2018 Kennesaw State Owls football team
The 2018 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Brian Bohannon and played their home games at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia as fourth-year members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 5–0 in Big South play to win the Big South conference championship for the second consecutive year. The Owls received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. The Owls earned a No. 4 seed and a first round bye. They defeated Wofford in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to No. 5 South Dakota State.
2018 Kennesaw State Owls football | |
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Big South champion | |
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 17–27 vs. South Dakota State | |
Conference | Big South Conference |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 5 |
FCS Coaches | No. 4 |
Record | 11–2 (5–0 Big South) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Grant Chesnut (4th season) |
Defensive coordinator | Brian Newberry (4th season) |
Home stadium | Fifth Third Bank Stadium (Capacity: 8,318) |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 5 Kennesaw State $^ | 5 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monmouth | 4 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charleston Southern | 3 | – | 2 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gardner–Webb | 2 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Campbell | 1 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Presbyterian | 0 | – | 5 | 2 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason
Big South poll
In the Big South preseason poll released on July 23, 2018, the Owls were predicted to finish as Big South champions.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Kennesaw State | 107 (17) |
2 | Monmouth | 82 (1) |
3 | Charleston Southern | 75 |
4 | Gardner–Webb | 52 |
5 | Campbell | 36 |
6 | Presbyterian | 26 |
Preseason All-Big South team
The Big South released their preseason all-Big South team on July 23, 2018, with the Owls having fourteen players selected along with two more at three positions on the honorable mention list.[2] Quarterback Chandler Burks was named preseason offensive player of the year and linebacker Bryson Armstrong was named the preseason defensive player of the year.
Offense Chandler Burks – QB Darnell Holland – RB Justin Sumpter – WR C.J. Collins – OL Joseph Alexander – OL Ryan Warrior – OL |
Defense Desmond Johnson – DL McKenzie Billingslea – DL Bryson Armstrong – LB Anthony Gore, Jr. – LB Jace White – DB Dorian Walker – DB |
Special teams Justin Thompson – K Drew McCracken – LS |
Honorable mention Shaquil Terry – RB/KR Nicholas Jones – P |
Award watch lists
Award | Player | Position | Year |
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Walter Payton Award[3] | Chandler Burks | QB | SR |
Buck Buchanan Award[4] | Bryson Armstrong | LB | SO |
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | at Georgia State* | No. 5 | ESPN+ | L 20–24 | 23,088 | |
September 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech* | No. 7 | ESPNU | W 49–10 | 4,118 | |
September 15 | 6:45 p.m. | Alabama State* | No. 7 | ESPN+ | W 62–13 | 8,799 | |
September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Clark Atlanta* | No. 5 |
| ESPN+ | W 70–13 | 6,009 |
September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | Samford* | No. 4 |
| ESPN3 | W 24–10 | 6,304 |
October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | Presbyterian | No. 4 |
| ESPN3 | W 56–0 | 6,414 |
October 13 | 1:30 p.m. | at Gardner–Webb | No. 3 | ESPN3 | W 56–17 | 4,150 | |
October 27 | 6:00 p.m. | at Charleston Southern | No. 2 | ESPN+ | W 38–10 | 1,242 | |
November 3 | 2:00 p.m. | Campbell | No. 2 |
| ESPN+ | W 49–0 | 6,012 |
November 10 | 12:00 p.m. | at Monmouth | No. 2 | ESPN3 | W 51–14 | 2,332 | |
November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Jacksonville State* | No. 2 |
| FSS | W 60–52 5OT | 16,949 |
December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 13 Wofford* | No. 2 |
| ESPN3 | W 13–10 | 3,515 |
December 8 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 5 South Dakota State* | No. 2 |
| ESPN3 | L 17–27 | 3,242 |
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- Source:[5]
Game summaries
At Georgia State
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At Tennessee Tech
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Alabama State
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Clark Atlanta
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Samford
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Presbyterian
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At Gardner–Webb
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At Charleston Southern
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Campbell
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At Monmouth
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Vs. Jacksonville State
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FCS Playoffs
Wofford–Second Round
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South Dakota State–Quarterfinals
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Ranking movements
Week | ||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
STATS FCS | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Coaches | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
References
- "Kennesaw State Voted 2018 Preseason Football Favorite". bigsouthsports.com. Big South Conference.
- "Burks, Armstrong Headline 2018 Preseason All-Conference Team". bigsouthsports.com. Big South Conference.
- "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
- "2018 Football Schedule". ksuowls.com. Kennesaw State University. Retrieved April 16, 2018.