Kent State beats Ball State 26-13
Team pages: Ball State · Kent State
Kent State beat Ball State 26-13. Share this game
We had Kent State favored. It won.
How it swung
Before kickoff, our ratings gave Kent State a 62% chance, and the closing betting line (Kent State was a 2.5-point favorite) put it at 58%.
Favored the whole way: Kent State never fell below 60%.
Ball State never had better than a 40% chance.
Kent State · Q4 8:33Kent State 26-13 Ball State
Kent State wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.Ball State 13-26 Kent StateBall State lostMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.The play that swung it
- 1Q1 4:15DeShields 7-yd TD pass to White, Kent State goes ahead 7-0Kent State 69% → 83% (+14)
The play that swung it
- 1Q1 4:15DeShields 7-yd TD pass to White, Kent State goes ahead 7-0Ball State 31% → 17% (−14)
How to read this chart
Starts from the pregame line (Kent State -2.5), at 67% for Kent State (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Outlined diamonds mark rare plays.Every drive
Kent State scored on 4 of its 10 drives; Ball State on 2 of its 9.
Kent State’s drives are teal, Ball State’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.
Box score
Kent State 26, Ball State 13
Kent State covered −2.5 by 10.5. The total, 39, stayed under 51.5.
| Team totals | Ball State | Kent State |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 210 | 354 |
| Passing | 16 of 27, 164 yds | 16 of 25, 189 yds |
| Rushing | 27 for 46 yds | 43 for 165 yds |
| First downs | 12 | 20 |
| Third down | 5 of 14 | 6 of 14 |
| Fourth down | 2 of 3 | 2 of 2 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties | 7 for 60 yds | 14 for 114 yds |
| Time of possession | 24:42 | 35:18 |
Ball State leaders
- Passing Tyler Mizzell 16 of 27, 164 yds, 1 TD
- Rushing Jalen Bonds 11 for 36 yds, 1 TD; Johnny Thompson Jr. 2 for 5 yds
- Receiving Donovan Hamilton 7 for 80 yds, 1 TD; Jalen Bonds 5 for 57 yds
Kent State leaders
- Passing Dru Deshields 16 of 25, 189 yds, 2 TD
- Rushing Dru Deshields 13 for 76 yds, 1 TD; Mason Blakemore 11 for 46 yds
- Receiving Da'Realyst Clark 6 for 73 yds, 1 TD; Ardell Banks 2 for 58 yds
No rain through the game
65° at kickoff · no rain recorded
Game-day temperatures at Dix Stadium
Drag along the chart, or step through the game.
Where this weather comes from
Measured at Ravenna airport, 5.9 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.Before kickoff
Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.
Recent games
Last three games
Ball State · 1-2
Rated 161st in our preseason ratings, 157th now.
1-2 in its last three — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.
Last three games
Kent State · 1-2
Rated 122nd in our preseason ratings, 120th now.
1-2 in its last three — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.
Week by week
Kent State
- Wk 1Lat South Carolina0-57
- Wk 2Wvs Wofford36-15
- Wk 3Lat Ohio State3-59
Ball State
- Wk 1Lat Ohio State3-56
- Wk 2Wvs Stony Brook41-17
- Wk 3Lat Liberty15-51
Power rating by week
Kent State is rated 2.5 points ahead as of week 3. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
Matchups
Biggest mismatch: Kent State’s explosive plays against Ball State, 37 points
Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.
Kent State’s explosive plays against Ball State’s defense
Kent State offense, 45th percentile · Ball State defense, 8th
Ball State’s rushing EPA against Kent State’s defense
Ball State offense, 26th percentile · Kent State defense, 42nd
Season profile, all the rows
Season profile
The series
Ball State leads the series 25-8
33 meetings since 1977 · Ball State has won the last 4
- 2025Ball State 17-13
- 2024Ball State 37-35
- 2023Ball State 34-3
- 2022Ball State 27-20
- 2019Kent State 41-38
Each line is Kent State’s chance to win through that meeting. Kent State is 1-2 in the meetings since 2018 that were still close in the fourth quarter.
Line, fans and home field
The betting line, and the fans
Kent State fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (95th among FBS fanbases), in line with the numbers.
Kent State favored by 2.5 · Total 51.5
How games like this usually go
Kent State by 2.5, and it went to form
Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game
The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 252 games since 2025 with a favorite of under 3.5 points.
The market
The spread moved 2 points toward Ball State.
Spread: −4.5 → −2.5
The books’ cut: 4.2%, the margin built into the odds
Home field
Kent State is worth +10.0 points (±4.3) more at home than on the road since 2018 — top tenth of FBS, 100th percentile.
45% at home, 18% on the road against FBS opponents (15-18 home, 10-45 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +5.1 at home vs. away over 94 games — inside the ±5.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
The visitors travel about 224 miles to get here.
Last meeting in our History pages
- Ball State 27, Kent State 20Nov 1, 2022
Our History pages cover 2 of their meetings since 2019.
Where next
Conference standings
Place in the conference, then conference record.
- Kent State7th0-0
- Ball State12th0-0