KENT — The Kent State University football team fell just short of pulling off an upset against Buffalo, but the silver lining for the Golden Flashes is they found their No. 1 quarterback Sept. 13 in a 31-28 loss at Dix Stadium.
Kent State redshirt freshman quarterback Dru DeShields played well enough in his first college start for interim coach Mark Carney to name him the starter during a postgame news conference.
“He’ll be our starter moving forward after this performance,” Carney said.
A West Branch High School graduate, DeShields went 22-of-32 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in Kent State’s Mid-American Conference opener. He took three sacks and rushed for 37 yards and a TD, a clutch 3-yard plunge on fourth-and-inches.
With DeShields’ TD run and the ensuing extra point, KSU (1-2, 0-1 in the MAC) went ahead 28-24 with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter before Buffalo (2-1, 1-0) fired back to score the game-winning TD with 1:03 remaining on a 22-yard pass from quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson to wide receiver Victor Snow.
“He represented himself really, really well,” Carney said of DeShields. “I’m super proud of that kid and all that he’s been through to give himself the chance to get to this point.”
Carney also said he would end the two-quarterback system he deployed in KSU’s first two games of the season, meaning the plan is to play DeShields instead of rotating him with CJ Montes. A redshirt senior, Montes had started each of KSU’s first two games and split playing time with DeShields. However, Montes was inactive against Buffalo.
In the first two games, Montes went 10-of-19 passing (52.6%) for 140 yards and one touchdown with one interception, and DeShields went 13-of-25 passing (52%) for 234 yards and two TDs without an interception to go along with 24 yards and one TD as a runner.
“The best player’s going to play, right?” Carney said. “And it’s been a competition from the beginning of training camp, and I thought Dru throughout the course of the first two weeks of our season and in the third week in practice, I thought he earned the opportunity to go out there and play and start for this football team. And that’s what he did.”
When Carney was asked whether Montes is hurt, the coach said, “No, nothing major that will keep him out. He was a little banged up, and there were some feelings involved, but we’ll be all right.”
Before DeShieds rushed for the go-ahead TD with 2:38 left, Kent State could have settled for a 24-24 tie with a short field goal, yet Carney opted for an aggressive approach and went for it on fourth-and-inches.
“Dru DeShields said, ‘Give me the damn ball.’ And we gave him the damn ball,” Carney said. “Trust your players. I trust him. I trust him and his teammates.”
DeShields earned the trust and Kent State’s starting quarterback job.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State football finds new starting quarterback as upset bid vs. Buffalo falls short
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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