2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football team

The 2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football team represented Kent State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Paul Haynes and played their home games at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 1–7 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division.

2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	East Division
2017 record	2–10 (1–7 MAC)
Head coach	Paul Haynes (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Don Treadwell (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Ben Needham (2nd as DC, 4th overall season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Jeff Burrow (1st as DC,[1] 7th overall season)
Home stadium	Dix Stadium (Capacity: 25,319)

2017 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Akron xy		6	–	2					7	–	7
Ohio		5	–	3					9	–	4
Miami		4	–	4					5	–	7
Buffalo		4	–	4					6	–	6
Bowling Green		2	–	6					2	–	10
Kent State		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Toledo xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Central Michigan		6	–	2					8	–	5
Northern Illinois		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Michigan		4	–	4					6	–	6
Eastern Michigan		3	–	5					5	–	7
Ball State		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

On August 28, 2017, the school announced that head coach Paul Haynes would be taking a medical leave of absence and miss the first two to three weeks of the season.[2] Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell was named interim head coach.[3] Haynes returned to the Flashes after missing two games due to prostate cancer treatments.[4]

On November 22, one day after the Flashes' final game of the season against Akron, the school fired Paul Haynes after five losing seasons.[5][6] On December 19, the school hired Sean Lewis as head coach.[7][8]

Previous season

The Golden Flashes finished the 2016 season 3–9, 2–6 in MAC play to finish in fifth place in the East Division.

Coaching staff

Name	Title
Paul Haynes	Head Coach
Don Treadwell	Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Dave McMichael	Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach
Ben Needham	Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
Jeff Burrow	Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach
Doc Gamble	Wide Receivers Coach
Mark Spencer	Recruiting Coordinator/Running Backs Coach
Colin Ferrell	Defensive Line Coach
Rob Zeitman	Offensive Line Coach
Joe Tresey	Cornerbacks Coach

Source:[9]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPN	L 3–56	80,121
September 9	3:30 p.m.	Howard*	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPN3	W 38–31	20,312
September 16	6:30 p.m.	at Marshall*	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CUSA.TV	L 0–21	24,044
September 23	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Louisville*	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	L 3–42	47,812
September 30	3:30 p.m.	Buffalo	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPN3	L 13–27	12,355
October 7	3:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN3	L 3–24	11,398
October 14	3:30 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPN3	W 17–14	20,537
October 21	12:00 p.m.	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN3	L 3–48	19,540
October 31	8:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	Dix Stadium Kent, OH (Anniversary Award)	ESPNU	L 16–44	7,140
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	CBSSN	L 20–48	9,584
November 14	7:00 p.m.	Central Michigan	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPNU	L 23–42	5,580
November 21	7:00 p.m.	at Akron	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH (Wagon Wheel)	ESPNU	L 14–24	21,683
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Source:[10]

Game summaries

at Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	3	0	0	3
No. 5 Tigers	21	7	21	7	56

Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	7	7	10	7	31
Golden Flashes	14	7	2	15	38

at Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	0	0	0	0
Thundering Herd	0	7	0	14	21

at Louisville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	3	0	0	3
No. 19 Cardinals	21	7	14	0	42

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	13	7	0	27
Golden Flashes	0	13	0	0	13

at Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	3	0	0	3
Huskies	7	7	10	0	24

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	0	14	0	0	14
Golden Flashes	0	3	14	0	17

at Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	3	0	0	0	3
Bobcats	0	13	28	7	48

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	17	3	14	10	44
Golden Flashes	0	9	0	7	16

at Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	14	0	0	6	20
Broncos	21	10	3	14	48

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	0	14	42
Golden Flashes	3	14	0	6	23

at Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	0	7	7	0	14
Zips	10	14	0	0	24

References

1. Staff Directory - Jeff Burrow Archived 2017-07-10 at the Wayback Machine. Kent State University Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017. "Entering his seventh season, Jeff Burrow has served as Kent State’s safeties coach since March of 2011 and was promoted co-defensive coordinator in 2017."
2. "Kent State head coach to miss first 2-3 weeks, including opener against Clemson". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
3. "Don Treadwell named Kent State's interim head coach". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
4. "Kent State coach Paul Haynes returns after cancer treatments: MAC Football 2017". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. "Kent State fires Haynes after 5 losing seasons". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
6. rlewis. "Kent State fires football coach Paul Haynes after loss to Akron". www.ohio.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
7. Writer, Allen Moff Staff. "Kent State hires Sean Lewis as new football coach". Record. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
8. "Syracuse's Sean Lewis to be named Kent State's new head football coach". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
9. Staff Directory. Kent State University Athletics. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
10. 2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football schedule. FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 29, 2017.