#2 Amari Odom carries the ball against New Mexico State. Photo courtesy of KSU Athletics
Kennesaw State football outlasted New Mexico State despite a poor second half to win its seventh straight, 24-21 Saturday afternoon at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
After rallying from 24-7 down in the fourth quarter, NMSU found itself with a chance to tie the game in the final minute of regulation against the Conference USA-leading KSU.
With 37 seconds remaining, Aggies’ kicker Ryan Hawk lined up for a 50-yard field goal, an attempt that would have tied the longest make of his NMSU career.
Hawk’s kick had the distance, but sailed just wide, taking the wind out of the Aggies’ upset bid.
In what has become an all too familiar, situation a quick start on both sides of the ball gave the Owls a commanding lead in the opening quarter.
On KSU’s first possession, quarterback Amari Odom found leading Owls receiver Gabriel Benyard in the back of the end zone.
Initially, Benyard was ruled out of bounds. Upon further review, however, it was determined the redshirt senior had possession with a foot in bounds, giving the Owls a 7-0 lead.
Following a quick defensive stop, KSU marched another efficient 65 yards to increase its lead to 14-0 when Odom found Benyard again, over the middle this time for the pair’s second touchdown connection.
A fumbled exchange between NMSU quarterback Logan Fife and his running back set the Owls up once again deep in Aggies’ territory.
The KSU offense wasn’t able to find the end zone again, but kicker Britton Williams was true from 35 yards out to increase the KSU advantage to 17-0.
An unproductive second half of the opening quarter and a missed 40-yarder from Williams early in the second quarter kept the score stagnant, before Odom found freshman receiver Clayton Coppock for a 55-yard touchdown to put the Owls ahead 24-0 with 8:27 to go in the first half.
It would be the last time KSU put points on the board.
NMSU cut into its deficit near the end of the first half when Dijon Stanley got the edge and weaved through defenders for a 28-yard touchdown to cap 62-yard, six-play drive that made the score 24-7.
Neither team scored in a slow third quarter, but the Aggies marched 85 yards on their first possession of the final quarter to score on a touchdown pass from Fife to Donovan Faupel, drawing within 24-14.
Another connection between Fife and Faupel, this time from two yards out, brought the Aggies within a field goal at 24-21 with 5:28 remaining.
The Owls put themselves in an even worse position when Odom was intercepted on the first play of the ensuing drive, setting the Aggies up on their own 40-yard line.
It appeared KSU had escaped when Isaac Paul intercepted Fife near midfield with 3:41 to play, but an Owls’ three-and-out set the Aggies up with one final opportunity.
After Hawk’s kick sailed right, Odom kneeled the clock out to secure KSU’s seventh straight win to improve to 7-2 overall, 5-0 in CUSA play.
