ASU Football: Kent State players to watch

Sun Devil football is back. The beginning of the season always leaves questions of who teams are playing and what players to look out for. Here are the best players for the Kent State Golden Flashes to answer that question.

Redshirt junior quarterback Woody Barrett: The redshirt junior quarterback is a former four-star Auburn quarterback. Barrett started all 12 games last year, throwing for 2,339 yards and 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions. The 230-pound duel-threat quarterback also rushed for 503 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s a player that the coaching staff has mentioned plenty of times for the ASU defense to keep an eye on. Head coach Herm Edwards had this to say about Barrett: “He makes the unannounced play a lot.”

Senior wide receiver Mike Carrigan: The senior wide receiver from Tallahassee, Florida has been a key contributor in the high-octane offense at Kent State. In his time as a Golden Flash, Carrigan has 65 receptions for 944 yards and seven touchdowns. The speedy wide receiver finished eighth in the 100-yard dash back in the 2017 MAC Championships for Track and Field.

Note: Defensive Coordinator Danny Gonzales said, “(Kent State) They like to go a thousand miles an hour and they try and snap the ball every 13 seconds.”

Grad student linebacker Matt Bahr: The graduate student received another year of eligibility by the NCAA and will return to Kent State. In his senior season, Bahr finished with 91 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Bahr joins Kesean Gamble (Jr.) and Nick Faulkner (R-Sr.) as the core group of linebackers returning for the team.

Redshirt senior nose tackle Dominic Hill: The senior nose tackle was awarded the Jack Lambert award for the most improved player on defense during spring ball. Hill might be an undersized nose-tackle at 277 pounds, but his 44 total tackles and one career sack has caught the eyes of offensive coordinator Rob Likens. Likens in practice told his running backs and centers to be aware of cutting to early, because Hill has a tendency to close the hole quickly. Likens added that if his running backs cut back to the opposite side, Hill can draw a holding penalty on the center and negate the whole run.

The Sun Devil coaching staff aren’t looking at Kent State as a mid-major team, instead they are looking at them as a tough opponent that will open up their season. “They are going to come in here and they are going to be on high and think ‘you know what’ we are going to go down there and beat Arizona State.”