Kent St. braces for BC

Doug Martin remembers the process very well, even though the memory is almost 20 years old.

"I remember Steve picking me up at the airport in Greenville [N.C.] and saying to me, 'You're hired. I guess this is the toughest interview you ever had. But if you screw this up, I'll really be after your butt.' "

Steve was Steve Logan, then the head football coach at East Carolina. And Martin was a young assistant with big ambitions. Another Logan assistant at the time was Jeff Jagodzinski. Logan is now the offensive coordinator on Jagodzinski's staff at Boston College.

Martin was asked to make the reconnection yesterday because the three men will have a reunion Saturday night in Cleveland when BC opens its 2008 season against a Kent State team coached by . . . Doug Martin.

Jagodzinski remembers the days at East Carolina well.

"Doug and I have remained friends for a long time, and we were really good friends back in the East Carolina days coaching for Steve Logan at the time," said Jagodzinski. "I think Doug's a really good football coach. I think he's very creative, he uses his personnel wisely and puts them in the right position."

Martin said facing an offense coached by Logan and a defense run by coordinator Frank Spaziani will be a challenge.

"Defensively, they are going to be a bear, no question," said Martin, whose team is coming off an injury-plagued 3-9 season that had started with expectations of a Mid-American Conference division crown. "They have a great coordinator who does a lot of different things. And offensively, I know Steve will always have something going. It's going to be a challenge for us, no question."

The challenge for BC will be familiar, because the offensive and defensive schemes that Kent runs are similar to BC's. The problem Kent had last year was injuries; the Golden Flashes were down to their fourth-string quarterback. Starter Julian Edelman tore a posterior cruciate ligament in the second game of the season against Kentucky, and though he played with it for six weeks, a fractured arm against Bowling Green sidelined him for the rest of the season. Even when he played, he was hardly a factor on offense.

"We could run the ball, but we couldn't throw it," said Martin. "We were so one-dimensional."

The one dimension Kent did have was a 5-foot-5-inch, 170-pound dynamo named Eugene Jarvis, who rushed for 1,669 yards - the most of any returning running back in the country this season.

Martin says his team has the same goals it had last season before the injuries wiped them out.

"It's the same group, and we're hopeful," said Martin. "Last year was just so frustrating for everyone. We were all right on defense, but we just couldn't score enough points to win games."

Having a healthy Edelman as well as Jarvis and an aggressive defense that returns eight starters has boosted optimism.

Jarvis could again be the key, especially if Edelman can provide some passing offense.

"Eugene is just a guy who makes plays," said Martin. "He's an electric player and fun to coach, and the funny thing about it is, he loves running between the tackles."

The Eagles had yesterday off and will begin serious game preparations this afternoon . . . Jagodzinski expects all the players who were nicked during training camp to be ready to play, including linebacker Brian Toal, who missed the last week of practice with a sore trapezius.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com