Kent State will start junior quarterback Spencer Keith under center Saturday against NIU.

The 6’3”, 215-pound quarterback has plenty of experience, starting in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

The Little Rock, Ark. native has faced some tough competition this season in Alabama and Kansas State and looks to rebound after a slow start.

Against the Crimson Tide, Keith threw the ball a season-high 47 times, but only managed to complete 20 of those passes for a total of 99 yards.

Through the first five games, Keith has completed 71 of 157 passes for 505 yards. Keith averages 100 passing yards per contest.

Keith will have to perform better to stay neck-and-neck with the high-scoring Huskies offense. He’ll also be asked to pick apart NIU’s defense, which has struggled against the pass this season.

His three touchdown passes sit in the bottom of the MAC statistical standings, but facing a struggling NIU defense could improve those numbers drastically.

“I think you see two sides of the ball: their offense and our defense, both struggling right now with a lot of youth.” said NIU head coach Dave Doeren.