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Carducci on the Miami game

OXFORD — So much for all of those fans Kent State spent so many months wooing.

All of the hopes and dreams they may have harbored for a breakout season in 2010 were sucked away in a disastrous 27-21 loss on Saturday at Miami University.

In the aftermath, KSU head coach Doug Martin and his players insisted there is still plenty of time for the Golden Flashes to pull themselves into the thick of the Mid-American Conference East Division race.

“It’s a long season,” said senior safety and team captain Brian Lainhart. “One game doesn’t determine a whole season. If it did we would just turn our equipment in right now.”

Saturday was just the first game of the conference season after all, and technically all of Kent State’s goals are still within reach.

But after all of Saturday’s missed opportunities, the horrible decisions that turned into Miami interceptions, and the special-teams breakdowns that conjured awful memories of so many seasons from KSU’s past, the Flashes emptied their bandwagon before anyone had the chance jump on.

Doug Martin is not about to give up on his quarterback.

The Kent State head coach is convinced Spencer Keith will break out of his sophomore slump in time for the Golden Flashes to pull themselves back into the race for the Mid-American Conference East Division title.

“I’m not down on Spencer at all,” Martin said during his Monday press conference. “I’ll go to war with that guy anywhere, any time. Obviously he needs to play better, and I have to coach him better. We’ll get that done this week.”

After appearing to support his impressive true freshman debut in 2009 with a Player-of-the-Week-worthy performance in the 2010 season opener, Keith has regressed during KSU’s current three-game losing streak. Now KSU is hoping Keith hit rock bottom on Saturday when an up-for-grabs throw into the end zone spoiled the Flashes’ comeback hopes in the final minute of a heartbreaking loss at Miami University.