By Tyler Duke, Staff Writer
During the Inaugural Black and Gold football game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium Saturday Kennesaw State’s offense took a large step in establishing itself in a real-game situation behind the lead of junior quarterback Trey White.
White, a transfer from the Citadel, completed all four of his pass attempts for 70 yards and one touchdown, while he carried the ball 30 times for 128 yards and a touchdown in the game for the Gold team. His consistent ball carrying helped the gold team capture a 21-0 victory over the black team.
“He has a foundation for some of the stuff we do,” head coach Brian Bohannon said. “I think the biggest thing about White is he’s older. He’s played college football. The game is slower for him, and he has a way of finding a way to make a play.”
White was under center in a basic flex bone option set for much of the game. He racked up carries with a majority of quarterback follow runs, which is a fake handoff to the fullback before letting his blocks set and finding his hole. White doesn’t necessarily possess burning speed or trucking power, but he is a very patient runner with good vision and can make the moves needed to avoid would-be tacklers. The offense with White under center seemed very controlled and moved the ball consistently all game, but the mistakes were still present.
“Execution is huge,” White said. “If we played a real game [today], we had so many penalties and stuff like that. You’re not gonna win many ballgames if you shoot yourself in the foot that many times.”
Freshman quarterback Jake McKenzie didn’t find as much success on the ground for the black team as his counterpart, but he did throw the ball rather effectively completing eight of his 12 pass attempts for 50 yards. One impressive scramble by McKenzie and throw for a long touchdown that would’ve ended the shutout was negated by a holding penalty.
The gold team’s defense was stifling for most of the game and rarely allowed much room for the black offense to operate in the running game. Despite that, McKenzie still had some impressive runs and has showcased that he’s potentially earned playing time once the regular season begins in the fall, even if that means the team implementing a multi-quarterback system.
“Both of them [White and McKenzie] are extremely tough,” Bohannon said. “They’re both competitors. Whoever is the starter coming out, I envision more than one quarterback playing in the fall. So there may be a starter, and then we play to their strengths as best as we can.”
Numerous running backs had nice days on the ground for the Owls. Black team’s Jae Bowen carried the ball seven times for 39 yards, while gold team’s Steven Johnson had eight carries for 48 yards and a touchdown on a pitch to the perimeter where he went diving into the end zone.
The run blocking seemed improved from scrimmages in the past even though many of the linemen are still adjusting to the cut blocking technique that makes the triple option so effective. Pass blocking left plenty to be desired as both quarterbacks had pressure in the backfield almost immediately on any attempted pass play. That contributed to the seven combined sacks in the game.
“The perimeter blocking was better than it’s been, and we got the ball on the edge a good bit today, so it was much better,” Bohannon said. “The inside was better, but our pass protection at times was not real good. We tried to throw the ball today, but unfortunately every time we did, it resulted in a negative play. That’s an area we’ve got to grow. We want to be able to throw the football more.”
Overall, the offense showed promising signs of improvement from previous scrimmages. There were less botched snaps, less fumbles, less drops and a much more consistent running game that showed the fluidity and rhythm that’s so important in the option offense.
As the skill position players continue to become more comfortable in the system and the offensive line transitions to the blocking schemes widely used, the offense should begin to build into the machine that coach Bohannon envisions in the future.
It’ll all be practice and repetition from now into the fall, when Kennesaw State takes the field for the first time at East Tennessee State Sept. 4, 2015.
