Kent, Ohio – For three quarters on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Dix Stadium, Wofford looked every bit capable of knocking off an FBS opponent. The Terriers led Kent State 15-14 into the fourth quarter after a gutty first half filled with special-teams splash and defensive takeaways. As the Terriers offense sputtered deeper into the second half leaving the Wofford defense exhausted, the Golden Flashes poured it on, scoring 22 unanswered points in the final period for a 36-15 win that dropped the Old Gold & Black to 2-1.
Wofford entered the game riding a six-game win streak and wasted little time showing it belonged. After Kent State opened with a 12-yard touchdown run by QB Dru DeShields, the Terriers answered with a Corey Williams recovery of a muffed punt that set up Sam Spence’s 28-yard field goal. LB Wyatt Ward’s first career interception flipped the field in the second quarter, and Gerald Modest Jr. punched in a 10-yard touchdown run for a 10-7 lead.
Special teams kept the T-dawgs in front. Cillian Bonner pinned Kent State at the 1-yard line, and when the Golden Flashes’ punter mishandled the snap in the end zone, Wofford walked away with a safety and a 12-7 advantage. Kent State briefly grabbed the lead on Rafael Terrero Jr.’s 63-yard pick-six, but Spence drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal as time expired in the half — tied for the seventh-longest kick in school history — to send Wofford into the locker room up 15-14.
The Terriers still held that one-point edge deep into the third after Javario Tinch notched his second career interception and Kent State clanged a 43-yard field goal attempt off the upright. But the offense, which finished 0-of-12 on third down and managed just 173 total yards, could not stay on the field. Kent State (1-1) converted 11-of-19 third downs, owned a 37:22 to 22:38 time-of-possession edge, and erupted for three touchdowns in the fourth — a 5-yard Jakorion Caffey run, a 20-yard DeShields scramble, and a 10-yard DeShields-to-Wayne Harris strike — to seal it.
Modest Jr. led Wofford with 14 carries for 56 yards and the team’s lone touchdown. Ethan Drumm and J.T. Fayard combined to go 13-of-27 for 115 yards through the air, with Isaiah Scott hauling in three catches for 47 yards. Ward and Logan McCloud paced the defense with nine tackles apiece; Ward added 1.5 TFLs and the first-half pick, while Cole Walker finished with eight tackles and three pass breakups. It was the first meeting between the programs and Wofford’s 29th all-time game against an FBS foe.
Head coach Shawn Watson praised the first-half fight afterward, calling the effort “spirited” and “gutty,” while acknowledging the Terriers did not finish the fourth-quarter battle they had set up.
Wofford (2-1) remains on the road next Saturday at Chattanooga for a 6:00 PM ET kickoff. The SoCon clash will stream on ESPN+.