Shane Morris threw two touchdown passes, including a back-breaking 53-yard connection with Corey Willis in the fourth quarter, and Central Michigan defeated Kent State 42-23 on Tuesday night.
The Golden Flashes had rallied from a 28-10 deficit, pulling within 28-23 on a 57-yard touchdown run by Mike Carrigan early in the fourth quarter. After failing on a 2-point conversion, Kent State pinned Central Michigan on the 9 with the help of a penalty. But the Chippewas needed just five plays to regain the momentum.
Romello Ross added a 2-yard touchdown run with 2:04 to play to wrap it up for CMU (7-4, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) one play after the Golden Flashes (2-9, 1-6) turned the ball over on downs.
Kent State took a 3-0 lead but after the first-quarter field goal Jarrod Davis had a 98-yard kickoff return, starting a string of three straight touchdowns for CMU. It was 28-10 at the half.
Morris was 14 of 22 for 297 yards and Tyler Conklin had 13 catches for 104 yards.
George Bollas completed 15 of 28 passes for a career-high 310 yards and two touchdowns for Kent State, which had 494 yards of total offense. Before losing nine yards on their final possession, the Golden Flashes were over 500 yards of total offense for the first time since 2013. Carrigan had four catches for 83 yards and a touchdown and ran three times for 65 yards.
