Kennesaw State’s B-backs show improvement

Kennesaw State’s offense defeated its defense 59-51 in its spring game on Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

The game's scoring didn't follow a traditional format. Instead, the coaches tried to reward each unit for big plays and other key moments (offense could earn one point for a third-down conversion; defense could earn one point for a stop on third down).

The winners on the day may have been backup quarterback Daniel David in his competition with Chandler Burks to be the next man up behind Trey White, and B-back Micah Reed and Jake McKenzie.

“When you look at it there’s a lot of good things on both sides,” coach Brian Bohannon said. “Things we can learn from and build on.”

The biggest smiles may have come at the end of the post-game press conference, when the offense was reminded that on Monday it will get to eat a catered meal of ribs and chicken because it won the scrimmage. The losers, the defense, will eat hot dogs and baked beans.

“It’s fair” defensive lineman Nick Perrotta said. “I’ll give the offense credit.”

There were many things that the coaching staff wanted to see on Saturday because they were areas of focus during the previous 13 practices.

The first was an improved ability run between the tackles. Though the team averaged 293 rushing yards per game last season, Bohannon said there were too many negative running plays. There were few, if any, of those from Reed or McKenzie, formerly a quarterback who is now focusing exclusively on B-back, on Saturday.

Reed had 24 carries for 113 yards, including a 25-yard run up the middle. McKenzie totaled 98 yards on 16 carries. He also had two catches for 18 yards. Bohannon said McKenzie is the starter at the position.

Bohannon, who was on the field for most of Saturday’s scrimmage so that he could communicate better with the players as well as a get better view of the plays, said he liked that the two B-backs were often moving forward and fighting for extra yards. Bohannon wasn’t worried that there weren’t many long runs by either B-back, saying that they will come.

“I think our inside running game is improving,” Bohannon said. “We aren’t there yet.”

Other areas the coaches were focused on: