Photo Credit: Brianne Buckfelder
A poor offensive performance in the rain against Tennessee-Martin ended in a 24-13 loss for the Owls on homecoming weekend at Fifth Third Stadium.
Four games into their first Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season, the Owls are yet to finish a game within one score of their opponent. What hasn’t helped is Kennesaw State’s offensive ineptitude. The Owls have averaged 12.25 points per game, landing them 132nd of 134 FBS teams this season.
“I didn’t do a very good job of getting us ready to play,” Owls coach Brian Bohannon said. “We got to score points, we can’t turn the ball over, that’s really it.”
After a scoreless first quarter in which the Owls held possession for less than two minutes, UTM took its first lead on a Patrick Smith touchdown run 10 seconds into the second quarter.
KSU tied the game back up at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter when defensive back Jayven Williams returned an interception 48 yards to the endzone, knotting the game up at 7-7.
On the Skyhawks final drive of the first half, despite reaching the KSU 1-yard-line, they were forced to settle for a field goal from kicker Jaren Van Winkle. After the kick was successful, UTM held a 10-7 lead with under a minute to go in the half.
With 59 seconds on the clock, the Owls marched down the field to set up a career long 49-yard field goal for Austin Welch, which he hit to tie the game at 10-10 at halftime.
With the Owls driving in UTM territory early in the second half, quarterback Davis Bryson was intercepted by Oshae Baker who took the pick 63 yards the other way to put the Skyhawks up 17-10.
Later in the quarter, Smith scored his second touchdown on the ground, this time from 21 yards out, to extended UTM’s lead to 24-10.
By the time the final quarter came around, a majority of the 10,847 reported fans in attendance had left for the exits as the rain continued to fall.
The Owls provided a rare moment of excitement early in the fourth quarter when punter Jacob Ulrich completed a pass to Blake Bohannon on a fake punt trick play to convert on fourth-and-long. The drive ended in another Welch field goal, keeping him a perfect 7-for-7 on the season.
Neither team would score again in the contest, concluding in a 24-13 Skyhawks victory.
“There’s no magic wand,” Bohannon said. “We’re not great offensively right now, I don’t think that’s rocket science to us right now. All we can do is go out and control the things that we can control which are the things we talk about all the time.”
The Owls will return to the field on Friday, hosting rival Jacksonville State at Fifth Third Stadium.
