Ohio State vs. Kent State: 2026 game preview and prediction
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Ohio State will look to rebound from last week’s fourth quarter collapse against Texas when they host the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday afternoon.
The Buckeyes held a 23-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter before the Longhorns scored three unanswered touchdowns to secure a 24-23 victory. With the loss, Ohio State is now 25-2 in September games under Ryan Day.
Ohio State enters Saturday’s game winners of 157 games at home since 2000, which is nine more than any other program. Just since 2019, the Buckeyes have won 45 games at Ohio Stadium. Overall, Ohio State has 274 wins since 2000, two more than Georgia.
Ohio State’s history against the MAC and Kent State
Next up for the Buckeyes will be their second MAC opponent of the season. Following their 56-3 win over Ball State in the season opener, Ohio State notched their 37th win in a row over teams from the conference and are now 40-1 all-time against MAC schools.
Ryan Day is now 7-0 against teams from the MAC, with his teams averaging 59 points per game and winning games against teams from the conference by an average of 51.7 points.
Saturday’s game marks the fourth meeting between the Buckeyes and Golden Flashes. The first three meetings haven’t been close, with Ohio State winning all three contests by a combined score of 165-20.
The last time the two programs met came in 2014 in a similar situation. The Buckeyes were coming off a loss to Virginia Tech and took out their frustrations on the Golden Flashes, shutting them out 66-0.
Rewriting the record books at wide receiver
Jeremiah Smith has a chance to make history on Saturday, as he is just 26 yards away from breaking Michael Jenkins’ school record of 2,898 receiving yards.
Smith is coming off a 164-yard performance against Texas last week, giving him 315 yards and three touchdowns on 16 catches through two games.
The junior wide receiver now has four straight games with at least 100 yards. If Smith is able to cross the century mark this year, he will tie Cris Carter and Jaxon Smith-Njigba for most consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving in school history.
Since arriving at Ohio State in 2024, Smith has 179 catches for 2,873 yards and 30 receiving touchdowns.
How the rest of the Buckeye offense looks
Despite throwing for 278 yards against Texas, Julian Sayin is coming off one of his worst games as a Buckeye. The second-year starter missed on nearly half his passes against the Longhorns, with many of those incompletions coming in the second half on Saturday night.
The inaccuracy from Sayin was a surprise to see after the Heisman Trophy finalist connected on 77 percent of his passes in 2025.
After seeing just nine carries against Ball State, Bo Jackson received a heavy workload against Texas, toting the football 19 times and finishing with 74 yards.
Jackson was also a factor in the passing attack, hauling in four passes, which was the second-most by a Buckeye player against the Longhorns, with only Jeremiah Smith having more.
A huge problem for Ohio State against Texas was no other wide receivers stepped up and were able to make a play in the game. Besides Jeremiah Smith, the rest of the Buckeye wide receivers combined to catch just two passes for 24 yards.
Devin McCuin had a chance to put the game away for Ohio State but Julian Sayin was able to connect with the wide-open transfer from UTSA.
A defense eager to bounce back
There was also issues on the defensive side of the football for Ohio State last week. The defensive line underperformed in the second half, as it was obvious the heat took a toll on the big men in the trenches.
The only real highlight from the group came when Kenyatta Jackson Jr. recorded his first sack of the season. The Longhorns ended up finishing with 141 yards rushing in the game.
One of Ohio State’s top tacklers in last week’s game was Payton Pierce, who finished with nine stops. With his output against the Longhorns, Pierce now has 12 tackles this season to go along with the fumble he forced against Ball State.
To compliment what Pierce did in Austin, Riley Pettijohn also made an impact by recording a sack. The Texas native now has two tackles for loss this season.
From the first play of the game it was obvious the Buckeye secondary came to play on Saturday night. Freshman Jay Timmons made the biggest play of his young Ohio State career when he forced and recovered a Texas fumble on the first play.
Then on the next drive Jaylen McClain grabbed the first interception of his college career.
Transfer defensive back Earl Little Jr. had a team-high 11 tackles against the Longhorns in just his second game at Ohio State. Jermaine Matthews Jr also was solid against Texas, finishing with a tackle and a half behind the line of scrimmage.
