PRESEASON PICKS
Chattooga grad Foster named Big South’s top offensive player; KSU chosen to finish second
Kennesaw State has the Big South’s preseason picks to be the offensive and defensive players of the year, but the Owls are not the favorite to win the conference during the 2021 spring season.
Running back Isaac Foster took the offensive honor.
The junior from Summerville is coming off a 2019 season that was cut short because of injury, but he more than showed his dynamic ability in the seven full games in which he was active. In only 34 carries, he ran for 506 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 111 yards and a score.
As a returner, Foster consistently flipped the field. He had 407 yards on 14 kickoff returns, and another 112 yards on six punt returns. In all, he combined for 1,136 yards on only 60 touches.
The defensive honor was the latest accolade in the career for linebacker Bryson Armstrong.
The former Kell High School standout was originally tabbed for Defensive Player of the Year in the fall before the season was postponed. He earned it again, making him the only player in conference history to be named for the
honor for a third straight time.
Already named a 2021 spring AllAmerican by HERO Sports and Athlon, Armstrong comes off a season in which
he led the Owls with 95 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
If there was a surprise that came out of the media day, it was that Kennesaw State was selected to come in second in the conference by the league’s panel of coaches and media.
In the fall, the Owls were selected to win the Big South for the third time in the last four years. Now, with only five active teams — Kennesaw State, Monmouth, Charleston Southern, Gardner-webb and Robert Morris — defending champion Monmouth was given the nod as the team expected to win the conference.
The Hawks had six of the 10 first-place votes and finished with 44 points, while Kennesaw State was one point back and received three first-place votes. Charleston Southern, which earned the remaining first-place vote, was expected to finish third, followed by Gardner-webb and newcomer Robert Morris, who tied for fourth.
Campbell, Hampton and North Alabama opted out of playing in the upcoming spring season. Campbell and North Alabama played limited fall schedules against teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision.