The Kennesaw State Owls stand at 8-1 with two games left on the schedule after an impressive win over Robert Morris on Saturday, Nov. 6.
There were plenty of standouts on offense as quarterback Xavier Shepherd had an astonishing four passing touchdowns. Shepherd has thrown 10 touchdown passes to no interceptions in the past three games.
Wide receiver Caleb O’Neal hauled in the majority of the passes, catching five passes for 119 and two touchdowns. The Owls also rushed for 197 on 45 attempts while picking up 2 touchdowns. Shepard went 8/12, 185 yards, 0 interceptions, and had another back-to-back four passing touchdowns game
The defense showed up big at times. The owls were +3 in the turnover margin with two fumble recoveries and an interception. Both fumbles were forced by defensive lineman Tyler Moore and one was recovered by him as well, the other was by linebacker Xavier Reddick. The lone interception was via defensive back Dylan Hand.
Both of Tyler Moore’s tone-setting forced fumbles happened on the Colonials opening possessions. On the first one, he came around the edge and made contact with the quarterback’s arm which sent the ball flying forwards. While everyone thought the ball was most likely an incomplete pass, Moore was the only player to notice there was no whistle, quickly hopping on it to record a sack, forced fumble, and fumble recovery all in the same play.
Hands’ interception came at the very end of the game, ending a late 2-minute drill drive by the Colonials in a final effort to try to score 7 more points to erase the stain of their inevitable blowout loss.
This was just the second all-time meeting between the Owls and the Colonials. The Owls were playing in conditions they normally aren’t accustomed to. With a kickoff temperature of 46 degrees, the cold northern conditions were thought to be a possible challenge to the Owls. However, they were unfazed and looked more at home than the Colonials.
This comes as the Owl’s third 8-1 start to the year in the last four seasons minus the COVID impacted 2020 season, the 5th win in a row in the month of November, and this win moves Head Coach Brian Bohannon’s conference record to 27-8. With two games left in the Big South for Coach and the Owls, he could potentially finish at 29-8 in the conference.
Next on the list is another Big South team in North Alabama. The game will be in Florence, Alabama on the Lion’s home field. The Lions are 2-7 overall and 1-3 in conference, both of their wins this season have been at home, they are coming off a 45-33 loss to Monmouth.
Kickoff is at 3 p.m ET at Braly Stadium. Tune into ESPN+ to view the game.486 words
