Return of the MAC: Kent State Has a Potential Nuclear Pig in Waiting
Remember Mo Ibrahim? Not only is he back and coaching RBs at Kent State, his former RBs coach is the head coach, and they've brought over their very own version of Mo from the Gophers.
When you understand the nature of a thing, you know what it's capable of.
- Wesley Snipes, Blade (1998)
Far be it from me to tell you how to live your own life, but let me just start this one off by saying that if you insisted on reading this article with the Rad Cut of Confusion by New Order pumping in the background, I would not tell you no.
I want to take you back to September 2nd, 2021 for a moment. It’s a Thursday night, the opening day of the college football season in fact. Your favourite CFF writer spent his first round draft pick on a fourth year player from the Gophers, a player named Mohammed “Day Walker” Ibrahim, who was coming off a 200 carry, 1076 yard and 15 score season. Oh, and did I mention that that was a shortened season of seven total games?
That’s right, Mo Ibrahim was averaging (if my memory serves correct) 30 PPG in that shortened 2020 season. He was a tank. Even though they never used him as a receiver, his carries per game were so gargantuan that he was the whole offence.
So, in the 2021 offseason when it became clear that Minnesota’s returning offensive line was not only one of the most veteran, but also one of the largest groups in a literal sense (Daniel Faalele was 6’8, 380 pounds, for example) returning to collegiate football, these ingredients spelled a recipe that was right up my alley. Not only that, but the mad bastard responsible for this depraved offensive system was returning in PJ Fleck.
I jumped at the opportunity to acquire Mo. Everything looked peachy at first. The Gophers opened the year against what would likely be their toughest opponent: Ohio State. Mo Ibrahim carried the Gophers offence for three quarters to keep the game close. By that time he already had 30 carries, 163 yards and two scores. 👍👍😬😬
I sat back and watched with the biggest shit eating grin you can imagine. “This is going to be a good year” I told myself, as I sipped on my hot cocoa.
Unfortunately, the CFF gods had other plans. Ibrahim tore his Achilles on a non-contact play late in the third, and that was the last snap he played all season.
However, I remained a fan of Mo Ibrahim. I hoped his NFL career would have worked out better than it did, but alas, it was also not meant to be. Now he makes his way back to the collegiate ranks—not as a player, but as a coach. A RBs coach, no less, for the Kent State Golden Flashes. His new boss, as it turns out, is actually his old boss—former Gophers RB coach Kenni Burns.
And as if the list of Gopher connections wasn’t lengthy enough, they brought in a Minnesota transfer RB Jordan Nubin. Some of you may remember Nubin from the 2023 season when he broke out with a 40 carry, 204 yard and two score performance vs. MSU. That’s right, PJ Fleck, in (as far as I know) a fully sober temperament handed the football to a collegiate athlete 40 times in a game. God love him.
Nubin was handed the rock often over the next four games also, but wasn’t very impressive save for a performance vs. Wisconsin where he scored once with 93 yards. Evidently, the level of play may have been over his skeeze. He did the wise thing this offseason and transferred not only to a lower level, but to arguably the lowest level of FBS play in the MAC.
Alarm bells immediately went off in my head when this move was announced, and then when I saw Mo was joining the band also, I knew I had to write about this program. Casual CFB fans may look at this backfield and scoff, discarding it as non-consequential since Kent State is one of the worst programs in college football. Elite CFB fans know better.
As a wise man once said “when you understand the nature of a thing, you know what it’s capable of”. I watched that Burnes/Ibrahim duo slice through the B1G like the opening club scene of Blade when Wesley carves through all those vamps.
Mo’s 2020 season was like the CFF equivalent of that scene—defenders’ bodies laid over the field every night; CFF points spewing all over the place like the blood valves in that club. It was f***ing sick... Now let’s get into this thing.
Coaching & System
RB1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 6.3 — OC: 9.041 (half ppr)
Now I know what you’re thinking while reading those absolutely putrid averages above, but just stick with me here. The first thing you have to understand is that Kent State was incredibly poor over the last two seasons.
