For the fourth consecutive season, the Big South championship came down to the Kennesaw State-Monmouth game. Monmouth came away Saturday with their second title, defeating the Owls 42-17 in West Long Branch, N.J.
The Hawks gained 330 yards of offense in the first half en route to taking a 28-3 lead at halftime. They eventually held leads of 35-3 and 42-10.
Monmouth freshman quarterback Tony Muskett passed for 290 yards, 209 of them in the first half. He was 19-of-23 passing for the game and threw four touchdown passes, three in the first half.
Monmouth (3-0, 3-0 Big South) finished with 492 yards of offense to 328 for Kennesaw State (4-1, 2-1). In the tone-setting first half, the Hawks led 330-101 in offense. For the game, the Hawks averaged 8.6 yards per play.
Monmouth’s Juwon Farri rushed for 179 yards on 22 carries, scoring on runs of 29 and 48 yards. The Hawks’ Lonnie Moore (8 catches for 124 yards, 2 TDs) and Terrance Greene (5 catches for 119 yards and one TD) each surpassed the 100-yard mark in receiving yards.
Kennesaw State rushed for only 161 yards, much of that because Monmouth built a large early lead, and because Monmouth registered six sacks for minus-40 yards.
Owls quarterback Jonathan Murphy threw for 167 yards on 9-of-18 passing, with one touchdown and one interception.
Monmouth scored two touchdowns off Kennesaw State turnovers.
With the victory, Monmouth receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, which start April 24. This was the fourth consecutive season that the KSU-Monmouth game determined the Big South title. KSU won in 2017 (52-21) and 2018 (51-14) and Monmouth in 2019 (45-21).
With its regular season completed, Kennesaw State must wait until the at-large berths in the playoffs are announced April 18 to know if its spring season will continue. If not, the Owls’ next game is scheduled for Sept. 4 against Reinhardt at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
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