The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Midview graduate Crum staying positive
Kent State quarterback, teammates have high hopes for 2020 season
The opportunity to prove himself as an NFL prospect is there for the taking for Dustin Crum.
The 2020 season is a momentous one for Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum.
The opportunity to prove himself as an NFL prospect is there for the taking, but of more importance is one last college season for the Midview graduate. Crum is a senior next fall, and the buzz surrounding the Golden Flashes’ program hasn’t been this pronounced in a long time.
However, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has changed so much in all levels of sports, and college football might not be spared. Rumors circulate daily about the
FBS season being postponed, moved to the summer months to best fight off COVID-19, and games possibly being played in empty stadiums.
“Yeah, that would be strange,” said Crum, who returned home to Lorain County about two weeks ago. “Playing with no fans would be tough, especially if it’s your senior year. For me, I’d probably prefer to redshirt, wait a year to have a normal season.”
All the while, Gov. Mike DeWine has a stay-at-home order in place. Nothing seems normal as everyone across the globe waits out the outbreak of the virus. It’s an anxious wait for Crum, who is trying his best to stay positive.
“Just trying to stay as ready as possible. I have what I need to be ready.”
— Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum
It can’t be easy. Crum — the first winner of the Morning Journal’s Matt Wilhelm Award in 2016 — and his teammates are anxious to get back to work because hopes are high for the 2020 Kent State football team. Crum is arguably the biggest reason for that optimism.
Last season, he took over as starting QB for Coach Sean Lewis’ team following a 30-7 season-opening loss at Arizona State. Out went Woody Barrett, and in went Crum during wins against Kennesaw State and Bowling Green, the latter a breakout game for him.
Crum was 26 of 31 passing for 310 yards and three touchdowns and added 69 yards rushing.
Crum kept starting and posting solid numbers, but Kent State hit a snag in the middle of its season when it lost three straight. Then in a game against the University at Buffalo, the Golden Flashes (3-6 and facing bowl elimination) trailed, 27-6, with 7 minutes, 36 seconds to play. Crum threw two TDs, and led them to a field goal with seconds to play completing a monstrous 30-27 comeback win.
Crum and Co. never lost the rest of the season, and a 7-6 season was capped with a 51-41 win over Utah State in the Frisco Bowl last December. It was the school’s
first-ever bowl win. Crum (289 yards passing, two TDs; 147 yards rushing, one TD) was named the game’s MVP.
Then spring practice began … and ended. Eventually, so did the rest of the sports world — either by postponement or cancellation.
“We got in five (spring) practices, which was nice,” said Crum, who threw for 2,622 yards and 20 TDs, completed 69.2 percent of his passes with just two interceptions. “It was good to get back on the field and get a feel for what we were doing.”
Now, Crum and his teammates are like millions of others world-wide making do the best they can. On March 31, Crum had his
first position meeting via a video app with Lewis, who doubles as the team’s head coach and QB coach.
“Very productive meeting,” said Crum, an aerospace engineer major.
Crum maintains a solid workout routine with the training equipment at his parent’s home in Grafton, and on occasion he throws with former Midview teammate Logan Bolin, a senior wide receiver for Ashland who in 2019 had 53 catches for 791 yards and six TDs.
“We just try to find an open field,” said Crum, who also rushed for 707 yards and six TDs last fall. “Just trying to stay as ready as possible. I have what I need to be ready. I wish I could be throwing to my teammates.
That’s not ideal, but everyone’s doing the best they can.”
If and when college football gets the green light for 2020, one interested observer will be Crum’s high school coach, D.J. Shaw, who stepped down as coach of the Middies after last season. He’s still at the school as Midview’s assistant principal.
With no football coaching duties in the fall, Shaw is hoping to watch Crum and his teammates take on a murderer’s row of opponents in September. In Kent State’s first four games, it plays at Penn State Sept. 5, then at Kentucky Sept. 19 and at Alabama Sept. 26.
“If they can compete in any of those games, the rest
of the (Mid-American Conference) could be in trouble,” said Shaw. “I think the sky’s the limit for Dustin.”
Last season, Crum just missed getting in the top 10 among the FBS passing efficiency leaders. Crum was 11th (1659.70), and ranked just behind the likes of Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow of LSU, Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
“Dustin’s everything you want in your best player,” said Shaw of his former QB who was a three-time firstteam All-Ohio selection. “It’s no secret he was our guy, our leader. He lifted the bar for everyone in our program, and he’s doing that now for Kent.”