PHOTO COURTESY OF KENNESAW STATE ATHLETICS
After pulling the largest point-spread upset of the year in college football, the Owls encounter another top-tier Conference USA opponent in Western Kentucky on Wednesday night.
The Hilltoppers sit a 5-2 overall and atop the CUSA standings at 3-0 in conference play. Known for a pass heavy offense led by quarterback Caden Veltkamp, WKU has averaged 28.7 points per game while surrendering 22.4 per contest. The Hilltoppers’ two losses have both come against Power 4 opponents Alabama and Boston College.
Top contributors for WKU include wideouts Kisean Johnson, Easton Messer and tight end River Helms. As a trio, the targets have combined for over 1,000 yards this season, with Johnson leading the way with 493.
“They do a little bit of everything,” Owls coach Brian Bohannon said. “They’re going to find a way to run the ball when they need to, they’re can throw it (and) when (Veltkamp) needs to run he runs it. We’ll work on putting a plan together that gives us the best opportunity to be successful.”
Despite Kennesaw State breaking its six-game losing streak last week against Liberty, Bohannon said he still saw areas for improvement.
“Honestly, we left a lot out on the field,” Bohannon said. “We could’ve played better defensively, I don’t know that we communicated as well as we could have. I think offensively, definitely improvement from where we’ve been, but there’s several series where we could’ve shot ourselves in the foot – moving forward, we’ve got to clean those things up.”
Owls quarterback Davis Bryson completed a career-best as a starter 80% of his passes, going 16-of-20 with 189 yards and a touchdown. The performance came a week after Bryson was benched in favor of first-year transfer Khalib Johnson, who struggled mightily in his start against Middle Tennessee State. Bryson is expected to remain the starter against the Hilltoppers.
Bohannon was impressed with Bryson’s performance, but said he needs to be able to perform at the level he did consistently.
“I guess (Bryson) was a little motivated,” Bohannon said. “He’s got to get ready to play every week. He missed some checks out there some things he could’ve done better. He did some things we believed he was capable of, but he’s go to go do those things.”
The game will kick off on Wednesday night at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
