Can Kent State Golden Flashes Cover The 33.5 Point Spread vs. Oklahoma?

On Saturday, the Kent State Golden Flashes will play their second straight game against a Power Five opponent this season. Their opponent this week is the Oklahoma Sooners, who come into this contest ranked seventh in the country.

Kent State is a 33.5-point underdog against the Sooners, and while a win over Oklahoma would be nice, the question for Kent State is whether or not they can cover the massive point spread for this game.

Want to bet for FREE on the Golden Flashes? Visit betJACK Training Camp to start today!

Kent State Pass Defense Crucial

Of course, the biggest challenge for Kent State going into this game is defense, as they are tasked with slowing down a prolific Oklahoma offense.

The Sooners are led by Dillon Gabriel on offense, who is best known for his time at Central Florida before taking over the offense of Oklahoma. He could be even tougher to stop than the Washington Huskies offense that Kent State struggled with in week one.

Last week, the Golden Flashes gave up 45 points to Washington, with Michael Penix Jr. throwing four touchdown passes to lead the Huskies to a comfortable victory.

Gabriel is just as capable of torching opposing defenses through the air, and the talent mismatch in this game could make it easy for him to do just that. Expect the Sooners to put up plenty of points, which will shift the pressure onto the Kent State offense.

Can Kent State Generate Offense?

When it comes to whether or not Kent State can generate offense, last week’s game against Washington was a promising starting point. The Golden Flashes put up 20 points to stay within 25 points of the Huskies, scoring in three of the game’s four quarters of play.

While it is possible for the Golden Flashes to have a tougher time in this game than they did in week one, going up against back-to-back Power 5 opponents could help the offense in this contest.

Adjusting from MAC caliber speed to Power 5 caliber speed is something that is incredibly difficult for MAC offenses to do in non-conference play. But, by scheduling two Power Five teams back to back, Kent State at least had a week to get used to what they will see in Norman.

If the game can slow down for them even a little bit here, they could be more efficient on the offensive side of the ball than they were last week.

A Cover From Kent State Is Possible

All in all, it is more than possible that Kent State could cover the spread in this game against the mighty Oklahoma Sooners. A 33.5-point spread is a huge number, one where we could see Oklahoma take its foot off the gas before the game ends.

All Kent State needs to do is string together some offense in the second half, and they could absolutely keep this one within the number.

For the most part, though, this point spread is going to come down to whether or not the defense of Kent State can keep Oklahoma in check for long periods of time.

Forcing the Sooners to go on time-consuming drives and avoiding giving up the big play touchdowns could put Kent State right where they need to be to cover the spread.