At the beginning of last November, Kent State was in the middle of what seemed to be another run of the mill season. The Golden Flashes sat at 3-6 overall (2-3 MAC), and looked destined to finish once again near the bottom of the MAC East. Things were improving in Sean Lewis’ second year leading the program, but the general sense was that the Flashes were still a year or two away.
Then, something funny happened: a furious fourth quarter rally gave Kent a 30-27 victory over Buffalo, keeping the teams’ bowl hopes alive. The momentum carried over, as the Flashes defeated Ball State and Eastern Michigan in the last two weeks of the season to reach 6-6 (and bowl eligibility) for the first time since 2012.