The Kennesaw State Owls are bashing the preseason Conference-USA expectations in 2025.
Predicted to finish dead last after an extremely tough 2 - 10 opening season playing a level up for the first time in 2024, their second season at the FBS level has already surpassed everyone’s expectations.
Phil Steele, among many magazines and publications that cover college football, has Kennesaw State finishing last in Conference USA again, and so far, that is not the case.
Improving to 4 - 0 at home after Thursday night’s win over LA Tech, the Owls have a four-game win streak and have a semi-bye week to prepare for their game with FIU on the road on Tuesday, October 21.
Already doubling last year’s win total, the Owls are two wins away from becoming bowl eligible!
The only people who predicted that the Owls could be in this position are the folks in the locker room hanging around Kennesaw, Georgia. Building confidence with each outing and 2 - 0 in second place within the Conference-USA early standings, a home game with UTEP will surely be seen as a winning opportunity, and the Owls will only get to host one more regular-season game on November 22nd against a tough Missouri State program.
Missouri State and Kennesaw State were both expected to be bottom-feeders in the conference this season, as the Tigers just jumped up this season from the FCS level to join Conference-USA.
The Owls took a chance on hiring Jerry Mack after a 2 - 10 campaign in 2024, and so far, it has paid off. Mack had only limited head coaching experience at N.C. Central at the FCS level from 2014 - 17. Mack never produced a losing season in his time there, and by the look of their schedule, a 6 - 6 campaign, at worst, is not out of the question.
There wasn’t much in the cupboard for Kennesaw State after a rough 2024 campaign, but that didn’t stop Mack from dragging in 62 new faces of his own to already start his own legacy, if you will, at Kennesaw.
With FIU and UTEP coming up for Kennesaw State in back-to-back weekends after their bye, these Owls defeated the other Owls as one of their two wins in 2024, and UTEP is a 1 - 5 mess as we enter week 7 of the NCAA football season.
After transferring from Indiana to Georgia Southern last season, Dexter Williams decided to join Coach Mack in Kennesaw, but so did Amari Odom from Wofford. The two QBs have battled for starting time all season, but Williams put up a prolific effort against LA Tech on Thursday night, which might propel him to the top of the food chain.
With 4 TD in a 35 - 7 win, after going down 7 - 0 in the first quarter, Williams dumped 290 passing yards on the Bulldogs, and went 27 - 36 passing in the winning effort.
The New Mexico State and Liberty games present interesting chances for big wins in November when the regular season is starting to wind down. Liberty accounted for one of the two wins for Kennesaw State last season, too, and the Flames have fizzled to pyre with a 2 - 4 record halfway through the season.
Let’s predict that you will see the Owls playing in December, which means one of two things. The first bowl appearance in program history is coming in 2025, and could this team pull off the miraculous and challenge for a Conference-USA title?
Sam Houston went 3 - 9 in their first season in Conference-USA in 2023, and all they did was go 10 - 3 and win their first bowl game in program history in 2024! So don’t say it can’t be done.
Keep overachieving, Owls! We’re Watching!!