Kent State has found a new quarterback entering the 2024-25 season.
The Golden Flashes went just 1-11 last season, suffering through one of the worst seasons in the FBS, but backup quarterback Devin Kargman wasn’t given much of a chance to shine.
Kargman — a 6-foot-3, 217-pound junior quarterback from Camden, N.J. — was named the Kent State starter for the season-opener against Pitt, beating out Tommy Ulatowski for the starting gig, according to a report by Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Kargman played in three games last season, completing 21-of-40 pass attempts (52.5%) for 305 yards with two touchdowns. He took the majority of snaps against Northern Illinois toward the end of the season, after seeing increased time against Ball State the week prior, and completed 16-of-28 attempts (57%) for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
In two seasons at Kent State, he’s completed 50-of-110 pass attempts (45.5%) for 653 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
Kargman was initially a three-star quarterback in the class of 2022 out of Eastside in Camden, N.J. He held offers from Buffalo, FIU, Maryland, UMass, Pitt, Rutgers, Temple, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Kargman battled for the starting spot after sitting behind a couple of quarterbacks last season, perhaps not unlike Nate Yarnell, but he will have a tough opening matchup against a Pitt defense that is looking to show last season was a fluke. If the Pitt defense has shown anything this summer, it’s that the defense is getting after the quarterback.
It remains to be seen whether Kargman is able to settle in at quarterback this season, but he has a tough opening matchup.
The Pitt-Kent State series dates back to a 27-6 win against the Golden Flashes in 1970. Pitt has won all seven games in the series by an average of 27 points — with matchups in 1970, 1987, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2003.
The most recent meeting came back in 2003, a 43-3 victory in which Rod Rutherford threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns — three of which went to Larry Fitzgerald.
Kent State is coming off a brutal 1-11 (0-8 MAC) season, the first in the Kenni Burns era. He walked into a tough situation, following former coach Sean Lewis bolting for the Colorado offensive coordinator job and a mass exodus to the transfer portal. But it doesn’t seem as though the Flashes are positioned for any sort of major bounce back.
To be fair though, Pitt is looking for a major bounceback of its own.
Pitt is entering the 2024 season with a “Prove It” mantra. The Panthers, the coaching staff, the players and everyone in the building, know that last season will not be forgotten unless a better result is put in.
The season will largely hinge upon whether or not there’s solid quarterback play. Nate Yarnell is entering the summer as the starting quarterback. Still, as Pat Narduzzi has emphasized, there will be competition all the way up until kickoff against Kent State on Aug. 31. But whoever is at quarterback, he will have Rodney Hammond Jr., Desmond Reid, Konata Mumpfield, Kenny Johnson and Gavin Bartholomew, among others, at this disposal.
It remains to be seen whether new offensive coordinator Kade Bell’s offense will immediately translate, but if Yarnell or Eli Holstein can play serviceable football, it will go a long way in 2024.
“There’s a different attitude, without a doubt,” Narduzzi said last week. “There’s got to be — we went through spring ball, there was a different attitude. We went through winter conditioning, there was a different attitude. They went through summer conditioning, there was a different attitude, and there has to be. There’s got to be an attitude adjustment. I think that has occurred and I think they got it.”
The defense did suffer significant losses, but the positions of need have been bolstered through the transfer portal and a few areas defensively are entering the summer with a significant amount of depth. The defensive line and cornerback are still areas of concern, but the portal arrivals will likely be key members of both units. And the linebackers and safeties are clear areas of strength.
It will come down to whether or not the offense can take a step up from where it was last season.
