The Kennesaw State football team fell short of its first win over an FBS opponent, falling 26-23 to Kent State on Saturday, Sept. 7, after turning over the ball in overtime.
Kennesaw State’s first game against an FBS school was last season, when the Owls lost to Georgia State 24-20.
The Owls opened up its first offensive drive by letting senior quarterback Daniel David go to the air to attempt long plays, eventually connecting with senior running back TJ Reed for 35-yard gain to put the Owls in the red zone.
Following the stop by Kent State, Owls kicker Nathan Robertson converted the 33-yard field goal to give Kennesaw State the early 3-0 lead.
After a strong kickoff return that put the Golden Flashes past midfield, the Owls defense was able to stop the momentum by holding Kent State to a field goal.
On the ensuing Owls drive, sophomore Antavius Grier broke through the line for a 14-yard rush before David found wide-open senior Bronston Rechsteiner for a 35-yard gain on a long third down.
Despite a promising drive, Kennesaw State was held to another field goal for a 6-3 lead.
After the Owls recovered a muffed punt by Kent State, David connected with sophomore Isaac Foster on a 32-yard pass to put the Owls on the 2-yard line.
David scored on a quarterback sneak, giving the Owls its first touchdown and a 13-3 lead.
The Golden Flashes responded with a big drive of its own, capped off with a 23-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dustin Crum to shorten the Kennesaw State’s lead to 13-10.
The final Kennesaw State drive of the second quarter resulted in Robertson’s third field goal of the game, giving the Owls the 16-10 lead going into halftime.
After another muffed punt by Kent State on the first drive of the third quarter, the Owls had the ball in the red zone.
Kent State quickly took away the opportunity after defensive back Keith Sherald Jr. intercepted David to give the ball back to the Golden Flashes. The Golden Flashes quickly completed a 75-yard touchdown pass from Crum to earn a 17-16 lead.
The Owls had another red zone opportunity late in the game, but missed a 49-yard field goal to give Kent State the ball back.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Owls drove down the field to the red zone where David was able to connect to junior Caleb O’Neal on fourth down to put the Owls on the five-yard line.
David scored another touchdown to give the Owls a 23-20 lead with just over a minute left on the clock.
With only 10 seconds left in the game, Kent State converted a 37-yard field goal to tie the game 23-23 and send it to overtime.
The Owls got the ball to start overtime. After three run plays in the opening drive, the Kent State defense caught junior Shaquil Terry and forced a fumble, giving the Golden Flashes the ball with a chance to win.
Kent State took advantage of the fumble, making a 43-yard field goal to win the game and giving Kennesaw State its first loss of the season.
David led the way offensively for the Owls, combining for 259 total yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
“The biggest thing that I was pleased about was that there was some focus coming out of the tunnel,” head coach Brian Bohannon said. “We missed a bunch of assignments on defense … as the game went on, we kind of fizzled out a little bit.”
Up next, the Owls take on Alabama State on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. as they try to get back in the win column.
