The Kent State Golden Flashes, last year’s Mid-American Conference runners-up, open their season with a road trip to Seattle to play the Washington Huskies. Unfortunately, the quarterback responsible for Kent State’s high-powered offense has left for the NFL. The college football betting odds suggest that they’ll struggle to pick up the pieces. Kent State currently sits as a 23.5-point underdog.
Unlike Kent State, Washington comes into this game after a disappointing season. However, the Huskies do head into this year with a new coach and new quarterback, so things are trending up in Seattle.
Kent State vs. Washington Week 1 College Football Betting Picks & Predictions
Kent State vs. Washington Betting Odds
Can Kent State Survive Without Crum?
Kent State's aggressive offense racked up an impressive 479 yards per game last year, eighth-most in the NCAA. Nevertheless, the offense only ranked 62nd in efficiency. Worse, the Golden Flashes lost quarterback Dustin Crum who accounted for 280 of those yards per game, or just over half the team's total offense. Fortunately though, lead running backs Marquez Cooper and Xavier Williams do return. The tandem averaged 144 of Kent State's yards per game last season.
The Golden Flashes now turn to Collin Schlee under center. Schlee has been with Kent State since 2020 and saw action in eight of their games last year. Schlee has completed 65% of his college passes for 351 yards and three scores. He has also added 212 yards and four scores on the ground. Head coach Sean Lewis has given Schlee plenty of time to learn their offensive scheme, and he should run it acceptably.
Kent State struggled on defense last season. The unit ranked sixth-worst in defensive efficiency and gave up 485.9 yards per game. On the bright side, the defense forced 1.6 turnovers per game, which was the 28th highest in college football. The Golden Flashes retained safety Dean Clark, who led the team in tackles, and cornerback Montre Miller, who led the team in interceptions. New defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson will look to recast this defense to complement its high-powered offense, but if last year is any indication, he has his work cut out for him.
Washington Looking to Emulate Fresno State
The Fresno State Bulldogs played an aggressive, pass-heavy brand of offense last year that racked up 314.3 passing yards per game. The Bulldogs also averaged 356.3 passing yards per game in 2020. Those strong offensive numbers earned Kalen DeBoer the head coaching job with the Washington Huskies. He'll get ex-Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to run his offense.
DeBoer deserves the hype, but it may take him time to rebuild the passing game. The team's leading receiver Jalen McMillan will return, but he only totaled 470 yards and three scores a season ago. Rome Odunze returns as well. Odunze caught the most passes on the team but only the third-most receiving yards. Questions surround Penix, too. The fifth-year quarterback has never played more than six games in a season, and he has earned a progressively worse passing efficiency grade in each of the last two seasons. Penix completed only 53.7% of his passes last year and threw four touchdowns compared to seven interceptions.
Although Washington's secondary played lights out last year, the defense will likely regress. Star cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Trent McDuffie went in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, and linebacker Jackson Sirmon, who led the team in tackles, is off to Cal. The team will probably be fine at linebacker -- they have rising star Carson Bruener and transfers Cam Bright and Kristopher Moll -- but they lack replacements at cornerback. Aside from FCS transfer Jordan Perryman, Washington's cornerbacks have played a total of just nine games and have recorded only 13 tackles.
Kent State vs. Washington Prediction
Both Kent State head coach Sean Lewis and Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer are innovative offensive minds. They also both lack defensive talent. The sportsbooks correctly anticipated a high-scoring game when they set the opening total at 63.5, and the sizeable number of bettors who bid the total down to just 59.5 are likely on the wrong side of things.
Even though Collin Schlee is a downgrade from Dustin Crum, he knows this offense and should exploit Washington's depleted and inexperienced secondary. Likewise, Michael Penix Jr. should take advantage of a Kent State defense in its first game with a new defensive coordinator. Penix is no stranger to stuffing the stat sheet against MAC teams, either. Most books have this number set at 60 or 60.5, so we're getting a smidge of extra value by playing this at FanDuel.
Best NCAAF Bet: Over 59.5 (-112) at FanDuel
