Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 126. Kent State
Where Nick Saban became a man
You made it out of the bottom 5, Kent State! It might’ve taken some fortunate luck with UMass and Texas State simply not having enough time to suck, but you had a few good years and a really good season sprinkled into four decades of misery. Kent State’s biggest claim to fame is probably having the GOAT coach, Nick Saban, play for them and start his coaching career as a grad assistant with the team in 1973. Despite all that, like I said, there have been a few good seasons including three top 50 teams, the first program in this countdown to have even one of such seasons.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 30 | Kent State | 2012 | 13.394 | 11-3 |
| 43 | Kent State | 2020 | 3.894 | 3-1 |
| 43 | Kent State | 1987 | -5.542 | 7-4 |
| 73 | Kent State | 2019 | -13.784 | 7-6 |
| 71 | Kent State | 2001 | -15.29 | 6-5 |
| 67 | Kent State | 1988 | -18.99 | 5-6 |
| 86 | Kent State | 2022 | -19.764 | 5-7 |
| 80 | Kent State | 2004 | -21.293 | 5-6 |
| 89 | Kent State | 2021 | -22.512 | 7-7 |
| 78 | Kent State | 2006 | -22.732 | 6-6 |
| 76 | Kent State | 1986 | -23.196 | 5-6 |
| 86 | Kent State | 2011 | -23.722 | 5-7 |
| 88 | Kent State | 2009 | -26.205 | 5-7 |
| 86 | Kent State | 2010 | -26.435 | 5-7 |
| 80 | Kent State | 1984 | -27.303 | 4-7 |
| 85 | Kent State | 2003 | -27.493 | 5-7 |
| 95 | Kent State | 2013 | -32.55 | 4-8 |
| 102 | Kent State | 2008 | -37.384 | 4-8 |
| 93 | Kent State | 1985 | -40.456 | 3-8 |
| 114 | Kent State | 2016 | -41.181 | 3-9 |
| 104 | Kent State | 2007 | -43.386 | 3-9 |
| 98 | Kent State | 1997 | -44.4 | 3-8 |
| 117 | Kent State | 2014 | -46.023 | 2-9 |
| 114 | Kent State | 2015 | -46.656 | 3-9 |
| 99 | Kent State | 1992 | -50.348 | 2-9 |
| 107 | Kent State | 1999 | -51.088 | 2-9 |
| 99 | Kent State | 1990 | -51.615 | 2-9 |
| 100 | Kent State | 1994 | -53.121 | 2-9 |
| 101 | Kent State | 1983 | -54.025 | 1-10 |
| 110 | Kent State | 2002 | -54.23 | 3-9 |
| 101 | Kent State | 1991 | -54.313 | 1-10 |
| 126 | Kent State | 2018 | -57.112 | 2-10 |
| 122 | Kent State | 2017 | -58.596 | 2-10 |
| 106 | Kent State | 1995 | -60.895 | 1-9-1 |
| 116 | Kent State | 2005 | -61.55 | 1-10 |
| 108 | Kent State | 1996 | -62.011 | 2-9 |
| 113 | Kent State | 2000 | -63.116 | 1-10 |
| 105 | Kent State | 1989 | -70.356 | 0-11 |
| 106 | Kent State | 1993 | -70.511 | 0-11 |
| 111 | Kent State | 1998 | -73.252 | 0-11 |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: -6144.24659 (126th)138-316-1 record
0 conference titles
1-2 bowl record
1 consensus All-American
12 NFL players drafted
Say what you want about Kent State, they’ve produced some damn good football players. Jack Lambert, James Harrison, Julian Edelman, Josh Cribbs, and Antonio Gates are all future Hall of Fame or Hall of Very Good players. They were also underdogs: Edelman and Cribbs played QB in college before transitioning to WR in the NFL, Harrison went undrafted, and Gates was playing with the wrong kind of balls (basketballs), averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists a game his senior season, leading Kent State on a cinderella Elite Eight run.
Top 5 Seasons
I’m skipping the 2020 season because it was shortened by covid.
