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Kent State football: Coach Paul Haynes, Golden Flashes lamenting lost leads, failures to close out games

KENT: Kent State coach Paul Haynes long ago identified his team’s toughest problem — closing out winnable games.

And that issue surfaced again in the Golden Flashes’ 18-14 road loss to previously winless Miami on Saturday.

With 8:45 left in the third quarter, the Flashes (2-5, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) had a 14-3 lead behind two touchdown runs by junior quarterback Nick Holley. Three minutes later, the RedHawks (1-6, 1-2 MAC) scored on a 15-yard touchdown reception by sophomore tailback Alonzo Smith. Near the end of the quarter, the Flashes snapped the ball out of their own end zone for a safety to hand the RedHawks two points, making it 14-12.