Kent State has had one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football in 2025, going from winless to a 5-7 team on the verge of bowl eligibility.
One player finding new success for the Golden Flashes is wide receiver nicknamed “Big Play Cade.” Cade Wolford entered the year as a running back and retired as an All-MAC third-team wide receiver, collecting 509 yards and seven touchdowns to lead Kent State.
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After completing his redshirt freshman campaign, Wolford will transfer elsewhere in his native Ohio to take on a new challenge in Cincinnati.
Among players with at least 500 receiving yards, Wolford ranks second in the FBS in yards per catch at 26.8. He ended Kent State’s 21-game losing streak with a 79-yard touchdown run and then continued to hit home run after home run. He also had a 75-yard touchdown in the first game of the season against Toledo, one of three games in which he had 85 or more yards.
The former running back also caught a few handoffs and ended his career at Kent State with a 31-yard rushing performance against Northern Illinois in Week 14. He totaled eight touchdowns, seven of which were 29 yards or more.
Wolford joins a Cincinnati team that lost wide receivers Cyrus Allen and Jeff Caldwell in the draft and Caleb Goudy to Missouri in the portal. He will join FCS 1,000-yard receiver Larenzo Fenner (South Dakota State) in the Bearcats’ 2026 receiving corps.
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Cincinnati has become the co-home of MAC transfers this past January. Bowling Green cornerback MJ Cannon and Northern Illinois freeback Jasper Beeler are other MAC players brought in by Scott Satterfield and his staff.
For Kent State, it’s time to find new wide receiver talent. Wolford leads the team in receiving yards and Dashawn Martin is second, with both players entering this year in January. That leaves Wayne Harris and Ardell Banks as the returning leaders at the position, with 383 and 205 yards, respectively, in 2025.