5. 1988 (5-6 overall, 3-5 MAC)
Yes, you have to go ALL the way back to 1988 to find a top 5 season for Kent State…where they went 5-6. Coach Dick Crum (I don’t think there’s any relation to 2010s QB Dustin?) led a solid squad that while just 5-6, had a 45-28 win over MAC champs Western Michigan. The stars of the team were returning MAC player of the year RB Eric Wilkerson who ran for 1325 yards, and Andy Logan, who according to Sports Reference, had 8 interceptions while also handling punting duties. DT Bert Weidner was also an 11th round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins.
4. 2001 (6-5 overall, 5-3 MAC)
Coach Dean “eat your” Pees’ breakout season came in his fourth year after going 3-30 the previous three. Things looked bleak once again after starting 1-4, but an impressive finish winning 5 of their last 6 games was highlighted by a 24-14 win over 6-5 Ohio and a 24-20 win over 7-5 Miami (OH). This was the legendary Josh Cribbs’ freshman year, and he would start with a bang, both throwing and passing for over 1000 yards. Yep, James Harrison was also on this team, and recorded 15 sacks and 3 interceptions en route to a 1st team All-MAC selection. In his final college game, he would sack Miami (OH) QB and future Steelers teammate Ben Roethlisberger twice on third and fourth down to seal a 24-20 win. Cribbs would go on to start all four years with 3670 career rushing yards and become an NFL 2000s All-Decade 1st Team Kick Returner.
3. 2019 (7-6 overall, 5-3 MAC)
Time will tell if this team had the same level of talent as the 2001 team, but they were pretty good in their own right. QB Dustin Crum was getting legitimate NFL buzz as he threw for 20 TD to just 2 INT to go with 707 rushing yards and 6 TD. This team was pretty much the Crum and Matthew Trickett show, the latter a kicker who went an amazing 29/32 on FGs under 50 yards. This ended up being very helpful as three of Kent State’s wins came by 3 points or less. After starting 3-6, a bowl seemed out of the question as 5-4 Buffalo, 4-5 Ball State, and 4-5 Eastern Michigan remained, but the Golden Flashes had an offensive explosion over these games and their bowl game, averaging 39 PPG in a four game stretch.
2. 1987 (7-4 overall, 5-3 MAC)
I mentioned RB Eric Wilkerson winning MAC player of the year earlier, this was that season. Coached by future beloved Minnesota coach Glen Mason, this stood as Kent State’s best team for a long time as they earned a 2nd place finish in the 9 team MAC, 2 points away from winning the title in a 21-23 loss to champs Eastern Michigan. It’s easy to see why Wilkerson won MAC POTY—he ran for 1221 yards, caught 269 more, and even had a kick return TD. Not only that, but Kent State’s starting QB threw for 4 TD and 9 INT while Wilkerson had 2 TD 0 INT! Call him the Frank Gore Jr. of days past. The non-conference slate included a win over Kansas and a 5-28 loss to #19 Pitt.
1. 2012 (11-3 overall, 8-0 MAC)
Pay attention, this is the best team you’ve never heard of. The legend of DRI ARCHER. I can’t say enough good things about the 2012 Kent State team. They were coming off a 5-7 year, not expected to do much, but blew all expectations out of the water. I watched their season opener against Towson on ESPN3 before going to soccer practice, and the highlight of the game was Kent State taking a punt return 50 yards the wrong way. That was before people would learn who Dri Archer was, but they’d learn quickly. The guy was a monster, he didn’t belong on a MAC football field. Almost single-handedly leading Kent State to an 11-1 regular season, he ran for 1429 yards and 16 TD on 9 YARDS PER CARRY! Had 561 receiving yards and 4 TD, and 3 kick return TD to boot. The offense was reminiscent of Reggie Bush-Lendale White Thunder and Lightning as another talented back, the 6’1 248 lb Trayion Durham ran for 1316 yards and 14 TD himself. He handled the bulk of the carries. Wins included #18 Rutgers, 9-4 Ball State, 9-4 Ohio, and 8-5 Bowling Green. The team would ultimately be forgotten about after losing to fellow 11-1 MAC team Northern Illinois, who would play in the Orange Bowl, but the streets won’t forget 2012 Kent State.
5th Quarter
Does anyone else remember Dri Archer? If you’re a Madden Mobile player you probably do. Did anyone watch him during college though? To this day he might be the fastest player I’ve seen on a college field. Those MAC defenders must’ve been running through molasses because it looked like he damn near ran a 4.10 40 on the field, let alone a 4.26.
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