‘It’s a huge confidence boost’: How Kennesaw State pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the college football season
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
As the only football coach in Kennesaw State’s history, Brian Bohannon has experienced all of the high and lows of the past decade.
An FCS startup team in 2015, the Owls won their first game and went 6-5 in their initial season. Kennesaw State won eight games in its second campaign and had a 34-7 record from 2017 to 2019, winning two Big South Conference championships along the way.
The Owls’ 48-15 record over their first five seasons is the best record by an FCS startup, and they’re the only FCS team to have three straight seasons with at least 11 wins in their first five years of competition.
For all of Kennesaw State’s success at the FCS level, though, its first season of competition while transitioning to the FBS in 2024 has been equally humbling. Heading into last week, the Owls had dropped their first six games, losing to FCS program UT Martin 24-13 at home on Sept. 28.
“You don’t ever know what the path is going to be, right?” Bohannon said. “You know where you want to go, but you don’t know what the path is going to take you. I think the thing anybody would say about this program is we have a strong culture because to still be hanging around at 0-6, it’s hard, and our kids stuck together.”
Everything came together for Kennesaw State in last week’s 27-24 upset of previously unbeaten Liberty.
It was the first time in 23 years — and only the sixth such occurrence in the AP poll era since 1936 — that a team with an 0-5 or worse record knocked off an opponent with a 5-0 record or better.
Kennesaw State ended Liberty’s 18-game win streak in the regular season and conference championship games, which was the longest streak in the FBS.
The Owls, 27½-point underdogs against the Flames, pulled off the second-biggest upset of the season. Only Northern Illinois‘ 16-14 win at then-No. 5 Notre Dame on Sept. 7 was a bigger shocker — the Huskies were 28½-point underdogs.
Kennesaw State had been winless in its previous 10 games against FBS opponents.
“I mean, the biggest thing is it’s a huge confidence boost for our kids,” Bohannon said. “You know, obviously getting that first one is always big. And then Liberty is a really good football team. I think getting the first one is always big, right? And we’re a young program. We’ve got a lot of youth, and they’re learning every week, and it was just good to see them have success. I was really proud of it.”
Bohannon’s team will try to make it two straight victories when Kennesaw State plays at Conference USA front-runner Western Kentucky on Wednesday night (7:30 ET, ESPN2/ESPN+).
“We just lacked consistency,” Bohannon said of his team’s early struggles. “We’ve been turning the ball over, and we haven’t been playing complimentary football. We’ve been talking about all this stuff, and finally it came together.”
The Owls were playing so inconsistently on offense that Bohannon benched starting quarterback Davis Bryson after a 63-24 loss to Jacksonville State in the league opener Oct. 4. Bryson threw three interceptions and had only 76 passing yards on 6-for-14 passing attempts.
In a 14-5 loss at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 15, the Owls had 10 first downs and 234 yards of offense with Khalib Johnson and Braden Bohannon — the coach’s son — sharing snaps at quarterback.
“[Coach Bohannon] told me the decision was best for the team and for the program and that I was going to learn from the mistakes that I made in the previous game,” Bryson said. “He told me to attack those things throughout the week and just take advantage of my opportunity when it comes back.”
Bryson, a sophomore from Woodbridge, Virginia, got his opportunity eight days later against Liberty. He completed his first eight passes and finished 16-of-20 for 189 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
“I guess he was motivated, huh?” Bohannon said. “He has been our guy. We just turned the ball over, so we went another direction for a week. He had to take some humble pie and go signal for a week, but he had a great attitude. He handled it awesome and cheered on his teammates. We weren’t able to get it done [with other quarterbacks], and we gave him an opportunity. He took advantage of it.”
Going into the Liberty game, the Owls ranked 130th out of 134 FBS teams in scoring offense with 14.6 points per game. They came out of that game with a season-high 323 yards of offense and didn’t turn the ball over. They also went 7-for-14 on third down.
On defense, Kennesaw State became only the second team this season to limit Liberty to under 180 rushing yards (No. 1 Oregon was the other). After surrendering an average of 36 points during their six-game losing streak, the Owls came up with several big stops against the Flames. They stopped Liberty’s offense on a fourth-and-11 at the Kennesaw State 29, which led to a field goal and a 24-17 lead.
There are likely to be more highs and lows this season for the Owls.
“We’ve still got a long way to go with everything here being what it needs to be, to be an FBS program,” Bohannon said. “But our kids hung in there, and we found a way to win a game, which was honestly big for us. But we’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do. I won’t call this a fun path, but it’s the path that we’re taking right now. We’ll see where it takes us.”
