2021 Kennesaw State Owls football team

2021 Kennesaw State Owls football
Big South champion
FCS Playoffs, L 31–32 vs. East Tennessee State
Conference	Big South Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 11
FCS Coaches	No. 10
Record	11–2 (7–0 Big South)
Head coach	Brian Bohannon (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Grant Chesnut (7th season)
Offensive scheme	Flexbone option
Defensive coordinator	Danny Verpaele (2nd season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Fifth Third Bank Stadium

2021 Big South Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Kennesaw State $^		7	–	0					11	–	2
Monmouth		6	–	1					7	–	4
North Carolina A&T		3	–	4					5	–	6
North Alabama		3	–	4					3	–	8
Charleston Southern		3	–	4					4	–	6
Hampton		3	–	4					5	–	6
Robert Morris		3	–	5					4	–	6
Campbell		2	–	5					3	–	8
Gardner–Webb		2	–	5					4	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented the Kennesaw State University as a member of the Big South Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Brian Bohannon, the Owls played their home games at the Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Schedule

Kennesaw State announced its 2021 football schedule on April 21, 2021. The 2021 schedule consisted of 5 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	8:00 p.m.	Reinhardt*	No. 19	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN+	W 35–25	6,348
September 11	12:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech*	No. 22	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ACCRSN	L 17–45	35,195
September 18	6:00 p.m.	at Wofford*	No. 24	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN+	W 31–10	4,597
October 2	3:00 p.m.	No. 17 Jacksonville State*	No. 20	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN+	W 31–6	7,476
October 9	2:00 p.m.	Hampton	No. 17	Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA	ESPN3	W 34–15	3,983
October 16	5:00 p.m.	North Carolina A&T	No. 15	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN+	W 14–0	9,556
October 23	4:00 p.m.	at Campbell	No. 12	Barker–Lane Stadium Buies Creek, NC	ESPN+	W 30–7	5,977
October 30	1:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	No. 12	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN+	W 34–30	4,041
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Robert Morris	No. 12	Joe Walton Stadium Moon Township, PA	ESPN+	W 45–21	2,144
November 13	3:00 p.m.	at North Alabama	No. 10	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	W 28–24	7,023
November 20	1:00 p.m.	Monmouth	No. 9	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN+	W 49–17	4,630
November 27	2:00 p.m.	Davidson*	No. 10	Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA (FCS Playoffs – First Round)	ESPN+	W 48–21	2,764
December 4	2:00 p.m.	at No. 9 East Tennessee State*	No. 10	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN (FCS Playoffs – Second Round)	ESPN+	L 31–32	8,453
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Georgia Tech

See also: 2021 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

Kennesaw State (1–0) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Kennesaw State	0	3	0	14	17
Georgia Tech	14	10	7	14	45

at Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA

• Date: Saturday, September 11, 2021
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 79°F
• Game attendance: 35,195
• Referee: Jeff Flanagan
• TV announcers (ESPN3): Brad Rathbun, Brian Jordan, Lyndsay Rowley

Game information
First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter

Statistics	KSU	GT
First downs	13	20
Total yards	260	412
Rushes/yards	43/149	36/158
Passing yards	111	254
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	8–20–2	17–23–0
Time of possession	33:41	26:16

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Kennesaw State	Passing	Xavier Shepherd	8/20, 110 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Iaan Cousin	3 carries, 52 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Adeolu Adeleke	1 reception, 39 yards, 1 TD
Georgia Tech	Passing	Jordan Yates	17/23, 254 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Dontae Smith	8 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Kyric McGowan	6 receptions, 91 yards, 2 TD

At No. 9 East Tennessee State (FCS Second Round)

See also: 2021 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

No. 10 Kennesaw State Owls at No. 9 East Tennessee State Buccaneers (FCS Second Round) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Owls	0	7	14	10	31
No. 9 Buccaneers	0	10	7	15	32

at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, Johnson City, Tennessee

• Date: December 4
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Mostly cloudy, 63 °F (17 °C)
• Game attendance: 8,453
• Referee: Marcus Thornton
• TV: ESPN+
• Box score, Recap

Game information

First quarter No scoring plays Second quarter ETSU – Quay Holmes 34-yard pass from Tyler Riddell (Tyler Keltner kick), 7:25. Buccaneers 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 53 yards, 2:08. KSU – Iaan Cousin 50-yard pass from Jonathan Murphy (Nathan Robertson kick), 6:17. Tied 7–7. Drive: 3 plays, 76 yards, 1:03. ETSU – Tyler Keltner 47-yard field goal, 3:27. Buccaneers 10–7. Drive: 5 plays, 32 yards, 2:43. Third quarter ETSU – Quay Holmes 31-yard run (Nathan Robertson kick), 11:45. Buccaneers 17–7. Drive: 8 plays, 74 yards, 3:15. KSU – Kyle Glover 22-yard pass from Jonathan Murphy (Nathan Robertson kick), 8:19. Buccaneers 17–14. Drive: 7 plays, 88 yards, 3:21. KSU – Jonathan Murphy 1-yard run (Nathan Robertson kick), 1:05. Owls 21–17. Drive: 13 plays, 55 yards, 5:38. Fourth quarter KSU – Jonathan Murphy 9-yard run (Nathan Robertson kick), 12:21. Owls 28–17. Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 2:25. KSU – Nathan Robertson 45-yard field goal, 5:02. Owls 31–17. Drive: 14 plays, 49 yards, 6:48. ETSU – Will Huzzie 12-yard pass from Tyler Riddell (Tyler Keltner kick), 1:28. Owls 31–24. Drive: 13 plays, 78 yards, 3:31. ETSU – Quay Holmes 4-yard pass from Tyler Riddell (Tyler Riddell pass to Nate Adkins), 0:35. Buccaneers 32–31. Drive: 5 plays, 48 yards, 0:51.

Statistics	KSU	ETSU
First downs	23	19
Total yards	457	308
Rushing yards	287	70
Passing yards	170	238
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	35:00	25:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Kennesaw State	Passing	Jonathan Murphy	6/14, 125 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Jonathan Murphy	28 rushes, 164 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Iaan Cousin	3 receptions, 81 yards, TD
East Tennessee State	Passing	Tyler Riddell	22/35, 238 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Quay Holmes	13 rushes, 87 yards, TD
	Receiving	Quay Holmes	7 receptions, 95 yards, 2 TD