Devin Sanchez, who like Pettijohn and a number of other Buckeyes is also from Texas, was third on the team with eight tackles.
How the Golden Flashes enter Saturday’s game
Kent State enters Saturday’s game with a 1-1 record. After losing their season opener 57-0 at South Carolina, the Golden Flashes rebounded with a 36-15 victory at home over Wofford last week. Kent State actually trailed 15-14 heading into the fourth quarter before reeling off 22 unanswered points to secure the win.
On Saturday Kent State will be playing their first Big Ten team since they traveled to State College in 2024 and lost to Penn State 56-0. The Golden Flashes are 1-24 all-time against Big Ten members with their only win coming in 2012 against Rutgers.
A program on the rise
Times were tough for the Golden Flashes a few years ago, as they posted a 1-11 record in 2023 followed by a 2024 campaign that saw them fail to win a game. The program responded by firing head coach Kenni Burns after just two seasons and promoting offensive coordinator Mark Carney, who was born in Cleveland.
Last season Kent State made a noticeable improvement under Carney, posting a 5-7 record. Now the Golden Flashes are eyeing their first bowl appearance since 2021 when they went to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Looking at Kent State’s offense
Kent State’s offense is led by quarterback Dru DeShields. Last season DeShields tossed 18 touchdowns and just three picks, adding another three scores on the ground in his first action at the college level.
Now a junior, DeShields has thrown for 311 yards and a touchdown in the first two games of the season. DeShields has also continued to show he is a threat on the ground, totaling 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Lining up at running back for the Golden Flashes will be Mason King, Brandon White, and Jakorion Caffey. King has 74 yards rushing this season, with 68 coming against Wofford. White has carried the ball 16 times through two games, and Caffey had a rushing touchdown against Wofford which ended up being the game-winning score.
The most interesting wide receiver on Kent State’s roster is Da’Realyst Clark. Even though he has just nine catches in his college career, Clark has made waves as a returner. The senior from Lima should continue to be feared on special teams since Josh Cribbs is now the special teams coach at Kent State.
Last season Clark averaged 28.3 yards per kick return and took two kicks back for a score. Along with being a threat on special teams, Clark has already seen his role expand in the passing game. Last week Clark hauled in four passes for 94 yards.
The other receiver Ohio State will have to keep tabs on is Wayne Harris, who leads the Golden Flashes with 106 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. Last season as a freshman Harris caught 35 passes for 383 yards.
How Kent State will line up on defense
Kent State’s defense will have their work cut out for them against a potential Ohio State offense. Against Wofford the Golden Flashes showed improvement after an ugly opener, holding the Terriers to just 15 points.
Defensive end Jaihien Roy has made some noise at defense end so far this season, record and sack and four hurries while also intercepting a pass. Nose guard Josue Cordoba also had a sack last week. The group is young with only one senior on their two-deep depth chart.
The heart of the defense is linebacker Rocco Nicholl. The redshirt senior leads the team with 13 tackles and two sacks. Hayden Dawahare also has made plays so far this season with three tackles for loss. The third starter at linebacker is projected to be Trey Rubenstein.
The secondary of the Golden Flashes is anchored by A’tiq Muhammad, who has 12 tackles. Joining Muhammad at cornerback is Angelo Stockstill, while Joel Cordoba and Norte Johnson should get the start at safety. When Kent State uses a nickel back it will likely be D.J. Barnes.
Prediction
Over the years Ohio State has had little trouble with opponents from the MAC. Saturday should be no different.
The Buckeyes easily handled Ball State in the opener, while Kent State couldn’t even muster a point when playing Power 4 opponent South Carolina.
The Golden Flashes also won’t be helped by the fact the Buckeyes will be playing angry after losing to Texas last week. Kent State was in a similar situation the last time the schools squared off, with Ohio State losing to Virginia Tech the week before. The Buckeyes won 66-0 in Columbus.
This is the type of game where Ryan Day will want his starters to get some work but also build the confidence of his backups. The group to watch will be the wide receivers since if the Buckeyes want to win another national title they’ll need someone else besides Jeremiah Smith to step up.
Day will take this game as a chance to fine tune areas that need worked on before Big Ten play begins next week while hopefully not needing his starters to play much after halftime.
LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 63, Kent State 7
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