Mid-American · Mark Carney, year 2 (6-9) · Dix Stadium · 25,319 · 7,887 avg in 2026
LastL 3–59 at Ohio State · Sat Sep 19 · Aiden Burgess 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 tackles
Nextvs Ball State · Sat Sep 26 · 12 pm ET · Dix Stadium · Kent State by 3 · series 8-25, lost the last 4 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 3
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #122 | #16 | +35.5✗ | @South Carolina | L 0–57 120 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #114 | #197 | -10✓ | Wofford | W 36–15 125 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #132 | #1 | +52.5✗ | @Ohio State | L 3–59 121 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Sep 26 | #120 | #157 | -3 | Ball State | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | #121 | #60 | Ohio | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | @Western Michigan | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @South Florida | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | Akron | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | @Sacramento State | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 11 | @Bowling Green | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 18 | Miami (OH) | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 25 | @Eastern Michigan |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | @Ohio State | L 3–59 | 134 | 3 | 29:39 | -0.450 | 19.6% | 85.6% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Sep 12 | Wofford | W 36–15 | 448 | 3 | 37:22 | +0.125 | 41.1% | 130.6% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Sep 5 | @South Carolina | L 0–57 | 179 | 1 | 25:13 | -0.038 | 26.5% | 146.1% | Most explosive |
| Season average (3 games) | 254 | 2.3 | -0.121 | 29.1% | 120.8% | ||||
Kent State went 1-23 across two seasons, fired its coach, and turned to the guy already on staff -- who won five games in one year and took the Wagon Wheel back from Akron in overtime to prove it.
Kent State fans have watched the program get written off as a MAC afterthought during the 1-23 stretch -- and answered with a coach promoted from the same staff that presided over it, turning the…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 5-7 · last season
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among Mid-American teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cooling. 5-5 over the last 10, and lost the last one.
I think anytime you got a guy who can do it with both his arms and legs, the defense is always on notice
Next Sep 26
vs Ball State · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questioncan a new staff change the trajectory?
Carney, who led a 5-7 turnaround at Kent State, inherits an 11% production return and a program that’s been through three coaches in five years — the churn defines the challenge, not his credentials.
our readdeveloping
Gavin Garcia does NOT see a usage spike in garbage time -- his workload holds steady regardless of score.
our readbackground
Kent State: coordinator change reshaping a unit.
our readbackground
Mark Carney's 5-7 turnaround capped by reclaiming the Wagon Wheel from Akron offers a rare spark for a program mired in a 1-23 slide across 2023-2024.
our readdeveloping
Outcome band · Kent State · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Mark Carney took over as Kent State's head coach, replacing Kenni Burns. It is the program's third head coach in five seasons. It's not the hire that's the story anymore — it's everything it set in motion. The room has bought in, but early believers have been wrong before.
The 'this hire changes everything' takes -- new-era believers making the case early.
The 'show me the body of work' counter -- resume gaps, scheme fits, and 'not that guy' reads.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
Only 1 of 85 board posts mention it — below our floor to call a community stance. Shown as texture, not a verdict.
Nothing in our corpus yet — this door stays open for when there is.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
The second-order trail: commits, decommits, portal and staff knock-on from the hire.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Kent State went 1-23 across 2023-2024, fired Kenni Burns in April 2025, and turned to interim-then-permanent head coach Mark Carney -- who led a 5-7 turnaround with more wins in one season than the previous two combined, capped by reclaiming the Wagon Wheel from Akron in an overtime thriller.
The program ledger
since 2025Kickoff specialist named starter
Beamer locks in Sanchez as the kicker for a #122-ranked class that can't afford dead weight at any spot — depth pressure at OT already, so getting a starter-tier answer on special teams without burning a scholarship matters more than it sounds.
Stephen Daley returns to Indiana football
Daley's injunction win sends him back to Bloomington — Kent State loses a blocking anchor from a depth class already ranked #122 nationally and sweating OT pressure heading into 2026.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
OH leads the 2026 class with 13 commits. National footprint reaching 5 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
79 signees across 14 states, 2023-2026. OH leads the pull.
That is 7.2% of every high-school FBS signee OH produced over those cycles — second only to Ohio State, 3 signees back. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Kent State player grew up 167 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Dix Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 106 of 111 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Recovering 40% of their own fumbles — running cold vs. the ~52% league rate.
2 of 5 own fumbles recovered themselves, 2026 only.
Losing the penalty battle: 26 penalties committed vs. 15 drawn on opponents, a 76-yard deficit.
190 penalty yards committed vs. 114 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Kent State · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026