Victories within the victory led to desired result for Kent State football in home opener
KENT — Kent State football coach Kenni Burns doesn't look at his team's result as the be-all and end-all.
The result from this year's home opener was the bonus.
A 38-10 win over Central Connecticut State enabled Kent State to celebrate victory for the first time this season. The Golden Flashes never reached the end zone in their first two games. Last week they scored five touchdowns.
Burns is a coach who also looks for victories and progress within a game. He may find them Saturday night at Fresno State, where Kent State will be a big underdog.
There were plenty of wins throughout the home opener.
"Obviously the game was successful because we got better," Burns said this week. "Not because of the result. ... We wanted to see if we got better, and we did. It led to the result we wanted."
Kent State was coming off a 56-6 loss to UCF and a 28-6 defeat at Arkansas. Outside of the program, not much is expected from the Flashes. The roster includes 11 new starters on offense and 19 transfers.
In the wake of talented players transferring and the arrival of new players and a coaching staff, Burns said he has been happy with the team's progress.
"I'm proud of the growth they're making, but we still have a lot of things we can get better at offensively, defensively and on special teams," Burns said. "We have a lot of work to do. ... Hopefully we'll come out and give Fresno State our best shot.
"One thing you saw with our football team and our leadership was positive energy, and we're going to keep that going no matter what our result is. We're going to just keep growing, responding and getting better and better each day."
What was one of Burns' biggest takeaways from the home opener? The growth of Kent State's run unit.
The Flashes piled up 295 yards rushing in the win over Central Connecticut State. Sophomore Gavin Garcia ran for a game-high 125 yards and two touchdowns.
The Kent State running game was rolling behind an offensive line that includes several freshmen and sophomores.
"I think they played harder," Burns said. "I think they played harder for longer. I think they played nastier. That's what we have to do up front in order to dominate the (line of scrimmage)."
In addition to Garcia, Kent State's backfield features Jaylen Thomas and Xavier Williams. Thomas is a Colorado State transfer who rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown last week. Williams returns after missing all of last season because of a broken hip suffered in the 2021 Mid-American Conference championship game.
"X finally getting back into the swing of things after missing last year is awesome," Garcia said. "He brings speed that defenses have to watch out for. He has some speed that's unreal. We see it in practice. He almost got loose a few times. Soon the world is going to see how fast he is.
"With the addition of JT, a power back, he just gives the defenses something different to watch for. He's really agile. He can move well and just brings that extra weight X and I don't have."
Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com
On X: @mpopovichREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Coming off first victory, Kent State football heads west with momentum
