5
Sacks – R. Nicholl 1.0, J. Jackson 1.0
Takeaways – T. Miller 1Int, O. Billotte 1FF
Kicking – W. Hryszko 0/1FG 9/9XP


Passing – E. Hampton 9/24 125Yds 1Int
Rushing – J. Lynch 11Car 57Yds 1TD, E. Hampton 4Car 13Yds
Receiving – K. Thomas 2Rec 36Yds, J. Johnson 1Rec 28Yds, C. Thompson 2Rec 27Yds, K. Lewis 1Rec 26Yds
Tackles – J. Gassaway 29, M. Pretto 16, T. Porter 14, J. Finley 13
Sacks – C. Crowell 0.5, K. Session 0.5
Takeaways – J. Finley 1Int 1TD, J. Gassaway 1Int
Kicking – J. Seibert 1/1FG, 2/2XP
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Up Next
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[Agent]

good christ almighty that was a blowout

[The JZA]

NIU, it's been real fam. Time to close up shop and defunct

[James]

Kent State cooking the conference.

I also don’t see injuries in game either. Last year all mine came via super sim on the offense side.

[djp73]

I really thought that was going to be a close game

[djp73]

MAC FOOTBALL
MAC Football Results
Scores, Players of the Week and other news and notes from around the conference
By Don Knotts | @theotherdonknotts | October 20, 2025

MAC Scores
Toledo 38, Ball State 14
Central Michigan 23, Akron 20
Bowling Green 31, Western Michigan 24
Eastern Michigan 24, Buffalo 17
Kent State 63, Northern Illinois 17
Miami(OH) 32, Ohio 31

MAC Players of the Week
Northern Illinois CB Jacob Finley 13Tkl, 1Int, 1TD
Kent State RB Gavin Garcia 33Car 166Yds 4TD*
*=National Player of the Week

MAC Standings
Bowling Green 4-2/2-0
Eastern Michigan 3-3/2-0
Kent State 4-2/2-0
Miami(OH) 3-3/2-0
Toledo 3-3/1-0
Ball State 2-4/1-1
Central Michigan 2-4/1-1
Ohio 4-2/0-1
Akron 1-5/0-2
Buffalo 0-6/0-2
Northern Illinois 1-5/0-2
Western Michigan 3-3/0-2

MAC Leaders
Passing Yards: KENT T. Ulatowski 2,009
Passing TDs: OHIO C. Wither 18
Rushing Yards: WMU J. Buckley 577
Rushing TDs: OHIO R. Hunt Jr 8
Receiving Yards: KENT C. McCray 702
Receiving TDs: OHIO R. Harris II 9
Tackles: NIU LB J. Gassaway 71
Sacks: BGSU G. McNeal 11.0
Interceptions: M-OH CB T. Rush 3

[djp73]

MAC FOOTBALL KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Coaches Corner
Offensive Coordinator Jordan McAlary
By Don Knotts | @theotherdonknotts | October 21, 2025

Each week in the days following Kent State's game I will spend a few moments chatting with members of the coaching staff. I'll share some key points in this column.

This morning I spoke with offensive coordinator Jordan McAlary following Kent State's dominant win over Northern Illinois.

A big lopsided win over Northern Illinois. Any negatives?
There are almost always negatives in a win and positives in a loss. I guess the first thing that comes to mind from that game would be the turnovers.

Leaned on the run again. 53 rushes to 35 passes. Is that the game plan going forward?
You just get in a groove and go with what's working sometimes and that's where we're at right now. We didn't go in expecting to run the ball 53 times.

Player of the Week. Are you able to pick just one?
There's a few ways we can go here, you've seen the stats. I'm focusing up front. Obidegwu had 11 pancakes, Bittner had 7, Doulong 6, Bujnowski and Morell 5 each. One sack. Dominant performance that really allowed us to do what we wanted to as an offense.

[djp73]

MAC FOOTBALL KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State loses pair to conference foes
Bowling Green, Western Michigan lad Flashes targets
By Don Knotts | @theotherdonknotts | October 21, 2025

Three star defensive tackle Brian Freeland and three star offensive tackle David Addison have announced their commitments. Freeland, from Portage, Michigan, has elected to stay in-state and sign with Western Michigan. Addison has chosen Bowling Green. Both players were believed to have Kent State close to the top of their boards. Kent State's class sits at four total players, all three stars. They have not secured a commitment in a few weeks.

