2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team

The 2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Brian Bohannon and played their home games at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia as third-year members of the Big South Conference.[1] They finished the season 12–2, 5–0 in Big South play to win the Big South conference championship.[2] The Owls received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, their first trip to the playoffs in school history.[3][4] In the first round of the playoffs, the Owls defeated Samford in a rematch of their only regular season loss and marked the school's first ever playoff win.[5] In the second round, the Owls upset No. 3 seed Jacksonville State to advance to the quarterfinals.[6] In the quarterfinals, despite a furious second half comeback, they lost to Sam Houston State.[7]

2017 Kennesaw State Owls football
Big South champion
ConferenceBig South Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 8
FCS CoachesNo. 9
2017 record12–2 (5–0 Big South)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGrant Chesnut (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorBrian Newberry (3rd season)
Home stadiumFifth Third Bank Stadium
(Capacity: 8,318)
2017 Big South Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 8 Kennesaw State $^  5 –0     12 –2  
Monmouth ^  4 –1     9 –3  
Charleston Southern  3 –2     6 –5  
Liberty *  2 –3     6 –5  
Presbyterian  1 –4     4 –7  
Gardner–Webb  0 –5     1 –10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • * Liberty ineligible for postseason due to FBS transition
Rankings from STATS Poll

On January 9, 2018, head coach Brian Bohannon was named the American Football Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.[8][9]

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2016 season 8–3, 3–2 in Big South play to finish in a tie for third place.

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 317:00 p.m.at No. 19 Samford*
ESPN3
WPCH		L 23–284,908
September 97:00 p.m.Tennessee Tech*
BSN
WPCH		W 27–148,418
September 168:00 p.m.at Alabama State*
ASAAW 20–1411,000
September 303:30 p.m.North Greenville*
  • Fifth Third Bank Stadium
  • Kennesaw, GA
WPCHW 38–346,161
October 77:00 p.m.Texas Southern*
  • Fifth Third Bank Stadium
  • Kennesaw, GA
WPCHW 48–36,743
October 146:00 p.m.at Liberty
ESPN3W 42–2817,726
October 217:00 p.m.Gardner–Webb
  • Fifth Third Bank Stadium
  • Kennesaw, GA
ESPN3W 17–36,954
October 282:00 p.m.at Presbyterian
WPCHW 28–02,804
November 42:00 p.m.at Montana State*No. 25
WPCHW 16–1416,337
November 113:30 p.m.Charleston SouthernNo. 23
  • Fifth Third Bank Stadium
  • Kennesaw, GA
ESPN3W 38–06,224
November 182:00 p.m.MonmouthNo. 22
  • Fifth Third Bank Stadium
  • Kennesaw, GA
ESPN3W 52–216,808
November 252:00 p.m.No. 14 Samford*No. 18
ESPN3W 28–175,516
December 22:00 p.m.at No. 2 Jacksonville State*No. 18
ESPN3W 17–717,412
December 98:30 p.m.at No. 5 Sam Houston State*No. 18
ESPN3L 27–345,725
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

@ Samford
See also: 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team
Kennesaw State @ Samford
1 234Total
Owls 0 10013 23
• No. 19 Bulldogs 0 7147 28

Tennessee Tech
See also: 2017 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team
Tennessee Tech @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Golden Eagles 0 0014 14
• Owls 10 1430 27
  • Date: September 9
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:57
  • Game attendance: 8,418
  • Game weather: 74°F • ENE 8 • Sunny and clear
  • Referee: Tra Blake
  • TV announcers (BSN/WCPH): Brian Katrek, Tutan Reyes, and Chris Mooneyham

@ Alabama State
See also: 2017 Alabama State Hornets football team
Kennesaw State @ Alabama State
1 234Total
• Owls 0 1730 20
Hornets 0 770 14
  • Date: September 16
  • Location: The New ASU Stadium
    Montgomery, AL
  • Game start: 8:00 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:54
  • Game attendance: 11,000
  • Game weather: 78°F • E 4 • Partly cloudy
  • Referee: Ron Turner
  • TV announcers (ASAA): Jonathan Spells, Machion Sanders, Rob Taylor

North Greenville
See also: North Greenville Crusaders football
North Greenville @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Crusaders 7 9711 34
• Owls 14 7710 38
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:19
  • Game attendance: 6,161
  • Game weather: 78°F • WNW 5 • Sunny
  • Referee: Andy Faust
  • TV announcers (WCPH): Brian Katrek, Tutan Reyes, and Chris Mooneyham

Texas Southern
See also: 2017 Texas Southern Tigers football team
Texas Southern @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Tigers 0 300 3
• Owls 10 2477 48
  • Date: October 7
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:39
  • Game attendance: 6,743
  • Game weather: 78°F • SE 8 • Overcast
  • Referee: Jeff Flanagan
  • TV announcers (WCPH): Brian Giffin, Brandon Joseph, Nathan McCreary

