Jacksonville, AL- In a hard-fought game in a raucous atmosphere, the Kennesaw State Owls defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, 19-12. With :51 left to play, QB Amari Odom fired an 11-yard pass to Navelle Dean over the middle and into the end zone to go up, 18-15. Britton Williams’ kick put the score out of reach for a field goal conversion, 19-15, and Kennesaw won the Conference USA championship in only its second season in CUSA and in the FBS.
Kennesaw climbs the Mountain
Following a 2-10 record from its inaugural FBS season a year ago, first-year HC Jay Mack coached the Owls to a 10-3 record, 7-1 in conference play. KSU won the Conference USA championship and now heads to a bowl game. The Owls avenged their lone conference loss of the season to JSU, 36-25, in this same building. Their first of their other two losses came in their opener, 10-9, against Wake Forest (8-4). A week later, they fell to now No. 1 Indiana (13-0), 56-9.
Mack previously served as Offensive Coordinator at Tennessee the last three seasons. Prior, he had 20 more years coaching experience with various staffs at both the pro and collegiate levels. He did a tremendous job in turning around the beleaguered Owl program in his first year. As the KSU fans chanted among the 18,142 in attendance all evening, “You don’t want go to war with the Owls, with the Owls.” Intriguing night.
Hard fight right from the start
The teams punted back and forth most of the first period. Near the end, Kennesaw DB Milon Jones intercepted in the end zone. Heading into the second period, the Owls drove the length of the field with RB Coleman Bennett (17 carries, 82 yards) taking it over from the three to put KSU in the lead, 7-0. The defenses kept each other out of the end zones the rest of the half. The Owls stopped the Gamecocks on a fourth down on their 13 for a turnover on downs. The score remained 7-0 at the half. The stats stood almost even at this point. Jacksonville (8-5, 7-1) totaled 143 yards and controlled the clock for 16:16. Kennesaw gained 131 total yards moving the football for 14:44.
Third period – an evenly-fought slugfest
This quarter could not have been more even except for one play. Kennesaw drove for 11 plays. Their possession resulted with a 38-yard field goal by Williams to extend their lead, 10-0. Jacksonville also put together an 11-play drive. However, Garrison Rippa misfired on his 35-yard FG attempt. The Owls started its ensuing series from its 20. They finished with a second and four at the KSU 26 as the third period expired.
War with Owls in the final period
The Owls got down to the two with a fourth and one. The Gamecocks stopped the Owls, however, to take over on downs on their one-yard line. Backed up at the half-yard line because of a procedure penalty, the Gamecocks looked to get some breathing room. Bang! The Owls tackled the carrier in the end zone for a safety. They now led, 12-0. With the score, it felt like to momentum had finally swung to the Owls. However, on the ensuing kickoff from the 20, Davis Bryson returned 33 yards until the kicker, Rippa, popped the ball out of his arm. It went high in the air, and CB Jayke Jones recovered to start the Gamecocks again with good field position at the Owls 48.
Gamecocks mount comeback
With 10:20 left in the game, All-CUSA RB Cam Cook (19 carries, 78 yards) finished off the JSU possession with a one-yard scoring run. Trailing now 12-7, a sack by Jacksonville LBs Walker Osteen and Mac Sanders forced Kennesaw to punt from its 17. JSU drove from its 40 to the 19 where QB Caden Creel (18 carries for 112 yards) exploded untouched straight up the middle for a score and a Jacksonville lead of 13-12. Creel tossed a two-point conversion to Deonte Johnson for a 15-12 JSU advantage with 4:04 left to play.
Kennesaw’s fantastic finish
A chop block penalty, a two-yard loss and an incomplete pass gave KSU a third down and 27. Odom connected with Christian Moss (five catches for 75 yards) for 26 yards for a fourth and one. Next, Bennett picked up three for the first at the JSU 33. Kennesaw followed with a six-yard run, an incompletion and a sack to give them a fourth and four at the 37. Odom ran for 14 yards, but a penalty for a hit out of bounds gave KSU a new set of downs starting on the 11. From there, the QB fired a dart down the middle to Moss open in the end zone with :51 left. Final score: Kennesaw State19 Jacksonville State 15.
Defending CUSA champ JSU started it final possession from their 25. One sack and three incomplete passes later, the Owls took over and went right into victory formation. Great atmosphere, great game-cheering crowds for both teams, loud and proud sounding bands, and excitement made it an entertaining evening. A great night to see a hard-fought conference championship played on the field. Jacksonville HC Charles Kelly also did a wonderful job this year taking over at Jacksonville State after Rich Rodriguez headed back to West Virginia. Radio reports spoke highly of the job he did on short notice with the Gamecocks this season. This game provided us with a great start to Collegefootballfan.com’s post season slate!
Game 734: D3 playoff – Berry College 31 Trinity (TX) 23
Look for this update tomorrow for the game played Saturday between Vikings and Tigers. Big D3 upset this past week that could get the Berry Vikings farther than expected.
As for JSU and KSU, both now go bowling. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks (8-5) literally travel down the road apiece to Montgomery Alabama to take on their sister state university, the Troy Trojans (8-5) of the Sun Belt Conference. “Going to war with the Kennesaw Owls” (10-3) will be the Western Michigan Broncos (9-4, 8-1), champions of the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos defeated the Miami Red Hawks, 23-13, last Saturday for the MAC championship in Detroit. We like this match-up. Should be a very competitive game between two hungry teams.
Week 16 closes out the regular season, and then we go beyond!
After being blanked out of our Army Navy tickets last season, we are back in the fold in 2025. We will be at M&T in Baltimore next Saturday for the 136th meeting between the two fabled rivals. Navy (9-2) seeks its second win in a row over Army (6-5). The Mids fell to North Texas and Notre Dame (without starting QB Blake Horvath). We attended that 49-14 debacle. We also saw them win the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, 31-28, against Air Force. A lot rides on this game for both teams. Army also defeated Air Force, 20-17, so the Trophy means everything in this one. Army won and lost in a lot of close games this season. This game should be no different.
For ArmyNavy, this meeting becomes our 20th tussle between these two. This is the first time the two will meet knowing that they received bids for upcoming bowl games. Army heads to Fenway Park to take on UConn (9-3). On December 27 in Boston, it may feel like they will be playing in the Yukon. Historically, of course, this Saturday’s game will feel similar. We’ve known it to usually be the coldest weekend of the year whenever these two meet on the gridiron. Navy will be heading to Memphis for its bowl on January 2, 2026. In the Liberty Bowl, they will face former AAC foe Cincinnati (7-5), now a member of the Big XII. Go Navy!
Check out other historic games we’ve attended over the years. Read all about them!!
Click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 734 college games attended to date, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person at least once. This tells our story! Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about.
In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a “kick” out of our great adventure over the years! Who else can say that? Continue to come back and follow our current and future adventures. Bowls and play-off games lie ahead for the rest of this season. Thanks for checking this out!
