KENT — Kent State junior Tommy Ulatowski had the best game of his career Saturday after being the third quarterback on the depth chart for the first four games of the season.
Against Eastern Michigan in the Golden Flashes ' Mid-American Conference opener at Dix Stadium, Ulatowski went 15-of-28 passing for 345 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, and added a 4-yard touchdown run.
Although it came in a 52-33 loss to the Eagles , by having the best performance — by far — of any Kent State quarterback this season, Ulatowski solved one of the Golden Flashes' biggest uncertainties.
“Tommy went and played a defense that probably wasn’t the same as what [injured starter Devin Kargman] played the first couple of games, but I thought Tommy went out there and did a great job,” Flashes coach Kenni Burns said. “His leadership, his voice and his command — I felt a different energy with the offense today.”
In fact, Ulatowski helped turn around one of the nation’s worst offenses in his first start this season.
Before the game against EMU, the Flashes offense was ranked close to worst in the nation in passing yards per game (129th out of 133 teams), scoring offense (132nd) and total offense (133rd). Of course, playing Pittsburgh , Tennessee and Penn State didn't help those numbers.
Still, Ulatowski led the way by setting several season team highs, including passing yards in a game, passing touchdowns in a game and longest completion (68 yards). His favorite target was Chrishon McCray, who hauled in five passes for 188 yards and touchdowns of 68 and 65 yards.
Kent State's 33 points Saturday were nine points higher than the Golden Flashes' previous best this season. In fact, the last time KSU scored at least 27 points was more than a year ago in its last win — a 38-10 victory over Central Connecticut State on Sept. 16, 2023.
“Hopefully he can keep building off of this,” Burns said of Ulatowski. “It is the same offense, it is the same passing game. We did a good job of executing that side of it, for sure.”
In addition to having Kent State’s best quarterback performance this season, Ulatowski also set several career-highs Saturday. His passing yardage total blew past his previous best of 284 yards, his four total touchdowns tied a career high and he completed the longest pass of his career.
“Tommy came out and he played confident and under control,” Burns said. “The one thing for Tommy is he has to control the ball better. He’s a competitor. I liked the way the offense kept coming back and responding no matter what the score was. That is the sign of an offense starting to mature.”
How Kent State's starting quarterback earned his spot
Ulatowski may be solving one of KSU’s biggest challenges, but getting his chance to prove himself was hard to achieve.
Last season, Ulatowski appeared in 10 games for the Golden Flashes, but didn't take over as the starter until midseason. He started six of the last seven games, but the Flashes lost all of them. He finished 60-of-121 passing for 737 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
As a returning player, Ulatowski was in competition for the starting role for 2024 during the offseason. But, before the season opener at Pittsburgh, Burns decided to give the starting job to Kargman, also a junior.
Kargman and the Flashes started the season 0-3, including a loss to Saint Francis of the FCS, before injuring his hip in Week 4 against Penn State. He is out for the season with that injury.
Burns turned to redshirt freshman JD Sherrod to replace Kargman after the injury but, later in the same game, Sherrod suffered his own season-ending injury. That led Burns to give playing time to Ulatowski, who has now appeared in four games this season with one start.
For the season, Ulatowski is 16-of-35 passing for 354 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, with one rushing touchdown. In the four games he did not start, the Golden Flashes produced just 459 passing yards and four TD passes — numbers Ulatowski nearly matched Saturday.
Despite Ulatowski's big game, though, KSU (0-5, 0-1) is still searching for its first win of the season heading into an Oct. 12 home game against Ball State.
“We just have to keep developing and keep growing,” Burns said. “Tommy is going to keep getting better. He is going to take this and get better from his first game to his second game.”
John Hilber is an Akron Beacon Journal correspondent. You can contact him at jhilber@kent.edu .
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State football | Junior quarterback Tommy Ulatowski shines in first start of 2024
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