Kent State Golden Flashes at Sacramento State Hornets
Fri Oct 30 · 9:30 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 5d ago·2 min read
KENT
SAC
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Two programs headed in opposite directions collide for the first time ever, with Sacramento State's brand-new FBS life crashing into Kent State's fight to keep climbing out of the MAC basement.
Bush’s Picks
KENTSAC
KENTSAC
OverUnder
Best BetKent State
Kent State brings the far steadier setup here — a returning quarterback, a full offseason under the same staff, and real momentum off a 5-game turnaround. Sacramento State is starting almost from zero with a first-time head coach and only 3 returning starters, which is a lot to overcome in year one at a new level. Back the more established program until Sac State proves it belongs.
Kent State
+Dru DeShields returns at quarterback with experience
+Program trending up: 5-game turnaround in 2025
+Same coaching staff, no offseason transition
−Lost top 2 receivers, Wolford and Martin
−Still just 1 year removed from winless season
Sacramento State
+Carson Conklin returns with real starting experience
+Curtis and Coleman add skill-position talent
+Home crowd for program's first-ever FBS season
−Only 3 returning starters from last year's team
−First-year head coach with no D1 HC experience
−Major rebuild on both lines and in the secondary
Neither of these teams has ever played the other, which is fitting given how strange this whole setup is. Sacramento State spent 33 years building an FCS power, and now it's jumping straight into the MAC with a first-time head coach and almost nobody back from a 7-5 team. Kent State, meanwhile, is coming off the most encouraging season the program has had in years and wants to prove 2025 wasn't a fluke.
Kent State's turnaround under Mark Carney is the more grounded storyline here. The Golden Flashes went from a winless 2024 to a 5-7 finish that stood as one of the biggest turnarounds in the country, and Carney got the interim tag removed because of it. Quarterback Dru DeShields is back to run it again, though he's got to break in a receiving corps that lost its top two options in Cade Wolford and Da'Shawn Martin.
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KENT Kent State
SAC Sacramento State
Sacramento State's version of continuity is Carson Conklin, who starred there in 2024, spent a year at Fresno State, and is now back running new head coach Alonzo Carter's offense. Carter, an Arizona assistant with zero prior head-coaching reps, is trying to replace nearly an entire two-deep — the Hornets return just 3 starters from last season. Whatever line value shows up here is going to be a projection more than a formula, since this is uncharted territory for everybody involved.
Kent State Golden Flashes
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—
Sacramento State Hornets
Oct 16?vs Ohio—
Oct 9?@ Bowling Green—
Sep 25?vs Massachusetts—
Sep 19?vs North Dakota State—
Sep 12?@ Fresno State—
Sep 5?vs Mississippi Valley State—
Aug 29?@ Eastern Michigan—
Recent form.
The identity of this game is really about which unknown is scarier. Kent State knows its quarterback and its coaching staff but has to find new playmakers on the outside. Sacramento State has a quarterback who's actually played meaningful snaps before, plus skill pieces in running back Jamar Curtis and transfer receiver Matthew Coleman, but its offensive and defensive lines are being built from scratch against a jump in competition level the program has never faced.
Kent State Golden Flashes
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Sacramento State Hornets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Call this one a program-building measuring stick more than a marquee MAC matchup. Kent State's front office wants proof last year's leap was real progress and not a mirage against a soft slate, while Sacramento State just wants to survive its first taste of FBS football without getting overwhelmed up front. Whichever staff wins the line of scrimmage battle probably wins the day.
