KENT, OHIO-When the Kent State Football team room officially opens for business early in the morning, Will Matthews is usually the first one in the door. An ordinary feat perhaps, until you consider the veteran Golden Flash running back was selling New Orleans-style food just a few hours ago.

Still in its infancy, Southern Comfort Kitchen has taken the Kent community by storm. Quite simply put, it's a food truck – serving jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding, shrimp, crab meat and many other bayou favorites. In the business, it is called a "pop-up," in that it has the ability to travel, set up and quickly cater to those with a taste for some far-away flavor.

For Matthews, it runs deep in his lineage.

"My dad owns his own barber shop, my mom owns a business and my uncle owns a couple of restaurants. So I knew coming to Kent I wanted to do entrepreneurship as a major," he said.

Matthews – who was close to signing with Tulane out of high school until a rival recruit beat him to the dotted line – hails from Destrehan, Louisiana. The previous Kent State coaching staff offered him a scholarship and after some brief deliberating, he elected to come north to play football for the Golden Flashes.

AN IDEA SIMMERS

With the entrepreneurship mentality running in his blood, Matthews didn't take long getting to work. Once he moved off campus and away from the luxuries provided by KSU Dining Services, the running back realized what so many others do when they are away from home and now firmly on their own – they had to prepare their own meals.

"I started cooking when I moved out of the dorms," he said. "There's no food and there was nothing around here in terms of New Orleans-style food that really tasted like home. I was cooking for myself, my roommates and my teammates."

When he sat down with one of his professors, the idea started to – er, come to a boil.

"At first I wanted to open a restaurant where people could get New Orleans food in Ohio. But the costs and overhead steered me toward the idea of a food truck."

The business plan hatched from a class his junior year. A 32-page document he finished over the course of the 15-week semester. The class was called New Venture Creations – and Matthews met the young man who would eventually become his business partner.

"I did a presentation for the class on the business plan and brought food, but there was one guy who just kept getting more, like three bowls," Matthews said of Zack Mottershead.

The two paired up heading into their senior year, financed a truck for $30,000 and did a couple "soft openings" and other dry runs.

"I was expecting maybe 20-25 orders that first night," Matthews recalled of one such instance on Water Street. "I think we ended up doing close to 200. There were 20 people in line before we even opened."

'A BLESSING IN DISGUISE'

After operating his business three times a week through most of July and August, Matthews was splitting his time between the food truck and Kent State football fall training camp. Matthews – now a senior – was penciled in part of a large group of talented running backs for KSU's 2019 season. In the final week before the Golden Flashes were about to depart for the desert to open the campaign at Arizona State, Matthews suffered a lateral meniscus tear at practice.

"I was out for six weeks and it was tough," he said. "But during that time, I wasn't able to practice or travel so I could spend my time with the business. It was kind of a blessing in disguise."

When Matthews did get healthy and was cleared to play, the Golden Flashes were sitting at 2-3; 1-0 in the MAC. It was Saturday, October 12. Kent State was about to make an 11-mile journey to the West.

Against the Zips in the 49th Wagon Wheel Game, Matthews shredded the UA defense for 126 yards (a career high) on just 25 carries and a touchdown. It was the first time in seven years a Kent State running back ran for 100 or more against the rivals. KSU 26, UA 3.

"That was something special," he said. "To be able to come back in time for that game and get that wheel back was great. To be a part of what we are trying to do now is fun."

What the Golden Flashes are trying to do now is win three in a row to become post-season eligible. Step one was accomplished last Thursday night in dramatic fashion when Kent State rallied from 21 points down in the final eight minutes to stun Buffalo, 30-27. It was the biggest comeback for a MAC team in nearly three decades.

"When I was a young coach, I was told there would someday be a senior who would step up in a big-time way that you don't expect," Lewis said. "I keep thinking about Will and his adversity and how hard he has fought to get back on the field. It's all a microcosm of who he is."

HAPPY CUSTOMERS

For Matthews, it's not uncommon to get late-night texts from friends and teammates inquiring about the possibility of a quick po-boy or some mouth-watering bread pudding.

"Everything is really good, but my absolute favorite is the bread pudding," linebacker Matt Bahr said. "It is absolutely amazing."

"I have had the jambalaya and gumbo and it is top-notch," Lewis said. "I am a stickler for southern creole cooking, and I can't say enough about his cooking and what he's doing."

On Thursday when CBS Sports Network came to Robert C. Dix Stadium to televise the Kent State-Buffalo game to a national audience, announcers Dave Ryan and Aaron Murray were treated to plates of food from the Southern Comfort Kitchen food truck and dined on the delicacies on camera during a timeout in the action.

When football ends, as it eventually does for all who play it, Matthews hopes to turn a profitable food truck into a restaurant. He's already earned his undergraduate degree from KSU and is praying for a quick winter to get the truck out and about in time for next spring and summer's festivals and fairs.

And with two games to go, Matthews and the Golden Flashes are trying to reach football's post-season for just the second time in nearly half a century.