Aggies Week 1 Game Preview: What To Expect From Kent State

The Texas A&M Aggies will open the 2021 regular season on Saturday against the Kent State Golden Flashes

Matt Galatzan | Aug 30, 2021

The Texas A&M Aggies are heading into the 2021 regular season with high expectations behind Jimbo Fisher

In just six days, Texas A&M will open the season at home in front of a full crowd at Kyle in College Station against the Kent State Golden Flashes, where fans will get their first looks at this year’s edition of Jimbo Fisher’s Aggies

This will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs.

Check out the first part of AllAggies.com's way-too-early preview of Kent State below:

Kent State

2021 Record: 3-1 (3-1 MAC)

Head coach: Sean Lewis

Sean Lewis is 12-17 in three seasons as the head coach of the Golden Flashes

Offensive Set: Multiple

Defensive Set: 3-4

Returning starters on Offense: 9

Kent State’s offense is returning largely intact, behind star quarterback Dustin Crum, who looks to be set for a breakout season.

Projected starters on Offense:

QB Dustin Crum, Sr.*

RB Marquez Cooper, Soph.*

WR Dante Cephus, Soph.*

WR Ja’shaun Poke, Jr.*

WR Raymond James, Sr.

TE Adam Dulka, Sr.

LT Daniel Johnson, Jr.

LG Adam Gregoire, Sr.

C Jack Clement, Sr.

RG Nathan Monnin, Sr.

RT Bill Kuduk, Sr.

* Denotes returning starters

Returning starters on Defense: 8

Like the offense, the Kent State defense returns the vast majority of its starters and will also see an influx of division one transfers to help bolster the unit.

Projected starters on Defense:

DE Sekou Diaby, Sr.*

NG Oly Okombi, So.

DE Zayin West, Sr.*

LB Kalib Johns, Sr.

LB Kesean Gamble, Sr.*

LB Mandela Lawrece-Burks, Sr.*

LB Brandon Coleman, So.*

CB Anwaine Richardson, Sr.

CB Elvis Hines, Sr.*

S Richie Carpenter Jr, Sr.*

S Deon Clark, Jr.*

Newcomers to Know:

LB Juan Wallace

A transfer from Syracuse, Juan Wallace will have every opportunity to earn playing time for the Golden Flashes in 2021— a defense that ranked 113th in scoring defense in 2020.

WR Nykeim Johnson

Also a Syracuse transfer, Nykeim Johnson comes to Kent State to help bolster a receiving group that lost one if its top pass catchers from last season, in Isaiah McCoy.

CB Antwaine Richardson

A transfer from Maryland, Antwaine Richardson looks to be primed to slide right into a starting spot in the Golden Flashes secondary at the corner spot opposite returning starter, Elvis Hines. The duo could form one of the top corner tandems in the MAC.

After Texas A&M:

After facing off against the Aggies, the Golden Flashes will return home to face the Virginia Military Institute at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio.

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Published Aug 30, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.