@ Liberty
See also: 2017 Liberty Flames football team
Kennesaw State @ Liberty
1 234Total
• Owls 7 2177 42
Flames 7 0714 28
  • Date: October 14
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:54
  • Game attendance: 17,726
  • Game weather: 73°F • SSE 3 • Sunny
  • Referee: Stuart Mullins
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Brian Giffin, Tutan Reyes, Nathan McCreary

Gardner–Webb
See also: 2017 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team
Gardner–Webb @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Runnin' Bulldogs 0 030 3
• Owls 0 1700 17
  • Date: October 21
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 7:00 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:52
  • Game attendance: 6,954
  • Game weather: 71°F • ESE 5 • Clear
  • Referee: Terrance Lamar
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Mike Hogewood, Renaldo Wynn

@ Presbyterian
See also: 2017 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team
Kennesaw State @ Presbyterian
1 234Total
• Owls 0 14140 28
Blue Hose 0 000 0
  • Date: October 28
  • Location: Bailey Memorial Stadium
    Clinton, SC
  • Game start: 2:30 p.m. EDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:41
  • Game attendance: 2,804
  • Game weather: 68°F • SSE 9 • Partly Cloudy
  • Referee: Jeff Heaser
  • TV announcers (WPCH): Mark Bryant, John Orck

@ Montana State
See also: 2017 Montana State Bobcats football team
Kennesaw State @ Montana State
1 234Total
• No. 25 Owls 7 333 16
Bobcats 7 070 14
  • Date: November 4
  • Location: Bobcat Stadium
    Bozeman, MT
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 2:50
  • Game attendance: 16,337
  • Game weather: 20°F • NNW 0–8 • Mild, 14" snow
  • Referee: Greg Wilson
  • TV announcers (WPCH): Chris Byers, Mike Callaghan, Kyle Sherman

Charleston Southern
See also: 2017 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team
Charleston Southern @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Buccaneers 0 000 0
• No. 23 Owls 7 14314 38
  • Date: November 11
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 2:49
  • Game attendance: 6,224
  • Game weather: 55°F • Sunny
  • Referee: Riley Johnson
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Mike Hogewood, Jay Sonnhalter

Monmouth
See also: 2017 Monmouth Hawks football team
Monmouth @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
Hawks 7 1400 21
• No. 22 Owls 14 21107 52
  • Date: November 18
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 2:50
  • Game attendance: 6,808
  • Game weather: 65°F • Partly Cloudy
  • Referee: Jerry Magallane
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Mike Hogewood, Jay Sonnhalter

This victory clinched the Owls' first ever postseason bid.

FCS Playoffs

Samford–First Round
Samford @ Kennesaw State
1 234Total
No. 14 Bulldogs 3 707 17
• No. 18 Owls 0 2170 28
  • Date: November 25
  • Location: Fifth Third Bank Stadium
    Kennesaw, GA
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 3:13
  • Game attendance: 5,566
  • Game weather: 62°F • Partly Cloudy
  • Referee: Steve Cadorette
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Dan Gutowsky, Marcus Ray

@ Jacksonville State–Second Round
See also: 2017 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team
Kennesaw State @ Jacksonville State
1 234Total
• No. 18 Owls 0 773 17
No. 2 Gamecocks 0 003 3
  • Date: December 2
  • Location: JSU Stadium
    Jacksonville, AL
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • Elapsed time: 2:44
  • Game attendance: 17,412
  • Game weather: 65°F • Partly Cloudy
  • Referee: Warren Gillis
  • TV announcers (ESPN3): Matt Stewart, Forrest Conoly

@ Sam Houston State–Quarterfinals
See also: 2017 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team
Kennesaw State @ Sam Houston State
1 234Total
No. 18 Owls 7 3314 27
• No. 5 Bearkats 14 1037 34

Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final 
STATS FCS RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 23 22 18 8 
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 23 21 16 9

References
  1. "Owls Announce 2017 Football Schedule". Kennesaw State Athletics. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  2. Bednarowski, John. "Kennesaw State romps Monmouth for Big South title". MDJOnline.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  3. "Big South Conference - Kennesaw State Draws Samford in FCS Playoffs". bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  4. Bednarowski, John. "Kennesaw State making playoff debut with chance at revenge". MDJOnline.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  5. "Samford vs. Kennesaw State - Game Recap - November 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  6. "Kennesaw State stuns No. 3 seed Jacksonville State in FCS second round". FOX Sports. 2017-12-02. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  7. "Kennesaw State vs. Sam Houston State - Game Recap - December 9, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  8. Bednarowski, John. "Kennesaw State's Brian Bohannon voted FCS Coach of the Year by AFCA". MDJOnline.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  9. "FB: Bohannon Named 2017 AFCA FCS Coach of the Year - Kennesaw State University". Kennesaw State University. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
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