Archer announces his return for 2013
Advertisement
With heartbreaking losses in the MAC championship game and the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the Kent State 2012 football season didn't end on the high notes that had made up the program's most successful season in 40 years. Add in the blow of Darrell Hazell departing at the conclusion of their bowl defeat, and it was glaringly obvious that the Golden Flashes and their fans could use a bit of good news.
That came today, when junior tailback Dri Archer announced that he would return to Kent for his senior season, deciding to put off his NFL dreams for another year so that he and his teammates, along with new head coach Paul Haynes, could continue the momentum the program built in their 11-3 2012 season.
Archer, the 5-foot-8, 175 pounder from Venice high school in Laurel (Fla.) who burst onto the scene in the season opener against FCS opponent Towson State when he returned a second quarter kick 98 yards for a touchdown, announced on Twitter today that he would come back in 2013.
"The decision has been made, 2013 I will be in a Kent State uniform for my senior season," Archer posted online. "A choice had to be made and I know this is a great choice. I am going to work and train harder than I ever have before to make this last go around the best time of my life. I've got some things to accomplish before I leave."
Among those items that Archer listed as needing to be accomplished? Winning a MAC championship, winning the school's first bowl game since 1973 and one more item; Archer wants to win the Heisman Trophy, and if he can find a role in the new head coaches offense that is similar to this past year, he could very well earn some attention from Heisman voters. In 2012, Archer - who was named a first-team All-American by the FWAA - accounted for over 2500 total yards and 24 touchdowns. He averaged a whopping nine yards per carry on his way to 1429 yards rushing.