Many will remember that in the offseason between 2022 and 2023, Sean Lewis (now with the SDSU Aztecs) departed the team, and the roster (sporting multiple future NFLers) was completely gutted. The entire WR room was gone in essentially a two month period. That’s hard for any program to overcome much less a poor MAC program.
But, even in the madness Kent State saw some notable individual RB performances, namely one from Gavin Garcia who ran for 125 yards and two scores on 21 carries vs. Central Connecticut.
However, it seems like despite the staff’s best efforts, Kent St. never could find their bellcow. Perhaps the right one is on the roster now? Or maybe our old friend Mo Ibrahim can influence this room by osmosis.
Mark Carney, not to be confused with the Canadian Liberal Party candidate and former Bank of Canada governor, was promoted to OC from TEs coach last season.
Something that should be noted by the reader is the carry share of each coach. Despite the lack of productivity, both average over 30% carry share for their RB1s. The problem is, as it turns out, you don’t run the ball successfully much when you’re constantly losing.
As mentioned earlier, Burns was the RBs coach at Minnesota during Mo’s reign. Admittedly the usage patterns there probably have more to do with PJ, but we at least know that Burns learned from the best. And, if he knows what’s good for him he’ll find a pig and feed him until the cows come home in 2025 because Mr. Burns is officially on the hot seat now.
As far as tendencies, Burns averages a run-heavy approach (58/42 run/pass), while Carney averages a 52/48 split. If you’re wondering, 2024 Kent State mirrored Burns’ average at a 57/43 split, so suffice it to say that’ll probably continue in 2025. Both coaches are aligned on pacing averaging around 26 seconds per play.
Later this offseason I hope to get numbers on returning offensive line snaps, which would be particularly important for an article like this. For now, I do not know what that looks like yet.
Jordan Nubin (5’10, 215)
2024 RUSHING STATS: 11 - 19 - 0 (0.76 PPG)
I’ve linked the highlights of Nubin’s 40 carry game above—does he or does he not strike a resemblance to Mo Ibrahim himself toting the rock for the Gophers?
There isn’t much to cover re: Nubin from 2024. He barely played as Marcus Major subbed in as RB2 behind Darius Taylor. In fact, there really isn’t much to cover from his whole career as he hasn’t played much. However, in 2023 Nubin served in a valuable role for the Gophers, almost singlehandedly carrying them to a win over MSU, and occupying the role of RB1 down the stretch.
Nubin is entering his fifth season as an unranked recruit out of high school in Illinois, which has been fertile recruiting ground for Fleck’s Gophers since his arrival. He was given a three star rating in the transfer portal.
Other members on the Kent State roster that Nubin will have to compete with include the aforementioned Gavin Garcia, and Ayden Harris, who had a nice little 14 carry, 63 yard and one score game in 2024.
Key questions with this profile at the current juncture would include: 1) How good will the overall team be, specifically the offensive line, and 2) What is the health of Gavin Garcia, who never played in 2024 due to a knee injury sustained on August 27. Major knee injuries usually take a year to recover, and then several more months to regain confidence and full function.
The selling point of Nubin’s 2025 stock rests on the assumptions that the staff will hand him the rock a lot, and that his P4 skill set will be enough to make first defenders miss, either through juke moves or, more likely, bouncing off their tackles. If only one of the two conditions is met, there could still be value but we’re looking for an even sweep of 2/2 to justify that ‘nuclear’ tag in the title.
Overall, there are enough flashes from Nubin’s short career highlights at the P4 level to give me some confidence that he could translate well down a level.
And lord help those poor bastards in the MAC if Mo and Kenni find their guy via a 215 pound sledgehammer in Nubin with a competent offensive line. That’s big boy football baby. Power football.
For the love of Christ, let’s make it happen in 2025. Someone send this article to Kenni along with a complimentary $50 IHOP gift card and we’ll all cross our fingers that the right moves are made. ◾
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Sample 2018-2024 excluding 2020.