The Washington Huskies will begin a new era when they host the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday night in Seattle in the 2022 season opener for both teams. Kent State went an even 7-7 in 2021 in the fourth year under head coach Sean Lewis, winning the MAC East division title along the way. Washington had a miserable 4-8 campaign a year ago, leading to the quick dismissal of head coach Jimmy Lake in favor of Kalen DeBoer, previously of Fresno State.
This is the first all-time meeting between the two programs.
Lewis has led the Golden Flashes to plenty of success including the program's first-ever bowl win in 2019, but hasn't quite been able to take the next step with a conference title despite coming close last year. The Golden Flashes had a strong regular season with three of their losses coming to major conference foes, only to fall short against Northern Illinois for the MAC title before losing to Wyoming in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
There will be a new quarterback in charge of the prolific Kent State offense as veteran Dustin Crum is now in the NFL. Collin Schlee is listed atop the depth chart after getting limited playing time the last two years, going 24/37 with 351 yards and three touchdowns while adding 32 carries for 212 yards and four scores.
The good news for the Golden Flashes is prolific running back Marquez Cooper is back after piling up 241 carries for 1, 205 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2021. Dante Cephas is in line for another huge receiving year, having made 82 catches for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
A high-tempo Kent State offense piled up 33 points and 479 yards per game last year, the latter of which was eighth-best in the nation. It was a different story for the Kent State defense, which was bottom 10 nationally at 36.3 points and 485.9 yards per contest allowed.
There are no injury reports coming from Kent State camp at the moment.