"We're really close with a lot of players that we really like." A source with the team said when we reached out.

Recruiting Class
(Listed by National Ranking)
POS|NAME| |NATL|STATE|POS|Hometown|HT|WT
ATH(QB)|Lawrence Hamm| |676|7|53|Colonial Heights, VA|6'1"|219
P|Hasheem Gwacham| |749|25|9|Rockwood, MI|6'2"|206
ATH(QB)|Sal Bryant| |1408|28|130|Chesterfield, VA|5'11"|208
OLB|Andy Durant| |1472|29|62|Homestead, PA|6'2"|232

Top 15 Targets
(Listed by National Ranking)
POS|NAME| |NATL|STATE|POS|Hometown|HT|WT|Stage: Schools
ATH(QB)|Deonte Dalton| |477|17|39|Long Branch, NJ|5'11"218|Top 5: Kent State, UMass, Temple, Marshall, Middle Tennessee
ATH(WR/TE)|Nick Sumner| |516|18|31|Dayton, OH|6'1"|230|Top 5: Kent State, Ohio, New Mexico, Ball State, NM State
ATH(TE)|Zach McClung| |592|18|34|Germantown, MD|6'5"|227|Top 5: Kent State, Old Dominion, Marshall, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee
ATH(RB)|Ben Redmond| |706|13|69|Sharon Hill, PA|5'11"|227|Top 3: Bowling Green, Kent State, Buffalo
LE|Cameron Cantwell| |776|4|33|Newburyport, MA|6'2"|299|Top 3: Kent State, UMass, Buffalo
FS|Jeremy Skaggs| |978|7|39|Urbandale, IA|6'1"|205|Top 5: Kent State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, North Texas, Marshall
ATH(G/C)|Tevin Cantrell| |1030|22|32|Chesapeake, VA|6'2"|287|Top 5: Kent State, Navy, Liberty, Buffalo, UMass
CB|Kenya Speed| |1072|23|90|Dumfries, VA|6'1"|202|Top 3: James Madison, Kent State, Eastern Michigan
ATH(TE)|Max Kowalewski| |1163|147|62|Winter Park, FL|6'5"|236|Top 5: Western Kentucky, Kent State, Central Michigan, New Mexico, NM State
RG|Tyrese Vernon| |1202|23|55|Erie, PA|6'2"|305|Top 5: Kent State, Ohio, Buffalo, Marshall, Ball State
LG|Zach Scmysniak| |1471|8|30|Boston, MA|6'5"|306|Top 5: Kent State, Army, UMass, Navy, Buffalo
TE|Brian Durant| |1515|30|89|Downingtown, PA|6'5"|238|Top 8: Kent State, UMass, Navy, Buffalo, Western Michigan, Liberty, Penn State, Kennesaw State
RE|Cornell Heggie| |1527|126|94|Smyrna, GA|6'5"|291|Top 5: Kent State, Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Coastal Carolina
WR|Pat Brock| |1543|41|176|Potomac, MI|6'1"|192|Top 5: Kent State, Old Dominion, Marshall, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee
CB|Jamal Rabe| |1550|188|123|Daytona Beach, FL|5'10"|176|Top 5: Appalachian State, Kent State, Ball State, Akron, Charlotte

[djp73]

MAC FOOTBALL KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State Game Preview
Buffalo
By Don Knotts | @theotherdonknotts | October 22, 2025

@
0-6/0-2 | 4-2/2-0
Week 9
Saturday, October 25 2025 | 7:30PM
Kent, Ohio | Dix Stadium
2024 Record: 5-7/3-5
Team Leaders:
QB Gunnar Gray 1,199Yds 7TD 6Int
HB Lamar Sperling 362Yds 1TD
WR Quenten Pollard 318Yds 3TD
LB Dion Crawford 59Tkl
LB Red Murdock 3.0Sck
CB Oliver Bridges 1Int

Injuries
Kent State: None
Buffalo: None