2019
First-ever bowl win
Kent State wins its first bowl game in program history under Dustin Crum
Program outlook
Program outlook
Kent State won one game combined across two seasons. A year later, the guy who was already on staff had the Golden Flashes at 5-7 and reclaiming their oldest rivalry trophy in overtime.
Since Jul 3: L 7-38 at Western Michigan; L 2-29 at South Florida; W 35-20 vs Akron; L 10-31 at Sacramento State. 3-6 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
1-23. That's what Kenni Burns left behind across 2023 and 2024, and it's about as low as the MAC gets. Kent State fired him in April 2025 and did the unglamorous thing — promoted offensive coordinator Mark Carney to interim, watched him steady the program, and made it official on October 30, 2025.
The results showed up fast. Carney's Golden Flashes went 5-7 (4-4 in the MAC) — more wins in one season than the previous two combined — and the signature moment came in Akron: a 42-35 overtime win that took back the Wagon Wheel trophy after Akron had run away with it 38-17 the year before. The Wagon Wheel is old — the rivalry dates to 1923, ten miles separating two campuses that have played for that trophy every year since the postwar era resumed it — and getting it back in overtime, mid-turnaround, is the kind of win a fanbase needed after two years like that.
Kent State's national name recognition, for what it's worth, runs almost entirely through one guy who never played for this era: Julian Edelman started at quarterback from 2006 to 2008, threw for nearly 5,000 yards, then went on to twelve years with the New England Patriots, three Super Bowl rings, and Super Bowl LIII MVP. He's in the Kent State Hall of Fame and, as of 2025, the Patriots Hall of Fame too — proof that a MAC program's ceiling, at least for one player, went all the way to the top of the sport. The program's actual on-field peak was more recent and more modest: Dustin Crum's 2019-2021 stretch, the first bowl win in school history and three straight .500-or-better seasons. That's the bar Mark Carney is trying to get back to, one turnaround season in.
On the field
A program mid-rebuild under a first-full-year head coach — the 2025 identity was resilience and a signature road win in overtime more than any settled scheme, with the real on-field identity still being written as Carney's staff gets a full offseason to install its system.
Kent State has won 33% of its games since 1904 — 44% at home, 23% on the road.
236-484-5 all-time · 68 seasons · 1904–2026
Home
148-183-4
Away
87-296-1
Neutral
1-5
1 g
1900s
39%
1960s
46%
1970s
29%
1980s
14%
1990s
34%
2000s
36%
2010s
32%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Kent State’s 2014–2026 record is 43-104.
Mark Carney
Mark Carney is in year 2. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Mark Carney · 2025–presentPrev: Kenni Burns (2023–2024)OC: Clay PattersonPrev OC: Clay Patterson (co) / Mark Carney (2024)DC: Cherokee ValeriaPrev DC: Kody Morgan (2024)
2
years · era
Kent State and Akron, meeting by meeting
Akron leads the series 26-20-1 (since 1972); Kent State has won the last 2
2026: Kent State won 35-20. After this game, Akron led 26-20-1.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Kent State won, ▼ Akron won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Kent State wins, down when Akron wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1972. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Kent State history
- Kent State 27, Central Michigan 24Oct 29, 2016
- Kent State 42, Akron 35Nov 11, 2025
- Akron 31, Kent State 27Oct 1, 2016
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2024
1-23 collapse
Kenni Burns's tenure bottoms out at a combined 1-23 across 2023-2024, leading to his April 2025 firing
Wound
2025
Wagon Wheel reclaimed in overtime
Kent State beats Akron 42-35 in overtime to take back the Wagon Wheel trophy, the signature moment of Mark Carney's turnaround season
Moment of the year · 2026
Lost 3-59 at Ohio State
Week 3 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer.
More in this tab
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 3-6
Season standing · 2026 · 3-6Kent State is 3-6 — below .500 in FBS.
Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.
FBS sub-.500
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Mid-American standing · 2026
9th in the Mid-American
Kent State is 9th of 13 in the Mid-American at 2-3. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 5-0 |
| 2 | Buffalo | 4-1 |
| 3 | Western Michigan | 4-1 |
| 4 | Toledo | 3-1 |
| 5 | Eastern Michigan | 3-2 |
| 6 | Miami (OH) | 3-2 |
| 7 | Ball State | 2-2 |
| 8 | Bowling Green | 2-3 |
| 9 | Kent State | 2-3 |
| 10 | Central Michigan | 1-3 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 1-3 |
| 12 | Sacramento State | 1-5 |
| 13 | Akron | 0-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Mark Carney
- Kenni Burns departs
- Hired Kenni Burns
- Sean Lewis departs
- Hired Sean Lewis
- Paul Haynes departs
- Hired Paul Haynes
- Darrell Hazell departs
Coordinator lineage
Kent State’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014 · Brian Rock2015–2017 · Don Treadwell2018–2022 · Andrew Sowder2023 · Matt Limegrover (co) / Matt Johnson2024 · Clay Patterson (co) / Mark Carney2025–2026 · Clay Patterson
Defense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Brian George2016 · Ben Needham (co)2017 · Ben Needham (co) / Jeff Burrow (co)2018–2021 · Tom Kaufman2022 · Jeremiah Johnson2023 · David Duggan2024 · Kody Morgan2025–2026 · Cherokee Valeria
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
The Wagon Wheel vs. Akron
since 1923 · trophy game
more
Kent State and Akron, ten miles apart, have played for the Wagon Wheel trophy since the rivalry resumed after World War II. Akron won the 2024 meeting 38-17; Kent State reclaimed the trophy in 2025 with a 42-35 overtime win in Akron -- the signature moment of Mark Carney's turnaround season.
Julian Edelman’s Kent State Roots
since 2006
more
Julian Edelman started at quarterback for Kent State from 2006-2008, throwing for almost 5,000 yards, before going on to a 12-year New England Patriots career, three Super Bowl rings, and Super Bowl LIII MVP honors. He was inducted into the Kent State Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2025 -- the program's most famous alumnus by a wide margin.
The 2025 Turnaround Under Mark Carney
since 2025
more
After a 1-23 record across 2023-2024 under Kenni Burns, who was fired in April 2025, offensive coordinator Mark Carney took over as interim head coach and was promoted to the full-time job on October 30, 2025. His 2025 team went 5-7 (4-4 MAC) -- more wins in one season than the previous two years combined.
Cultural identity
2021 L
2019 W
2012 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
660
[Postgame Thread] Buffalo Defeats Kent State 70-41
439
[Postgame Thread] UCF Defeats Kent State 56-6
390
[Postgame Thread] Kent State Defeats Merrimack 21-17
All-time top community posts
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