Jake McKenzie’s play at quarterback for Kennesaw State has perhaps softened the blow of Jaquez Parks’ decision to quit the team.
McKenzie has grabbed the first-team job and not let go, playing 79 snaps in Saturday’s scrimmage. Kennesaw State will finish the spring with its final scrimmage, the Black and Gold game, at 1 p.m. Saturday at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
“He’s a warrior,” coach Brian Bohannon said. “What he did Saturday, I don’t know if I’ve seen a kid do that my whole coaching career.”
An injury to Chandler Burks in the fall made the competition for the starting position a three-man battle in the spring. Then Parks, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution high school player of the year in 2013, suffered a knee injury last week before deciding to leave this week.
Their absences resulted in McKenzie getting a lot of the work with the first team.
“He’s really made a ton of improvement,” Bohannon said. “The game’s slowing down for him.”
McKenzie, who attended Monroe Academy in Monroeville, Ala., said the improvement quickened last week. Instead of his “head spinning” he’s starting to be able to simply play. That development coincided with McKenzie improving his footwork while passing. Now, he’s able to quickly put the ball where he wants.
He said the evidence that things are improving can be found in the fewer number of turnovers each practice.
“The whole offense, you can tell everybody is making progress and figuring things out,” McKenzie said.
Bowen in the middle: While McKenzie seems to be taking over at quarterback, Jae Bowen is getting a lot of snaps at fullback.
“Jae has had a good spring,” Bohannon said. “He’s made some plays, made some plays on his own.”
Bowen, 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, switched between slotback and fullback in the fall, which he said made for a difficult learning process.
Now that he’s at fullback, things are happening coming much easier.
“It’s getting better every day,” he said.
Each position group is tasked with improving in four skill areas. Among Bowen’s are his first step and his pad level.
“Every day I learn a few minor things,” he said.
Focus on pass rush: Finding an edge rusher was an area of concern before the spring, according to Bohannon.
Benjamin Otiwu, a product of Mill Creek High, is trying to fill the position.
“Ben plays extremely hard, which gives him a chance,” Bohannon said.
Otiwu, 6-0, 230 pounds, said he has been working with assistant coach Kevin Downing to improve his moves. Otiwu said his best happens when he can get his hips around the edge, tighten the corner, and then close on the quarterback.
But he’s not focused solely on getting sacks.
“Trying to separate myself and get a spot on the bus this fall,” he said. “Whatever it takes to get there — edge rushing, playing inside, playing the run — it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll do what they ask me.”
