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Kent State gained only 199 yards of offense in its 37-0 loss to Kansas State.
Considering the Golden Flashes frittered away 136 yards in penalties Saturday night, it could be argued that they hurt themselves as much as the Wildcats did.
''They weren't doing anything we didn't expect them to do,'' first-year coach Darrell Hazell said. ''They were playing the same coverages we saw, and again, I think it was the penalties that probably hurt us a couple times, put ourselves in a bad situation
''You know we had a chop block when we had the ball on the 1-yard line that moved it back 15 yards,'' he added, ''and you just can't do those things and be a good football team.''
Kent State's 11 penalties, which ranged from chop blocks to facemasks to unsportsmanlike conduct, added up to the most penalty yardage that Bill Snyder Family Stadium has ever seen, and they contributed to Kent State's first 0-3 start since 2000.
An early interception by Kansas State cornerback David Garrett set the tone for the game.
The senior waited until quarterback Spencer Keith finally unloaded a looping pass toward Eric Adeyemi near the sideline and deftly stepped in its path. Garrett corralled the ball near his shoestrings and took off untouched 45 yards down the sideline to give Kansas State a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats' offense started purring for the first time all season on their next series.
Backed up to his 3 after a false start, Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein picked his way through the line for a 46-yard gain on first down, and Kansas State methodically marched the rest of the way. Kent State helped with a pair of personal fouls, and Klein capped the 95-yard drive with a 5-yard scoring run.
It was the first of three straight drives that Kansas State turned into touchdowns.
The Wildcats went 98 yards the next time they had the ball, converting four third downs along the way, the final one when Klein hit wide receiver Sheldon Smith sliding just across the goal line for a 3-yard TD toss that made the score 21-0.
Unable to get anything going offensively, Kent State resorted to trying a fake punt after its next drive stalled, but even that failed. The turnover gave Kansas State the ball at the Golden Flashes' 48, and Klein completed three straight passes before scampering in from 4 yards out for another score.
Anthony Cantele tacked on a pair of field goals for Kansas State, and the Golden Flashes were well on their way to their second lopsided loss of the season. They lost to Alabama 48-7 in their opener. Trayion Durham, the Golden Flashes' 260-pound freshman running back, led the way with 72 yards rushing and Anthony Meray added 47 yards on 10 carries.
''We just didn't execute on offense,'' said Keith, who finished 11 of 23 with two interceptions. ''I've got to step up and make throws that I didn't do tonight.''
Kansas State's rapidly improving defense held its second straight opponent to under 120 yards rushing - in fact, Klein ran for more yards than Kent State had as a team. The Wildcats' quarterback went for 139 yards on 19 carries, while the Golden Flashes managed 118 yards.
''It's disappointing,'' Hazell said. ''We got ourselves down early, put ourselves in a hole against a good football team, and it's hard to fight back. The thing we've got to do right now is one, take a close look at who we are and what we're doing, make sure we make some adjustments. The biggest thing for us to have some success going forward is to make sure we all stay together and figure out what the solution is from this point on.''
