Iowa State Cyclones vs Kent State Golden Flashes Point Spread Picks

Kent State returns eight starters on both sides of the ball and 44 lettermen and should have a good 2007 campaign. This season should be a continuation of the improvement we saw last year. The Golden Flashes went from one win in 2005 to six last year and this year they could be contending for the MAC title. QB Julian Edelman (2,400 total yards last year) is every bit as talented as his counterpart this day, Bret Meyer, and now has a full season under his belt. This team missed 8 of 10 field goals last season including 4 of 5 within 30 yards! Assuming that catastrophe doesn't repeat, this team could win nine or more games this season. The team and fans are really pumped for this season, given the potential. They get a "big time" non-conference foe here in their first game and will be up for this game. Iowa State may not be as jazzed about their opponent and as a result may not be as up for this game. The Cyclones fell apart late last season, dropping four of their last five games to finish 4-8. They return 7 starters on defense but just 4 offensive starters and 28 lettermen overall. On defense they lost All-Big 12 tackle Brent Curvey and the team's all-time sack leader Shawn Moorehead. This team gave up 31 points per game last season and scored just 18.8 so they have a long way to go. Last year, with a better team than this (10 returning offensive starters), they needed three overtimes to beat another MAC school (Toledo). We don't see Iowa State blowing out a motivated and talented Kent State squad here. The Flashes, who beat Miami Ohio and Bowling Green on the road last year, keep this one close.