By Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
Kennesaw State was forced to move pieces around on its offensive line, but the Owls overcame a handful of injuries in the trenches to pick up their sixth win and secure a winning season with a 23-13 victory over Monmouth Saturday.
Due to injuries to Malik Letatau and Brett Gillespie, KSU’s first and second-string centers, redshirt freshman Lorenzo Adger was called into action to take over as center for the Owls.
Adger, who normally starts at left guard for the Owls, made a seamless transition despite having just a week’s notice.
“Pretty much snapping and stepping,” Adger said of the difference between playing center and guard. “You have to snap the ball and make sure the ball is secure and get it to the quarterback. That’s the only transition, but everything else is pretty much the same. You’ve still got to block.”
When asked to evaluate his performance, he humbly stated that believed he was decent enough to help his team win the game.
Head coach Brian Bohannon spoke fondly of Adger, claiming that his biggest impact was that he went unnoticed.
“You didn’t hear [Adger’s] name, you didn’t see him today, and that’s a good thing,” Bohannon said. “He’s not a third string center, he’s a starting [left] guard, but he had to go to center because of nature our two centers are out. You didn’t notice it, and that’s a pretty big deal.”
Adger led an offensive line that dominated the defense of Monmouth, clearing the way for 341 rushing yards for the Owls.
The run game allowed KSU to control the clock and engineer long drives. The Owls had possession for over 13 minutes in the second quarter, allowing the Hawks to run six plays for a total of 8 yards.
KSU held on to the ball for 35 minutes, winning the time of possession for the sixth time through eight games.
Another Owl filling a void on the offensive line was freshman Matt Frank, who made his first start of the season at left guard. Frank tried out for the team last fall.
The defense did not start out as strong for the Owls. Monmouth scored on their first possession and out-gained KSU 160-63 in total offense through the first quarter. However, the Owls responded and held the Hawks to 161 yards of total offense in the final three quarters of the game.
“[The defense] came out super flat,” defensive end Mason Harris said. “I think they scored on about five plays, it was quick. So we got [together] on the sidelines and we looked at each other like ‘either we’re going to get it together or we’ll lose.’ We got it together and held them to 13 [points].”
KSU has three games remaining against Charleston Southern (7-1, 4-0), Coastal Carolina (7-1, 3-1), and Presbyterian (1-7, 0-3). The Owls will host Charleston Southern to wrap up their inaugural season home slate Saturday at 1 p.m.
