Kent State Golden Flashes at Eastern Michigan Eagles
Tue Nov 24 · 6:00 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 4d ago·2 min read
KENT
EMU
AT
6:00 PM CT
Share
A Tuesday-night MACtion special between two programs still climbing out of the basement — and both have real reasons to believe next season looks different.
Bush’s Picks
KENTEMU
KENTEMU
OverUnder
Best BetEastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan's the pick here on the strength of one man: Noah Kim gives the Eagles a returning starter who already proved he can throw with anyone in this league. Kent State's turnaround is real, but it was built on a low bar, and beating a MAC quarterback of Kim's caliber on the road is a different challenge than snapping a losing streak against UMass.
Kent State
+Historic 5-game turnaround snapped 21-game skid
+First MAC win since 2022 was a statement
+Showed resilience in comeback win over Bowling Green
−Co-coordinator setup is untested under game pressure
Eastern Michigan's whole 2026 pitch starts and ends with Noah Kim. The NCAA granted the veteran quarterback an eligibility waiver to return for a seventh year of college football, and Kim enters this matchup as the guy who solidified himself as the premier passer in the MAC during his first season in Ypsilanti. Kent State, meanwhile, is the team nobody circled a year ago that suddenly has a pulse.
Health and depth matter more in November MACtion games than almost anywhere else in the sport — short weeks, banged-up rosters, and rivalry desperation all collide. Neither program is walking in unscathed after a full season, and how each trots out its two-deep here will say plenty about where the pecking order in the MAC actually sits going forward.
Show fees
6:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
KENT Kent State
EMU Eastern Michigan
Kent State's whole season arc has been about proving 2025 wasn't a fluke. Under Mark Carney, the Golden Flashes snapped an FBS-long 21-game losing streak, beat UMass for their first FBS and MAC win since 2022, and clawed back from a 21-3 hole to knock off Bowling Green. That's the resume of a program that finally has an identity again.
Kent State Golden Flashes
Nov 17?vs Miami (OH)—
Nov 10?@ Bowling Green—
Oct 30?@ Sacramento State—
Oct 16?@ South Florida—
Oct 9?@ Western Michigan—
Oct 2?vs Ohio—
Sep 25?vs Ball State—
Sep 19?@ Ohio State—
Sep 12?vs Wofford—
Sep 5?@ South Carolina—
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Nov 17?@ Western Michigan—
Nov 3?vs Central Michigan—
Oct 16?vs Toledo—
Oct 10?@ Akron—
Oct 2?@ Massachusetts—
Sep 26?vs Lindenwood—
Sep 19?@ Wisconsin—
Sep 12?@ Michigan State—
Sep 4?vs San José State—
Aug 29?vs Sacramento State—
Recent form.
Eastern Michigan's story is the mirror image — a talented roster that underachieved. The Eagles went 4-8 last year despite Kim's big numbers, and the fix wasn't at quarterback, it was on the other side of the ball. Chris Creighton split the defensive coordinator job between Kasey Teegardin and Tate Omli this offseason, building the unit around a stripped-down mantra: tackles, takeaways and effort. If that defense holds up its end, EMU looks like a completely different team than the one that finished 3-5 in conference play.
Kent State Golden Flashes
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Eastern Michigan Eagles
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Kent State's turnaround was built on grit and a young roster buying in fast under a first-time full-time head coach — the kind of thing that can plateau or keep snowballing depending on how the offseason went. Eastern Michigan's floor is higher on paper with Kim slinging it, but a defense that got dismantled and rebuilt with co-coordinators is still an experiment until it's proven on the field. This one comes down to whether Carney's culture shift outruns Creighton's defensive reset.
