Football was unable to snap their losing streak at home.
Kennesaw State suffered its fifth loss in a row Saturday, falling 27-20 to the Tennessee State Tigers on homecoming weekend.
In their final FCS matchup of the season, the Owls (1-5) welcomed Tennessee State (3-2) of the Ohio Valley-Big South Conference to Fifth Third Stadium for their annual homecoming game.
Tennessee State forced a three-and-out on the Owls’ first possession and got the ball inside the Kennesaw State 40-yard line. After being held to a James Lowery field goal, the Tigers would score first making it 3-0.
The Tigers would extend their lead later in the first quarter when Jordan Gant ran a touchdown in from 4 yards out.
The Owls’ offense finally woke up late in the first quarter, going on a 75-yard, 6-play drive that was finished with a 1-yard Jonathan Murphy touchdown run.
The Owls would tie the game when previously struggling Conor Cummins hit a 29-yard field goal after re-gaining the starting spot from freshman Jacob Ulrich this week.
Tensions ran high throughout the first half and finally boiled over when Owls cornerback Deontre Morris got caught up in a scuffle on the Tennessee State sideline with the Assistant Head Coach. After pushes were thrown, Morris, KSU Head Coach Bohannon and a Tennessee State assistant coach received personal foul penalties.
With less than a minute to go in the first half, TSU would send Lowery out one more time. After hitting from 41 yards away, the Owls would trail 13-10 at the halftime break.
During halftime, we saw performances from the KSU Marching Owls and the Grammy award-winning TSU Aristocrat of Bands.
Karate Brenson caught his first touchdown of the season to put the Tigers up 20-10 in the third quarter.
After a crucial 84-yard kick return from Gabriel Benyard set the Owls up in the red zone, Murphy scored his second rushing touchdown of the day from just a yard out.
TSU would respond immediately when Gant scored for the second time of the night to put the Tigers back up 27-20.
After trading possessions a few times, the Owls were able to set up Cummins with a 46-yard field goal. Cummins converted for his season-long, bringing the Owls back to just a 7-point deficit with under 10 minutes to go.
The KSU defense stepped up and gave the offense two more opportunities to tie the game. Unfortunately, KSU would turn the ball over on downs on both possessions and fall 27-20.
“Kids are playing hard, we don’t make enough plays right now to find a way to win a game. It’s frustrating, I’m frustrated, our kids are frustrated,” Owls Head Coach Brian Bohannon said post-game. “We have some areas where we’re not real good that we have to overcome and we can’t beat ourselves.”
One positive of the afternoon was Running Back Michael Benefield eclipsing 100 yards rushing in a single game for the first time in his collegiate career. He would finish with 101 total yards.
The Owls will be out of action for two weeks straight, before returning to play on Saturday, Oct. 28 against the Lincoln University Oaklanders.
