Thoughts from Snowy Dix Stadium

In the final home game of the season the Kent State football team had to battle Northern Illinois and Mother Nature. The Flashes were no match falling 42-14 on snow-covered
Dix Stadium.

Some players lost their footing, while some just lost grip of the ball. This weather is conducive to snow angels, not touchdown passes…28-point beat downs aren’t exactly expected either, though.

Kent State’s usually explosive ground game didn’t translate well to the Iditarod.
Outside of senior quarterback Julian Edelman, not much was accomplished. But that could be said about every week with this team.

Edelman, playing in his last game at Dix, rushed for 108 yards and was 11-21 passing for 126 yards. Junior running back Eugene Jarvis couldn’t keep his footing nearly as well.

His 15 yards on 13 carries – and a touchdown -- were an all out struggle, although he did have three catches for 50 yards.

Meanwhile Northern Illinois seemed to be doing a little better with the snow. The Huskies recorded 224 rushing yards in the game to Kent State’s 127. NIU had 397 yards of offense overall.

Maybe it is being from a little bit farther north, in upper Illinois. Or maybe it had something to do with being called the Huskies.

The NIU cheerleaders escorted a live huskie around the stadium, it showed no signs of fear toward the cold. In fact, he/she was basking in it. The dog laid down on the sideline as if nothing was wrong. (On a side note, I was too high up to see the yellow snow)

Something tells me an Eagle wouldn’t have been so comfortable.

Games like this are rarely pretty. This was no exception.

It was an Edelman fumble, presumably more about the snow than the Larry English hit, that allowed the Huskie’s Craig Rusch to sled his way 60-yards for a third quarter touchdown. It made the score 28-7, although it was already out of reach.

Edelman’s two fumbles were his first since the second week of the season against, Iowa State. An argument could be made that it had more to with the weather conditions.

Although, many of the problems that have plagued the Flashes all season were apparent in this game, regardless of weather condition: Poor defense and not enough players making plays on offense.

The weather didn’t help. At the beginning of the fourth quarter a small plow had to uncover the yard lines every 10 yards, although it only got half the field done before they returned to action. By that time the Flashes were already down 35-14.