2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football team

The 2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football team represented Kent State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Paul Haynes and played their home games at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division.

2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionEast Division
Record2–10 (1–7 MAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDon Treadwell (3rd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Co-defensive coordinatorBen Needham (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorJeff Burrow[1] (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumDix Stadium
Seasons
← 2016
2018 →
2017 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Akron xy   6 2     7 7  
Ohio   5 3     9 4  
Miami (OH)   4 4     5 7  
Buffalo   4 4     6 6  
Bowling Green   2 6     2 10  
Kent State   1 7     2 10  
West Division
Toledo xy$   7 1     11 3  
Central Michigan   6 2     8 5  
Northern Illinois   6 2     8 5  
Western Michigan   4 4     6 6  
Eastern Michigan   3 5     5 7  
Ball State   0 8     2 10  
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant

On August 28, 2017, the school announced that head coach Paul Haynes would be taking a medical leave of absence and miss the first two to three weeks of the season.[2] Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell was named interim head coach.[3] Haynes returned to the Flashes after missing two games due to prostate cancer treatments.[4]

On November 22, one day after the Flashes' final game of the season against Akron, the school fired Paul Haynes after five losing seasons.[5][6] On December 19, the school hired Sean Lewis as head coach.[7][8]

Coaching staff

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Name Title
Paul Haynes Head coach
Don Treadwell Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Dave McMichael Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach
Ben Needham Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Jeff Burrow Co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach
Doc Gamble Wide receivers coach
Mark Spencer Recruiting coordinator/running backs coach
Colin Ferrell Defensive line coach
Rob Zeitman Offensive line coach
Joe Tresey Cornerbacks coach

Source:[9]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 212:00 p.m.at No. 5 Clemson*ESPNL 3–5680,121
September 93:30 p.m.Howard*ESPN3W 38–3120,312
September 166:30 p.m.at Marshall*CUSA.TVL 0–2124,044
September 2312:00 p.m.at No. 19 Louisville*ACCRSNL 3–4247,812
September 303:30 p.m.Buffalo
  • Dix Stadium
  • Kent, OH
ESPN3L 13–2712,355
October 73:30 p.m.at Northern IllinoisESPN3L 3–2411,398
October 143:30 p.m.Miami (OH) 
  • Dix Stadium
  • Kent, OH
ESPN3W 17–1420,537
October 2112:00 p.m.at OhioESPN3L 3–4819,540
October 318:00 p.m.Bowling Green
ESPNUL 16–447,140
November 87:00 p.m.at Western MichiganCBSSNL 20–489,584
November 147:00 p.m.Central Michigan
  • Dix Stadium
  • Kent, OH
ESPNUL 23–425,580
November 217:00 p.m.at AkronESPNUL 14–2421,683
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Source:[10]

Game summaries

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At Clemson

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 0 3 0 0 3
No. 5 Tigers 21 7 21 7 56

Howard

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bison 7 7 10 7 31
Golden Flashes 14 7 2 15 38

At Marshall

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 0 0 0 0 0
Thundering Herd 0 7 0 14 21

At Louisville

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 0 3 0 0 3
No. 19 Cardinals 21 7 14 0 42

Buffalo

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 7 13 7 0 27
Golden Flashes 0 13 0 0 13

At Northern Illinois

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 0 3 0 0 3
Huskies 7 7 10 0 24

Miami (OH)

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1 2 3 4 Total
RedHawks 0 14 0 0 14
Golden Flashes 0 3 14 0 17

At Ohio

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 3 0 0 0 3
Bobcats 0 13 28 7 48

Bowling Green

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1 2 3 4 Total
Falcons 17 3 14 10 44
Golden Flashes 0 9 0 7 16

At Western Michigan

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 14 0 0 6 20
Broncos 21 10 3 14 48

Central Michigan

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1 2 3 4 Total
Chippewas 7 21 0 14 42
Golden Flashes 3 14 0 6 23

At Akron

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1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 0 7 7 0 14
Zips 10 14 0 0 24

References

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  1. ^ Staff Directory - Jeff Burrow Archived 2017-07-10 at the Wayback Machine. Kent State University Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017. "Entering his seventh season, Jeff Burrow has served as Kent State’s safeties coach since March of 2011 and was promoted co-defensive coordinator in 2017."
  2. ^ "Kent State head coach to miss first 2-3 weeks, including opener against Clemson". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  3. ^ "Don Treadwell named Kent State's interim head coach". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "Kent State coach Paul Haynes returns after cancer treatments: MAC Football 2017". cleveland.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  5. ^ "Kent State fires Haynes after 5 losing seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  6. ^ rlewis. "Kent State fires football coach Paul Haynes after loss to Akron". www.ohio.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  7. ^ Moff, Allen. "Kent State hires Sean Lewis as new football coach". Record. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "Syracuse's Sean Lewis to be named Kent State's new head football coach". cleveland.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  9. ^ Staff Directory. Kent State University Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  10. ^ 2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football schedule. FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 29, 2017.