Kent State football | 5 preseason camp takeaways entering 2024 college football season

The next chapter of the "Kent Grit" era is ready to be written.

Kent State's college football season kicks off Saturday when the Golden Flashes face Pitt at Acrisure Stadium. ESPNU will televise the game beginning at noon.

"Kent Grit" is the vision Kenni Burns brought to Kent State when he was named coach after the 2022 season . It still stands after a challenging 1-11 season in 2023.

As the Flashes get set to open a new year, here are five takeaways from preseason camp.

Devin Kargman will be Kent State's starting quarterback

After playing three games in a backup role last year, Devin Kargman is set to take the Kent State starting quarterback reins.

Kargman battled Tommy Ulatowski during camp. Ulatowski was the Flashes' primary starter during the second half of last season. He threw three touchdown passes against Akron and had a 284-yard passing game against Bowling Green .

"They competed all the way to the end," Burns said. "It came down to the last scrimmage."

Every detail in determining the starter didn't go unnoticed.

"We looked at everything," Burns said. "We kept statistics on accuracy, completions and the ability to make plays with your feet. Leadership is something we graded every day. How they led the team and how they responded to adversity. We put them in adverse situations in practice to see who would get us out of it."

Burns said the Flashes have two quarterbacks who had the pulse of the team figured out. Playing both isn't out of the question.

"I think Dev allows us to do a little bit more from an offensive standpoint than Tommy does now," Burns said. "It doesn't mean we won't utilize Tommy. Tommy has a package. He'll come in and play as well."

Chrishon McCray stays committed to Kent State after successful season

No one would have been surprised if Chrishon McCray had taken his talents elsewhere in the wake of Kent State's challenging 2023 season. Despite missing the final three games, he still led the Flashes with 610 receiving yards and caught four touchdown passes.

But McCray stayed committed to the Flashes. In the portal era, it was a major offseason win for Kent State.

"It was our No. 1 'recruiting get,' getting him to come back," Burns said. "At least every school in the Midwest wanted Chrishon at the end of the season in the portal. He was getting posts from everyone. He made the decision to come back, and that was big for us. It has been nothing but a blessing."

McCray is looking forward to helping the Flashes get back on track.

"Most of the team is back," McCray said. "Last year we were very young and inexperienced. Now we have a season under our belt to showcase what we can actually do.

"We're more comfortable and very talented. The fact that most of us stayed and have another season together is good."

Knee injury will sideline Kent State running back Gavin Garcia for season

The Flashes could not escape camp without some bad news.

Burns said junior running back Gavin Garcia will miss the 2024 season because of a knee injury. Garcia rushed for a team-leading 544 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games last year.

"It's a big loss for our football team," Burns said. "He'll take on a new role as Coach Garcia, which we're excited about."

Garcia's absence opens the door for redshirt senior Ky Thomas to make a bigger impact out of the backfield. Thomas started his career at Minnesota and rushed for 824 yards and six touchdowns in one season. He also played one season at Kansas.

Sophomores Curtis Douglas and Marques Hicks are other running backs who could take on bigger roles.

"Some guys will have to come up and play better and sooner than we expected," Burns said.

Former Massillon Tiger Ardell Banks looking for a new start at Kent State

Burns said former Massillon Tigers receiver Ardell Banks has had a good fall camp for the Flashes.

Banks transferred to Kent State from Kentucky, where he redshirted last season. He caught 12 touchdown passes and had almost 800 receiving yards for Massillon as a senior in 2022.

True freshman center Elijah Williams a 'physical, physical specimen'

True freshman Elijah Williams has won the starting center's job.

The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Williams helped lead Toledo Central Catholic to a Division III state championship last year . He was an honorable mention All-Ohio selection.

"You're going to notice right away that he belongs," Burns said. "He's a physical, physical specimen. He plays hard and plays the way we want to play football. It didn't take us long as coaches to identify that.

"We put him in that role and he ran away with it. He didn't look back."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kent State football | 5 preseason camp takeaways entering 2024 college football season