When the Wagon Wheel is on the line, all bets are off. Any play can happen. No lead is safe. And chaos is certain to brew.
Tuesday night’s rivalry clash between the Kent State Golden Flashes and Akron Zips
featured all the madness. There was a 21-0 second half scoring run, answered by an 18-point rally to force overtime. There were muffed punts, onside kick recoveries, Philly specials, and countless explosive touchdowns. It was MACtion in a nutshell and a rivalry at its finest. But in the end, Kent State recorded the game-winning overtime stop in a 42-35 shootout, with its entire roster racing the distance of the field to claim its beloved Wagon Wheel and plant it at the 50-yard line of its archenemy’s playing surface.
Kent State took home the Wagon Wheel for the first time since 2022, surviving a lively thriller. The Golden Flashes trailed 17-14 at halftime but quickly surged with 21 unanswered points in the first 16 minutes of the second half. It was all led by quarterback Dru DeShields who shattered career-highs, dealing plenty of explosive passing plays in a 317-yard, 5-touchdown (tied for third-most in program history), 0-interception showcase. In the first half, he connected with Da’Realyst Clark for an 89-yard touchdown — simultaneously marking the utility player’s fourth total score of the year (two kick return, one passing, one receiving) and DeShields’ fourth 75+ yard touchdown heave of 2025.
During Kent State’s 21-0 rally, DeShields connected on touchdowns to Cade Wolford, Terik Mulder, and Da’Shawn Martin, handing the Golden Flashes a 35-17 fourth quarter lead — its largest on the road since Nov. 6, 2022 at Bowling Green. But this is the Wagon Wheel, and two years ago in the exact same venue, Akron erased a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to Kent State to win the prized possession.
It was then déjà vu for both teams as the Zips generated an 18-0 run in the final 11 minutes of action, led by the connection between quarterback Ben Finley and wide receiver Marcel Williams. Finley fired for 424 yards (fifth-most in program history) and three touchdowns, while Williams caught 14 passes for 206 yards (third-most in program history) and two touchdowns. Williams made a spectacular catch in 1-on-1 coverage in the end zone with 10:53 remaining to slice the deficit to 11. Then, the wide receiver made arguably his best play of the night — and it didn’t even count as a reception. Akron executed a perfect pooch kick, and Williams tightroped the sideline and secured the high-arcing kick at the Kent State 39-yard line before it hit the ground.
Gifted back-to-back possessions, the Zips capitalized. They reached as far as the 1-yard line, but after Kent State made three consecutive goal line stops, Akron elected to kick the 20-yard chip shot field goal to cut the margin to 38-30. The Zips regained control of the ball in no time. The MAC’s team leader in turnover production delivered in crunch time as Malcolm DeWalt IV forced a fumble on a DeShields run, with Akron making a recovery at the 42-yard line with 4:52 remaining.
Finley went to straight to work, finishing the 58-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Israel Polk right at the goal line. The Zips attempted a tying 2-point conversion and drew up a Philly Special-style play, with Williams delivering the pass to Finley to knot the game at 35 apiece. Each rival received one shot at the win in the final two minutes, but neither moved the ball close to field goal range, making Tuesday’s Wagon Wheel the first installment to reach overtime since 2018.
In overtime, DeShields connected with Ardell Banks toward the front right corner of the end zone on the opening play, which was upheld as a 25-yard touchdown after review. Akron could not answer, firing an incompletion on 4th and 4 to decide the rivalry.
Kent State (4-6, 3-3 MAC) celebrated with the Wagon Wheel for the first time in three years, knocking off its arch rival to claim its first road win since upending Buffalo in the 2022 season finale. The Golden Flashes, fresh off a 1-23 record across the last two seasons, remain in the hunt for bowl eligibility in November. Kent State must defeat Central Michigan and Northern Illinois to get there, but regardless of those upcoming results, it’s been a tremendous turnaround for Mark Carney and this program.
Akron (4-7, 3-4 MAC) cemented its eighth-straight losing season. Due to an Academic Progress Rate below the allowable threshold, Akron was never eligible to participate in a bowl this year, but after a heartbreaking defeat in the Wagon Wheel, it’s a moot point. The Zips will formally become the first FBS squad to wrap up their season next Tuesday when they host Bowling Green.
