College football had one more opening act before Monday’s BCS championship between Notre Dame and Alabama: the GoDaddy.com Bowl between Arkansas State and Kent State.
The Golden Flashes will be losing coach Darrell Hazell to Purdue, but Hazell wasn’t able to end his brief time with KSU on a positive note. The No. 25 Flashes fell to the Red Wolves 17-13.
A defensive battle, neither team was able to convert many third downs and two quarters -- the first and fourth -- didn’t feature any points scored. One of the more exciting players in the country, Kent State running back Dri Archer, scored a touchdown, but wasn’t nearly the factor he’s been during the season.
Speaking of missing game-changers, Arkansas State sorely missed its coach, Gus Malzahn, who will be the new coach at Auburn. The Red Wolves averaged about 36 points per game this season. Leading ASU going forward will be former Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin.
Kent State finishes the season with an 11-3 record while Arkansas State gets its 10th win on the year.