The Kent State Golden Flashes and the UCF Knights meet in week 1 college football action from FBC Mortgage Stadium on Thursday night. Who starts their season on a high note? Let’s dive in and find out.

Kent State Team Preview

The Kent State Golden Flashes will be out to turn the corner after a disappointing 2022 season, that saw the end of the Sean Lewis era as coach of the Golden Flashes, as Kent State finished 5-7 overall and 4-4 in conference play, their first losing season since 2018. In comes Kenni Burns from his time under PJ Fleck in Minnesota for his first stint as a head coach and it’s a doozy, with Lewis heading to be offensive coordinator for coach Prime in Colorado, almost no starters are back for year one under Burns. Collin Schlee left for UCLA, leaving a void at QB for the Flashes, but sophomore Devin Kargman and Jaren Lewis, Kansas State transfer are expected to be the ones who battle it out for the #1 gig. The run game should still be solid, with Ky Thomas transferring in from Kansas to be a 1-2 punch in Kent State’s backfield alongside veteran Xavier Williams. The receiving corps got hit up fairly well but Trell Harris returns in Kent State’s system and the Golden Flashes will get some help from the transfer portal as well. On defense, there wasn’t much to be excited about last year to begin with so it could be a good thing or a bad thing that there’s so many new faces on that side of the ball. CJ West and Macyo Williams will be a nice pair of pieces of size and bulk up front for the Golden Flashes, while Khalil Saunders transfers in from Purdue to help the linebacking corps alongside fellow transfer from Missouri Devin Nicholson. The secondary needs help as well but gets it from the transfer portal, with Dallas Craddieth transferring in from Iowa and Lem Whatley-Neely coming over from Indiana to help a Kent State defense that was dead last in the MAC in total defense last season.

Kent State Golden Flashes Team Facts

• Kent State has lost eight of its last nine season openers.
• The road team has covered the spread in each of Kent State’s last five games.
• Kent State has lost the first half in each of its last three road games against non-conference opponents.
• Four of Kent State’s last five games against non-AP-ranked teams have gone UNDER the total points line.

UCF Team Preview

The UCF Knights will start their Big 12 era in 2023, after bolting from the AAC in a mass shakeup across college football this past offseason. The Knights managed to finish 9-5 overall in 2022, including 6-2 in AAC conference play, ending with a loss in the Military Bowl to Duke by a final score of 30-13. John Rhys Plumlee is back to anchor UCF’s offense under center after throwing for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on 63% passing. Plumlee also led the Knights in rushing with 862 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Plumlee may have to shoulder more of that load with lead running back Isaiah Bowser gone, but there’s still a lot of running back depth left for UCF with the likes of Johnny Richardson, RJ Harvey, Demarkcus Bowman and others all back for a UCF offense that was top-10 in rushing offense in 2022. The UCF receiving corps is in good shape as well with Javon Baker back after leading UCF with 796 receiving yards and 5 scores last year while Kobe Hudson’s also back after putting up 641 receiving yards and a team-high 7 touchdowns last season. On defense, Ricky Barber and Josh Celiscar will be there to lead the UCF pass rush up front while Tre’Mon Morris-Brash is back on the edge to complete the pass rush on the outside. Leading tackler Jason Johnson is back after logging 126 total tackles last season and Walter Yates is also back after finishing 3rd on the Knights in tackles. The secondary needs some fixing, but Brandon Adams is back at cornerback and Jireh Wilson transfers in from East Carolina to help the cause.

UCF Knights Team Facts

• UCF has won each of its last seven season openers.
• UCF has covered the spread in seven of its last eight Thursday games against non-AP-ranked teams.
• UCF has won the first half in 12 of its last 13 games against non-conference opponents at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
• UCF has won the first quarter in 16 of its last 18 games against non-conference opponents at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
• Each of UCF’s last four games against non-conference opponents have gone UNDER the total points line

Matchup/League Facts

• UCF ranked T8th among FBS teams for Q4 points per game last season (9.9).
• UCF was one of only 17 FBS teams with a better road winning percentage (.800) than home winning percentage (.714) last season (min. 8 games).
• Kent State ranked 25th among FBS teams for Q4 points allowed per game last season (5.1).
• Kent State was one of only 26 FBS teams to win 2+ games when trailing after Q3 last season.

Chris’ Pick

I’m not in love with this game based on the line, but I have to lean towards UCF here. The difference is that UCF knows what they have, and bring back a ton of talent from the lineup that ran roughshod offensively in a lot of spots last season, especially at home. Kent State is just in a bad spot with all the rebuilding they have to do, and a road date at the Bounce House is not the ideal spot to start that. Give me UCF in a rout.