The 2024 season has not been in the favor of Kent State. The team’s offense currently ranks last in the FBS and has managed to give out 3.37 yards per play. The defense is also in the same spot with 7.48 yards per play. Their performances have been lackluster so far with three defeats out of three and in their recent outing against the Nittany Lions, the Golden Flashes have lost one of their key players due to an injury.

With just two plays into the game, Kent State quarterback Devin Kargman took a hard hit from Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton. It resulted in a fumble, but his teammate recovered. However, Kargman stayed down on the field and was seen withering in pain. Shortly, medical personnel arrived on the field with a stretcher and the QB had to be carted off the field.

The nature of Kargman’s injury is unknown as of now, but it was noted that he was holding his right leg after he went down and his right knee was elevated while he was being taken away. Kargman was taken to Mt. Nittany Medical Center and was in emergency, just right down the road from Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania, according to the Big Ten Network broadcast.

Speaking on Kragman’s injury after the game, HC Kenni Burns said, “I don’t know exactly what’s going on there, but we’ll have more information in the press conference on Monday.” Kent State fans will hope for a quick recovery for their star player in what has been a disappointing season for the team.

With a 55% completion rate this year, Kargman has been one of the only ‘diamond in the rough’ in the team’s roster. This is the first season for Kargman as the program’s starting QB, and the redshirt sophomore has managed to go 45 of 82 432 yards and 3 passing touchdowns for now.

After Kargman went off injured, the misery continued for Kent State. Freshman JD Sherrod came on as a replacement but was injured in just the second quarter with only 18 yards to his name. Sherrod went forward in a play but fell and was seen holding his left ankle in pain. This led to Kent State fielding their third-string QB Tommy Ulatowski.

Ulatowski went 0-6 passing as his team struggled to get any momentum going. The three quarterbacks could only combine for 1.4 yards per pass. These latest injury concerns come after they lost their running back Gavin Garcia to an off-season injury.

Meanwhile, Dennis-Sutton, whose tackle took out Kragman said it was tough to see the QB hurt. “You obviously never want to see anybody’s career go down or purposefully take anyone out. It’s a violent sport. It happens to people all the time. Obviously I hope their quarterbacks, all their players are okay,” the Penn State player said.

Kent State could only muster 67 yards and Penn State ended up winning 56-0 thanks to Drew Allar, who finished with 17 of 21 passes for 309 yards and four TDs. This defeat meant The Golden Flashes are now 0-4

The team had already lost its season opener against St. Francis, and this loss was followed by the major defeat against Tennessee at 71-0. After Kargman went off, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Kent State and so it proved. But their coach remains defiant.

The Golden Flashes looking to learn from beatings ahead of the MAC season

With Kent State going 1-11 on the third down, their conversion rate of 8-53 on the season (15.09%) is the worst in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). This was their second game in a row in which they failed to get on the scoreboard, meaning their average points per game after four games is now 10.25, which is 133rd out of 134 teams in the FBS.

They have lost 14 of their last 15 games, but the recent experience might bode well for Burns and his team when they go up against teams almost on their level. Despite being left bruised and battered, Coach Burns is upbeat.

When asked if the experience was worthwhile before their MAC season, he said, “Absolutely. Tremendously so. We’ve just got to use it. They’ve got to have a real conversation with themselves. They, and we as coaches, have got watch film and be honest and go to work.”

By the looks of it, they will have to start their MAC with their third-string quarterback with the hope that both Kragman and JD Sherrod make a speedy recovery.

However, what you might find more interesting than Golden Flashes and their games is our new EssentiallySports Think Tank interview with Doug Sanders.