By Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
The previous twelve months have provided a multitude of milestones leading up to Kennesaw State’s inaugural football season.
The team unveiled new uniforms, held their first practice, hosted a pair of scrimmages in Fifth Third Bank Stadium and opened up roster spots for transfer students. Now, the Owls return to school with the first football game in university history only two weeks away.
KSU was represented at the Big South Conference Media Days August 29 and 30 by head coach Brian Bohannon, redshirt junior Trey White and redshirt freshman Taylor Henkle. Despite being newcomers of the conference, the Owls seemed to fit right in.
From the commissioner complementing Bohannon’s intensity during the banquet, to White and Henkle interacting with players and coaches from other teams in the conference, the Big South welcomed the new kids on the block with open arms.
The Owls’ season begins Sept. 3, and the players appear eager to showcase themselves as Cobb County’s college football team.
“The first home game,” Henkle said of what he’s most looking forward to in the Owls’ first season. “Just playing at home with this community, I want to see that atmosphere at Kennesaw. There are so many students and fans; I can’t wait to see [Fifth Third Bank] Stadium filled up on a Saturday when we bring in a Big South opponent.”
Although the past year has provided many firsts, it’s also provided an immense amount of anticipation as the players took a hiatus from a traditional competitive football season last fall.
“I have a bunch of friends who play at various schools and the toughest thing for me was knowing that it was college football season and we were practicing, not playing,” White said. “At the same time, I think that was part of our experience. You have this long goal in mind, and you think it’s going to take forever, but it’s gone by like a flash. The wait has been tough, but worth it.”
As a result of players losing a year of competitive games, Coach Bohannon is leaning towards White to fill the starting quarterback position at the start of the season.
“He’s been around the block a little bit and he’s older,” Bohannon said of White. “That helps with a young football team. He’s hard to tackle, which is important for us, and he really stood out in the spring game. He’s had a great attitude and done a great job.”
However, Bohannon hinted the position is far from set in stone.
“But I’ll say this in the same breath, there’s going to be some competition at that position,” Bohannon added. “We’ve got a young man named Chandler Burks who was hurt and is coming back, and Jake McKenzie of course. It’ll be a lot of competition, which I think is going to make them all better.”
In addition to the quarterback battle, coach Bohannon hinted at a possibility of multiple quarterbacks holding the reins of the offense.
“Whatever works best to help our football team,” Bohannon said. “We’ll go through camp, and when school starts we’ll continue to work through and see. Honestly, it’ll probably be four or five games into the season until we kind of see what the identity of our first season is going to be.”
The Owls will travel to Johnson City, Tennessee Thursday, Sept. 3 to take on East Tennessee State in their first game. Sept. 12 they will host Edward Waters for their inaugural home game.
