Florida State has been one of the early — and, for Seminoles fans, pleasant — surprises of the 2025 college football season.
On the heels of a disastrous 2-10 season, coach Mike Norvell retooled his roster and coaching staff. The results thus far have been encouraging, with Florida State opening the season with a 31-17 upset of then-No. 8 Alabama before throttling East Texas A&M 77-3. Behind an improved defense and the brilliance of transfer quarterback Tommy Castellanos, a Seminoles team picked to finish seventh in the ACC is up to No. 9 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
They’ll look to continue that strong start on Saturday, Sept. 20 with a home game against Kent State, a contest they’re favored to win by nearly 50 points.
It will be the first-ever matchup between Florida State and the Golden Flashes, which for some Seminoles fans might lead to some natural questions about the program and school their beloved team will be lining up against this weekend.
Heading into Saturday’s game, here’s what to know about Kent State:
Where is Kent State?
Kent State is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, about 35 miles southeast of Cleveland and 10 miles east of Akron.
The Golden Flashes are a member of the Mid-American Conference, a league in which they’ve been competing since 1951.
The school’s football program has largely struggled, with only two winning seasons since 1988. Still, Kent State has been home to several successful coaches who moved up into bigger jobs, a group that includes College Football Hall of Famer Don James, Glen Mason, longtime NFL defensive coordinator Dean Pees and current San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis. Though none of them were head coaches at their alma mater, the Golden Flashes count Gary Pinkel, Lou Holtz and, most notably, Nick Saban among their former players.
Other former Kent State standouts include Jack Lambert (a college teammate of Saban’s), James Harrison and Julian Edelman. Newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Antonio Gates attended the school, but never played a down for the Golden Flashes (he was a standout on Kent State’s men’s basketball team).
The university is perhaps most famous for a shooting in May 1970 in which an Ohio National Guard unit fired at unarmed students protesting the ongoing Vietnam War, killing four and wounding nine.
Why is Kent State called the Golden Flashes?
Kent State’s original nickname was the Silver Foxes, a nod to a silver fox ranch that was next to campus and co-owned by then-university president John McGilvrey.
McGilvrey’s successor, acting president T. Howard Winters, held a “name the team” contest from 1926-28, with Golden Flashes winning out over Silver Foxes, Hurricanes and Warriors. Shortly after, the lightning bolt was adopted as the school’s athletics logo.
Given its abstract nickname, Kent State has cycled through mascots over the course of its history. Its first mascot was a live golden retriever dubbed “the Golden Flasher.” In the 1960s, after a push from the student government, the school went with a 50-foot costumed mascot named Grog, a caveman based off the popular comic strip “B.C.” By the mid-1980s, it settled on a golden eagle costumed mascot, which it still has today.
Who is Kent State’s football coach?
The Golden Flashes are led this season by interim head coach Mark Carney. Carney was the team’s offensive coordinator last season, but was elevated to interim head coach in March, when then-Kent State coach Kenni Burns was placed on administrative leave. Burns was fired in April.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Where is Kent State? What to know of Florida State Week 4 opponent
Reporting by Craig Meyer, USA TODAY NETWORK / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
