The Kennesaw State defense dominated the Owls’ spring game Friday night, winning 53-40 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
With 17 starters returning from last season, the defense looked to be in top shape, forcing over 90 yards in losses and one turnover. The starting offense showed flashes of their potential, but the offensive line is a problem the Owls must fix going into next season.
The spring game featured its own format for accumulating points.
When the offense scored, a touchdown equaled five points, an extra point was worth one point and a field goal three points. In addition, a long play (15 or more yards rushing and 20 or more yards passing) was worth one point and a third-down conversion and fourth-down conversion each was worth one point.
For the defense, a turnover equaled five points, and a touchdown equaled two. A three-and-out series was worth three points and a red-zone field goal was worth two. A stop on third down or fourth down each was worth one point.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. Strong showing by the defense: The defense forced 14 tackles for loss and allowed only two touchdowns and one field goal. The defense got the majority of its points from third- and fourth-down stops. The defense made 21 third-down stops and four fourth-down stops. Defensive back Duronte Carter forced the only turnover for the defense, an interception on its 23-yard line.
2. Offensive line is a mess: Losing Big South All-Conference first-team center Malik Letatau appears to be a problem for the Owls' offensive line. The line gave up six sacks and had three bad snaps. One of those bad snaps were deep in the defense's territory, and the Owls were forced to punt.
3. Struggles moving the ball: The Owls' offense averaged only four yards per play. The majority of their points came from the two touchdowns and 11 third-down conversions. They had eight penalties and only 31 first downs. Last season the Owls averaged over 300 yards per game, but in this spring game they gained only 251 yards and averaged two yards per carry. Starting quarterback Chandler Burks played only in the first half and scored the first touchdown of the game. He totaled 32 passing yards and 25 rushing yards and one touchdown.
“Early on we weren’t blocking anybody,” coach Brian Bohannon said. “There’s times when they just sent more guys, and there’s times where we just didn’t block anybody. It was just a combination of both.”
4. Bryson Armstrong and Izzy Sam lead defense: Starting linebacker Sam finished with six total tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack for nine yards. Freshman starter Armstrong was the leading tackler of the game, with 11 tackles, one sack for eight yards and one tackle for loss.
“He shows up every day and goes to work, regardless of the circumstance, period,” Bohannon said about Armstrong. “If we could get a bunch of kids to show up every day like he does, we’d be a pretty good. He shows up to work and makes an impact every day.”
5. Daniel David and Bronson Rechsteiner lead offense: The best quarterback of the night was David, who completed nine passes for 152 yards and one touchdown. However he struggled running the ball, as he gained only 29 yards on 22 carries. The leading rusher for the Owls was Rechsteiner, who ran 14 times for 74 yards. His 25-yard run was the longest run of the game. Rechsteiner was a linebacker last season who switched to running back.
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