College football: Midview graduate Dustin Crum turns disappointment into a season to remember as Kent State's quarterback

One day, this college football season could be known as the Year of the Transfer Quarterback. As many as 23 Division I FBS schools, to varying degrees of success, have been led by quarterbacks who transferred into their respective programs last offseason. Three of the four teams in the College Football Playoff are led by transfer quarterbacks — including the Heisman winner. Most of those quarterbacks left their old teams after being replaced as the starter or losing the job in a preseason competition. Dustin Crum, the quarterback leading Kent State, has a different story. Yes, he lost the starting job to a quarterback who transferred into the program in 2018, the same time Sean Lewis was named coach. But instead of turning outward for answers, Crum decided to look inward. "What it really came down to was not finding blame in the coaches," said Crum, who was a highly touted quarterback coming out of high school after leading Midview to a 32-4 record in his three years as the starter, including going 29-1 during the regular season. You just have to look at yourself and find a way to blame yourself. You have to say, 'What can I do better?' "I remember I went back and found my letter of intent. This is a school I really committed myself to come to, somewhere I wanted to win games and change the culture. That was something that was a big part of it. And the transfer portal has a lot of unknowns. You could easily go somewhere else and have the same things happen to you, and then you can't blame that coaching staff, too. At some point you have to look at yourself in the mirror, go out and do it yourself and stop blaming other people." What he did was win back the starting job and then go out and have a breakout season. He's fifth in the Mid-American Conference in passing yards (2,333) and touchdowns (18) while throwing only two interceptions in 286 attempts — every other quarterback with at least 200 attempts has thrown five or more. He has led Kent State to a 6-6 season and a bowl game for the fourth time in history, its first since 2012. The Golden Flashes play Utah State in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl tonight at 7:30. The Flashes are looking for their first bowl victory. "We challenged him on his physical growth, making sure that his body was in the right physical stature so he could sustain a full season and make all the necessary throws," said Lewis, who is also the quarterbacks coach. "He attacked it the right way and obviously his resiliency, toughness and Northeast Ohio roots — putting his head down and going to work — has led him to a tremendous opportunity. There's no way we're in a bowl game HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Like many before him, Division I college football humbled Crum. "I would say I kind of went through what a lot of guys went through when they come to college football," Crum said. "It's a different animal than high school. You have to go and earn everything that you're going to get. You're not just the best player right away. It's been a process of trying to grow and do better with the change of staff, learning a new offense and perfect my skills in a way that would make me a better quarterback." He played in 10 games as a freshman, making two starts, but was only asked to throw the ball 30 times in what was a run-heavy offense. He competed 53 percent of his passes with two interceptions and a touchdown. Crum also was the team's second leading rusher at 310 yards, getting his first career touchdown against Western Michigan on a 58-yard run. There were some big changes his sophomore year. Lewis took over as the coach and installed a spread-style system like the one Crum played with the Middies. But the bad news was that Woody Barrett transferred into the program from Auburn and won the starting job. Barrett started all 12 games, threw for 2,239 yards, completed 58.7 percent of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns. He also rushed for 503 yards, third on the team, and ranked fifth in the MAC in total offense. Crum played in nine games, completing 16 of 27 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown. "It was a big gut check," Crum said. "I had to really think about what I had to do to get better where I came up short. Spending hours thinking about that stuff can really drive you crazy, but at the end of the day it came down to finding a way to blame myself and making sure I knew it was on me, nobody else. Nobody is going to hand it to me, I had to go out there and get it." He knew he had to get stronger, so he hit the weight room. Lewis said Crum had one of the most impressive offseasons in terms of adding strength, and it showed in his ball velocity. That improvement, combined with his already high football IQ — Crum is a dean's list aerospace engineer major — made him a legitimate threat to opposing defenses. Crum said he also spent countless hours with his wide receivers going over routes and getting their timing down. "It was a culmination of his effort to find ways to improve daily," Lewis said. "He had a great winter conditioning. He carried that over to a really strong spring and that carried over into a great summer training session. I think the hours and the reps that he logged with the wide receivers over the summer gave him a lot of confidence coming into training camp. He really performed well in training camp. Every opportunity that he got in critical situations we created, he was successful. It was more than one singular moment, it was him being consistently good and not occasionally great, and then just maximizing the opportunity that he got." SEIZING THE MOMENT Both Barrett and Crum struggled in Week 1 against Arizona State, a game Lewis said the team planned to let both showcase themselves. Crum completed only 3 of 8 passes for minus-3 yards, while rushing for 24, while Barrett completed 9 of 16 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Lewis said the team used the ensuing week of practice to settle in on a starter, and Crum showed enough to get the vote against Kennesaw State in the home opener. "I don't even know how to describe it to be honest," Crum said. "It was relief to feel everything I had invested pay off, and have the opportunity to go out there with my teammates, guys I've spent hours and years working with and trying to get better and trying to change things around here. Just to have that opportunity was amazing to be honest with you." Crum responded with one of his best games. He completed nearly 74 percent of his passes for 192 yards and a touchdown, led the team down the field for a game-tying field goal to force overtime, then managed overtime effectively to secure a 26-23 win, snapping a nine-game overtime losing streak. He's led the team the rest of the way, producing two games with at least 300 yards passing, including a career-high 369 yards against Ball State, in which he also ran for 101 yards, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. While he hasn't looked back, Crum knows better than anyone that he can't afford to stop improving. "We have a saying around here that work works, and he's a true testament to that," Lewis said. "Everyone in our program now sees it. You can't be complacent, even if you're the incumbent starter, because if you don't improve, someone behind you will and they'll take your job." Right now, Crum and the Flashes are focused on capping Kent State's season with a postseason victory. Kent State finished 5-3 in the MAC this season, one game behind Miami (Ohio) and tied with Buffalo and Ohio. The Flashes lost by seven points to the RedHawks and Bobcats, but beat the Bulls by three. "It would be huge," Crum said. "The second I saw that we were out of the MAC race, that was the next thing in my mind. One of our goals for the program was to go to a bowl game and win. As soon as conference ended up out the window, that was the next thing that I had in my mind." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter.