The Kennesaw State football program has come a long way in two short seasons. Just not far enough.
The Owls, playing for a share of the Big South Conference championship, came up short in a 28-7 loss to Charleston Southern on Saturday afternoon at Buccaneer Field.
Charleston Southern won its second consecutive conference title, finishing with a 7-3 overall mark and 4-1 in Big South play. The Buccaneers, ranked 13th nationally, advanced to the FCS national playoffs next week.
Kennesaw State, which entered the game with its first-ever national ranking (22nd), saw its four-game winning streak snapped and finished with an 8-3 record overall, 3-2 in league play.
“Take today away, we have a second-year football program that finished 8-3,” Owls coach Brian Bohannon said. “We’re making a ton of progress. I’m proud of what these kids have done. When you think about it, to say we are competing for a conference championship on the last Saturday of the regular season is a phenomenal accomplishment. While today didn’t go like we wanted, I am proud of where we are going, and we will definitely be back.”
The Owls competed well against a veteran Charleston Southern team, but found the going tough on offense and defense. The Owls entered the game averaging 500.5 yards of offense, good for fifth nationally among FCS schools, but managed only 270 yards on 74 plays.
Fullback Jake McKenzie gained 52 yards rushing as the Owls finished the game with 172 rushing yards, far off their season average of 330 yards per game.
KSU quarterbacks Chandler Burks and Daniel David each threw two interceptions and completed only nine of 28 pass attempts.
“They’re a good football team, and they beat us today,” said Bohannon of the Buccaneers. “We didn’t make enough plays, and we turned the ball several times. They played really well on defense. We had to grind everything out. We usually hit a lot of big plays, and we weren’t able to do that today, and we didn’t tackle very well, especially in the first half.”
Charleston Southern grabbed a 7-0 lead on Darius Hammond’s 10-yard run with 3:12 left in the first quarter. Hammond finished with 153 yards rushing.
KSU’s first turnover, an interception by defensive back Shadarius Hopkins, came two plays later. The Buccaneers took a 14-0 lead on Mike Holloway’s 18-yard run with 44 seconds left in the first period.
The Owls mustered only 30 yards and two first downs in the opening quarter, but found the offense in the second period. An impressive 17-play, 75-yard drive in 8:47 culminated with a 1-yard dive by Trey White, cutting Charleston Southern’s lead to 14-7 with 6:57 left in the half.
After forcing a punt late in the half, Charleston Southern took over at its own 20 with 2:01 remaining. A 43-yard run by Hammond on the first play was followed by a 37-yard scoring pass from Shane Bucenell to Kameron Brown, giving the Buccaneers a 21-7 lead heading into the locker room.
“That was a tough score. Give them credit. They made the plays when they had them to make,” Bohannon said.
Neither team scored in the third quarter as both defenses seemed to settle in. The Buccaneers extended their lead to 28-7 early in the fourth quarter on Hammond’s 14-yard run with 12:56 to play in the game.
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