By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
Kent State hopes to make life miserable for Western Michigan quarterback Tim Hiller.
Harassing Hiller is the not-so-secret plan of attack for the Golden Flashes today at Dix Stadium, as they try to extend their winning streak to three games and stay within striking distance of a possible Mid-American Conference East Division championship.
“We are going to face an NFL quarterback,” said KSU head coach Doug Martin. “He has a great arm. He is really accurate, and he can fit the ball into small places. If we are going to have any chance, we have to get to him.”
Unfortunately, Kent State doesn’t have a great track record when trying to stop a dangerous aerial attack, “so it is going to be a tremendous task for our defense to rise up and play better than we have against the last two passing quarterbacks who have come in here,” Martin admitted.
Miami’s Zac Dysert completed 31-of-53 passes for 337 yards at Kent State back on Sept. 26, but the bend-but-don’t break Flashes limited the RedHawks to just one passing touchdown in a 29-19 win.
The Flashes bent and broke two weeks later while trying to stop Bowling Green’s Tyler Sheehan from getting the ball to star wideout Freddie Barnes. Sheehan threw for 505 yards while completing 44 of a whopping 63 pass attempts. Barnes hauled in 22 of those throws for 278 yards and three touchdowns, rewriting his school’s record book while helping the Falcons to 36-35 come-from-behind win in the fourth quarter.
Western Michigan is just as willing to have Hiller put the ball in the air 50 or 60 times. In fact, 50 or 60 attempts are likely in today’s game. That is a no-brainer if the Broncos want to force KSU to prove it can stop a top-flight passer. Plus, throwing the football is what Western does.
“We’ll do what we do best,” said Broncos head coach Bill Cubit. “We’ll throw it, and then when the opportunity presents itself, we’ll go run it.”
The good news about Western’s pass-first approach is it could play into one of Kent State’s strengths. No team gets to opposing quarterbacks more than the Flashes, who have 26 sacks already this season — eight more than any other MAC team.
Even more encouraging for KSU is the fact that most of those sacks are the result of natural pressure created by its front four. Led by edge-rusher Monte Simmons and Aaron Hull with 41⁄2 each, 201⁄2 of the Flashes’ 26 sacks have been recorded by defensive linemen. And eight of those have come from interior linemen like Hull, Quinton Rainey and Sam Frist.
The ability of Hull, Rainey and Frist to penetrate the tight splits of Western’s offensive line may be the key to a Kent State win.
“The biggest thing is our interior defensive linemen have to push their pocket, because their linemen are literally foot-to-foot,” said Martin. “Hiller sets up right behind them, so we have to make him move. He is not near as good when he has to throw on the run or when he has to move around. But when he gets his feet set, he is deadly.”
Hiller isn’t exactly a statue in the pocket, but two major knee injuries during his college career have limited his mobility. When Hiller manages to setup and throw, Kent State hopes a few recent tweaks to their coverage schemes continue to hold up.
“After the Bowling Green game, we’ve played a lot more zone coverage, and we haven’t blitzed quite as much,” said Martin. “That’s what we have to continue to do in this game. We can’t put our defensive backs on an island. They are not comfortable in that, and they just haven’t played well like that.”
Fortunately, Western Michigan doesn’t run a spread offense like Miami and Bowling Green. The Broncos tight splits along the offensive line will shorten the edge for outside rushers like Simmons and Kevin Hogan. And when the Flashes do choose to blitz, Hiller will either have to get the ball out fast or Western will be forced to keep two running backs in for protection.
Traditionally, Western uses more seven-man protections than most MAC schools. That means fewer receivers out in patterns for KSU’s linebackers and defensive backs to cover.
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David Carducci can be contacted at dcarducci@recordpub.com