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Banged up Golden Flashes see 'Cyclone' Saturday

The Kent State Golden Flashes came out of their 34-7 loss at Boston College last Saturday banged up and bruised. This week it’s Big-12 member Iowa State, a rare home game for KSU against a BCS team.

The biggest injury came when arguably their star player, running back Eugene Jarvis sustained a kidney injury and will be lost for the remainder of the season. Jarvis, a fifth-year senior from Pittsburgh, suffered a lacerated kidney in the first quarter in the game at Alumni Stadium. Head Coach Doug Martin was not aware of the injury until he saw Jarvis in the locker room at halftime.

At his press conference on Monday, Martin said “When we got back (from BC) he was having some pain. We took him to the hospital and the doctors diagnosed the injury. That tough guy would have played the entire game if I had not seen him in there (the locker room) at halftime and figured out what was going on.”

He added “I am really thankful that we did not put him back into the game. I can’t say enough about our trainer, Pamela Long, and the job she did of holding him out”

The Golden Flashes will petition the NCAA to grant Jarvis a sixth year of eligibility. Martin was adamant about getting that sixth year for Jarvis. He said “That is a slam dunk that kid should get a sixth year…If he doesn’t, then someone is not doing their job or the NCAA doesn’t care about kids.”

Jarvis came into 2009 with second most rushing yards in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision, and needing only 721 yards to become the all-time leader in that category at Kent State.

He opened the season rushing for 141 yards and a touchdown in the Flashes 18-0 home win over Coastal Carolina. Then in the first half against BC he ran the ball 10 times for 17 yards before leaving with the injury.

One thing Martin was doing with Jarvis this season was having him be a punt returner using his speed and quickness for better field position. In the Coastal Carolina game he had five returns with one being a 33-yarder which set up a KSU touchdown.

“He’ll be back…This is going to be hard on him watching 11 football games but he will come out of it stronger on the other side” Martin said.

There is some speculation that Jarvis will be on the sideline for the game at Dix Stadium for Saturday’s game with Iowa State

“The only thing he did get upset about that he doesn’t know if he can walk out (for the coin toss) with the captains on Saturday but he said he is going to” Defensive back Lainhart said.

As for the future, starting with this Saturday, Martin said he will work Andre Flowers, Jacquise Terry and Dri Archer into the starting tailback spot “We really loved what we saw from Dri Archer last Saturday at Boston College” Martin said. “His speed is a difference maker.” Flowers led the Flashes in rushing against the Eagles with 30 yards on nine carries while Archer had just five carries gaining 19 yards.

Another player banged up in the game was QB Georgio Morgan who sustained an ankle injury. The sophomore injured his left ankle in the Coastal Carolina game then tweaked it again in the second quarter. Martin said “If there is a hint of a limp during practice this week, he will not play on Saturday”

If Morgan is unable to play, look for freshman Spencer Keith to get his first collegiate start. The native of Little Rock, Arkansas played the second half of the BC game going 9-for-14 in the rain for 71 yards and a touchdown to tight end Jonathan Simpson.

The Cyclones won their season opener against North Dakota State (34-17) before losing last Saturday to in-state rival Iowa 35-3. This is a high quality team with great athletes. They are big and physical. We played them the last two years so we know what he are getting into” Martin said

Kent State opened the 2007 season at Jack Trice Stadium coming away with a 23-14 victory but lost last season there 48-28.

Iowa State is led offensively by quarterback Austen Arnaud. The fourth-year junior from Ames, Iowa is a threat both running and passing the football. Last year he completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 2792 yards with 15 touchdowns while adding 401 yards and five scores on the ground.

“He is the dual threat which is difficult for any team” Martin said. “He’s big and strong. He really throws a nice ball, he has a strong arm, and he is athletic”

The defense is led by middle linebacker Jesse Davis. The fifth year senior from Altoona, Iowa had a career 15 tackles against North Dakota State and leads the Cyclones with 21 stops (10 solos) through their first two games.

The game is the third and final MAC game played in Northeast Ohio that day which begins with Toledo facing Ohio State at Cleveland Browns Stadium and Akron facing Indiana in their new home InfoCision Stadium.

“I think it’s great for our conference to have these games (On Saturday) at a home venue and that has not happened very often” Martin said. “The big thing for me is we have to win these games as a conference”

Football is like life, you move on, and the Flashes will minus best player. They will let the chips fall as they may as they petition the NCAA to give Jarvis a sixth year, but their focus right now is Saturday night against the Cyclones.

NOTES : Saturday’s game is the seventh lifetime in the series...Iowa State leads with a 5-1 advantage…Iowa State made a visit to Dix Stadium in 1971 coming away with a 17-14 victory…Kent State is 2-7-0 lifetime against the Big 12 Conference…Eugene Jarvis-KSU even with his injury is fourth in MAC rushing averaging 79 yards per game and led in punt return average 15.4 yds per return…Brian Lainhart-KSU is tied for second in interceptions with two..Cobrani Mixon-KSU is tied for fourth in total tackles with 20 (14 solo)…Monte Simmons-KSU tied for first in solo sacks with two…Alexander Robinson-ISU is fifth in the Big 12 rushing averaging 91.5 yds per game…David Sims-ISU leads the Big 12 with three interceptions...Iowa State has lost 10 straight road games.