College football‘s spring transfer portal period opens Wednesday and runs through Friday, April 25.
More than 2,200 players have elected to transfer this offseason. This period is the last chance for underclassmen to switch teams before the start of the 2025 season and for schools to bolster their roster.
The biggest news of the spring period happened this past weekend when Tennessee parted ways with quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The former four-star recruit, who threw 19 touchdown passes in 2024, was seeking an increase in his NIL package. He is now looking for a new home.
With players officially able to enter their names in the portal, we’re tracking all the latest news and developments.
Transfer portal coverage:
Best available player rankings
What to expect
Kenni Burns was fired as Kent State‘s football head coach for multiple violations of his contract, including how he used a personal credit card.
Kent State did not provide details on why Burns was fired last Friday, but a copy of Burns’ dismissal letter was obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.
University president Todd A. Diacon outlined five reasons for cause for Burns’ firing, with the first being “significant, repetitive, and intentional violation (or a pattern of conduct which may constitute or lead to a major violation), as determined by Kent State University after appropriate investigation, of the University’s policies and procedures regarding your P-card (personal card) expenditures.”
Burns was sued last September by Hometown Bank in Kent, Ohio, for $23,852.09 plus interest in unpaid credit card purchases, which exceeded the credit limit of $20,000. Burns did not make minimum monthly payments on the card and was 60 days past due in August, according to a Portage County Court of Common Pleas document.
The case was dismissed a couple months later when Burns made payment.
Burns was put on administrative leave with pay on March 27, a couple of days before the Golden Flashes began spring practices. Athletic director Randale Richmond said in the letter to Burns that he was being investigated for committing deliberate or serious violations of policies outlined by the university.
“My family and I are saddened by the news today,” Burns posted on social media after he was fired. “We are thankful for the relationships and connections we have made with the players, coaches, and staff over the past few years. The team bond we have is not transactional but that of a family. Kent G.R.I.T. will bind us forever, and for that I am thankful. I am proud of you all, and we will be rooting for you this season and beyond.”
Calls and emails by The Associated Press to Lee Hutton III, Burns’ attorney, have not been returned.
Burns was 1-23 in two seasons at Kent State. The team went 0-12 last season, the fifth winless season in school history. Before arriving at Kent State, Burns was the running backs coach at Minnesota.
Offensive coordinator Mark Carney will serve as the interim coach for the upcoming season with a national search taking place at the end of the year.
Kent State opens its season on Aug. 30 against Merrimack, a Football Championship Subdivision foe.
The Golden Flashes schedule gets more difficult after that, including road games against Texas Tech (Sept. 6), Florida State (Sept. 20) and Oklahoma (Oct. 4).
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin offensive tackle Kevin Heywood is expected to miss all of the upcoming season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in spring practice.
Heywood, the Badgers’ projected starter at left tackle, hurt his knee in practice Thursday. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell revealed the severity of the injury on Tuesday.
“That was one that’s going to be really difficult and tough, but it’s also part of the game,” Fickell said. “We’ve been fortunate up front in the last two seasons to have those guys prepared and be able to last through the season. Now we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to manage some of that and move some other guys around and expect some other guys to step up, whether it’s Leyton Nelson, an Emerson Mandell, guys like that have got to step in.”
Wisconsin had benefited from remarkable stability on its offensive line during the first two years of Fickell’s tenure.
The Badgers had the same starting offensive line for each of its 12 games last year, with Jack Nelson at left tackle, Joe Brunner at left guard, Jake Renfro at center, Joe Huber at right guard and Riley Mahlman at right tackle. Brunner, Renfro and Mahlman are back this year.
Wisconsin also had the same starting offensive line for all 12 of its regular-season games in 2023, with Nelson at left tackle, Huber at left guard, Tanor Bortolini at center, Michael Furtney at right guard and Mahlman at right tackle. The only change that season came in the ReliaQuest Bowl loss to LSU, with Renfro getting to start after missing the entire regular season with an injury to his lower left leg.
Heywood was expected to take over this season for Nelson, who had started at left tackle each of the last three years. Heywood had participated in all 12 games for Wisconsin last year while playing special teams and making occasional appearances on offense.
His injury represents a setback for a Wisconsin team seeking to bounce back after its streak of 22 consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances ended last year. The Badgers finished 5-7 last season and lost their final five games.
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