Fay gets his dream game

One can sense the awe in Michael Fay's voice as he talks about Penn State and Beaver Stadium and the hope as he recounts the story of waiting a few years ago for someone on the Nittany Lions' coaching staff to make a recruiting call to him.

The call never came, and the 6-foot-4, 294-pound junior from Allentown will line up at left guard for Kent State when it plays the Lions on Saturday. Still, Fay holds no grudge and eagerly awaits the opportunity to step on the green grass before more than 100,000 spectators.

"It's like somebody put a dream in my lap," Fay said. "To be able to play Penn State is like an extra big layer of icing on the cake. It's going to be a great day, something that makes my life pretty cool, something I can tell my kids about."

Fay and his teammates will take a minute to check out their surroundings during pregame warm-ups. After that, the focus will be squarely on business.

The Golden Flashes aren't making the trip just to earn a six-figure payday and get some face time on ESPN2. They want to gain some respect for the Mid-American Conference and to break simultaneous droughts of 0-20 against top-25 teams and 0-9 against opponents from the Big Ten.

Kent State gave Boston College, another member of a BCS conference, all it could handle last week. The 26-13 BC victory would have been a lot closer had the Golden Flashes not turned over the ball five times, two on punt returns, as BC converted the mistakes into 16 points.

"We're real proud of the way our players played going into the fourth quarter with a chance to win despite five turnovers," Kent State coach Doug Martin said. "We played incredible defense, and we came out of it with positives."

The Golden Flashes can ably test Penn State in two areas that have been soft to date – the Lions' rushing game and pass defense.

In their opener, the Flashes held Murray State, a Football Championship Subdivision squad, to minus-65 yards rushing and made 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Add that to the 87 yards that BC gained, and Kent State is the nation's No. 1 defense against the rush.

"We're going into the Penn State game with all the confidence in the world," said junior defensive end Lee Stalker. "We have a little swagger now knowing we can do well."

Kent State's offense is led by sophomore quarterback Spencer Keith, who is on a run of seven consecutive games of more than 200 passing yards and eight in a row with at least one touchdown.

"He has a lot of confidence, and he's very calm in the pocket," Fay said. "He gives all of us in the huddle a lot of confidence."

If there is one hole in the Golden Flashes, it's their running game. Playing without sixth-year senior Eugene Jarvis, who is out with a strained groin, they managed just four yards against Boston College.

The Golden Flashes are solid on special teams. Sophomore Freddy Cortez is 14 of 15 on field goal tries in his last seven games, while junior punter Matt Rinehart averages more than 43 yards.

On defense, senior free safety Brian Lainhart has 15 career interceptions, the most of anyone currently playing in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"They have more talent than people think they have," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.

After two weeks of surprises in college football, the Golden Flashes want to produce one of their own. That includes Fay, the Pennsylvanian who met Paterno during a visit while in high school.

"Now I'm going in as the enemy," he said, "and I don't have a problem with that. I'm looking forward to it."

Hollomon's status. Kent State freshman running back Robert Hollomon, a graduate of West Catholic who spent last season at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts, might be redshirted, but he is working hard in practice to get on the field this year.

"The coaches have said they're planning on redshirting me," said Hollomon, who will make the trip to Penn State. "But I'm working hard in practice just so if they need me to play, I'll be ready. It's really not 100 percent yet."