‘It’s a huge self-confidence increase’: How Kennesaw State pulled off

• Mark Schlabach, ESPN Elder WriterOct 30, 2024, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Senior college football writer
  • Author of seven books on college football
  • Graduate of the University of Georgia

As the only football coach in Kennesaw State’s history, Brian Bohannon has experienced all of the high and lows of the previous decade.An FCS startup group in 2015, the Owls won their very first game and went 6-5 in their preliminary season. Kennesaw State won 8 games in its second campaign and had a 34-7 record from 2017 to 2019, winning two Big South Championship game along the way.The Owls ’48-15 record over their first 5 seasons is the best record by an FCS start-up, and they’re the only FCS team to have 3 straight seasons with a minimum of 11 wins in their first 5 years of competition.For all of Kennesaw State’s success at the FCS level, however, its very first season of competition while transitioning to the FBS

in 2024 has actually been similarly humbling. Heading into last week, the Owls had dropped their first 6 games, losing to FCS program UT Martin 24-13 in the house on Sept. 28. “You don’t ever know what the course is going to be, right?”Bohannon said.” You understand where you want to go, but you don’t understand what the path is going to

take you. I believe the thing any person would state about this program is we have a strong culture due to the fact that to still be spending time at 0-6, it’s difficult, and our kids stuck.”Whatever came together for Kennesaw State in recently’s 27-24 upset of formerly unbeaten Liberty.It was the very first time in 23 years– and just the 6th such event in the AP survey period given that 1936– that a team with an 0-5 or worse record knocked off a challenger with a 5-0 record or better.Kennesaw State ended Liberty’s 18-game win streak in the routine season and conference championship games, which was the longest streak in the FBS.The Owls, 27 1/2 – point underdogs versus the Flames, managed the second-biggest upset of the season.

Just Northern Illinois’16-14 win at then-No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 7 was a larger shocker– the Huskies were 28 1/2 -point underdogs.Kennesaw State had actually

been winless in its previous 10 games against FBS opponents.”I imply, the greatest thing is it’s a big self-confidence increase for our kids,”Bohannon said. “You know, certainly getting that first one is constantly huge. And then Liberty is a really great football team. I think getting the first one is constantly big, right? And we’re a young program.

We’ve got a great deal of youth, and they’re learning each week, and it was just good to see them have success. I was really pleased with it.”Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Bohannon’s team will attempt to make it two straight success when Kennesaw State dips into Conference USA front-runner Western Kentucky on Wednesday night(7:30 ET, ESPN2/ESPN+).” We simply did not have consistency, “Bohannon stated of his group’s early battles. “We have actually been turning the ball

over, and we have not been playing complimentary football. We’ve been speaking about all this things, and finally it came together.”The Owls were playing so inconsistently on offense that Bohannon benched starting quarterback Davis Bryson after

a 63-24 loss to Jacksonville State in the league opener Oct. 4. Bryson tossed 3 interceptions and had only 76 passing backyards on 6-for-14 passing attempts.In a 14-5 loss at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 15, the Owls had 10 very first downs and 234 lawns of offense with Khalib Johnson and Braden Bohannon– the coach’s son– sharing snaps at quarterback.”[ Coach Bohannon] told me the decision was best for the group and for the program which I was going to gain from the errors that I made in the previous game, “Bryson stated. “He told me to assault those things throughout the week and just make the most of my chance when it returns.” Bryson, a sophomore from Woodbridge, Virginia, got his opportunity eight days later against Liberty. He completed his first 8 passes and ended up 16-of-20 for 189 lawns with one touchdown and no interceptions. “I guess he was motivated, huh? “Bohannon said. “He has been our guy. We just turned the ball over, so we went another direction for a week. He had to take some modest

pie and go signal for a week, but he had a fantastic mindset. He handled it awesome and cheered on his teammates. We weren’t able to get it done [with other quarterbacks], and we provided him a chance. He made the most of it.” Going into the Liberty game, the Owls ranked 130th out of 134 FBS groups in scoring offense with 14.6 points per game. They came out of that game with a season-high 323 yards of offense and didn’t turn the ball over. They also went 7-for-14 on third down.On defense, Kennesaw State became only the junior varsity this season to restrict Liberty to under 180 hurrying lawns (No. 1 Oregon was the other). After surrendering approximately 36 points during their six-game losing streak, the Owls created a number of huge stops versus the Flames. They stopped Liberty’s offense on a fourth-and-11 at the Kennesaw State 29, which resulted in a field goal and a 24-17 lead.There are likely to be more low and high this season for

the Owls.”We have actually still got a long way to opt for whatever here being what it needs to be, to be an FBS program,”Bohannon stated.” However our kids hung in there, and we discovered a way to win a game, which was honestly huge for us. But we have actually got a long method to go and a lot of work to do. I won’t call this an enjoyable course, however it’s the course that we’re taking today. We’ll see where it takes us.”