The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Off days, bye week needed break for Owls
After playing a full game and five overtimes Saturday against Jacksonville State at SunTrust Park, Kennesaw State earned a much-deserved bye week entering the FCS playoffs. Kennesaw State has the No. 4 seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the second round in this year’s playoff.
After Kennesaw State’s 60-52 win over Jacksonville State, coach Brian Bohannon said his team was planning to use the bye week to practice, but also to recuperate before beginning specific preparation for their next opponent, which will be determined Saturday when Elon plays at Wofford.
“That was a tough, hardnosed, long, physical football game, so the bye is huge,” Bohannon said.
After leading the Owls to their second consecutive 10-win season, Bohannon was one of 15 coaches named finalists Monday for the STATS FCS Eddie Robin- son Award, given annually to honor the FCS coach of the year.
Last November the Owls also clinched a playoff spot, the first in program history, but were not seeded high enough for a first-round bye or home-field advantage. They traveled to play Sam Houston State and lost 34-27.
To recuperate from Satur- day’s game, the Owls took Sunday and Monday off and returned to practice Tuesday. Kennesaw State’s defense especially needed time to rest after Saturday’s game which, according to Bohannon, visibly exhausted both teams’ defenses during the overtime periods.
Linebacker Anthony Gore Jr. — who finished the win over Jacksonville State with team highs in total tackles (9) and sacks (2) — couldn’t overstate the importance of the bye week. “After any game, your body is going to be sore but (after Saturday’s) game, I kind of struggled a lot more the next day,” Gore said Tuesday. “But getting Sunday and Monday off really helped me recover and just get my body back
moving today at practice, it helped even more.”
While Saturday’s game was long and grueling for the defense, quarterback Chandler Burks said he liked what he saw from the Owls’ offense during the overtime periods. The usually high-scoring Kennesaw State offense (averaging 47.5 points entering Saturday’s game) was limited to three touchdowns in regulation, but Burks said all 11 players were clicking during the overtime periods. “It was a different offense out there from the four quarters that we produced in the beginning,” Burks said. “After watching the film, that’s something we want to be able to build off of.”
Burks, who broke the alltime FCS single-season rushing touchdown record (29) Saturday, totaled 95 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries and threw for 74 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.