Kennesaw State - Sept. 16

[FUBeAR]

So they wouldn't have to worry about copyright infringement.

[The Jackal]

I guess KSU did their own media day

https://ksuowls.com/news/2023/7/22/foll ... a-day.aspx

[FUBeAR]

https://ksuowls.com/documents/2023/8/22 ... _Guide.pdf

Wow - The complete review of their 2023 schedule is a 1-page graphic in which the opponents/dates are difficult to read.

OTOH - they devote an entire page of clear text and detailed discussion of their 2024 Season Opening game on the road. 1 whole page for 1 game NEXT season and an almost illegible schedule for their 9 games this season.

THEY SEEM EXCITED, HUH?

[The Jackal]

KSU beat D2 Tusculum 38-7. The game was only 17-7 in the 4th quarter however.

Tusculum is not expected to be a particularly good D2 program.

Just looking at the box score, it looks like the Owls had a hard time getting the ball back from Tusuculum's offense.

I couldn't quite figure out the box score, as the backbreaking score in the 4th quarter shows a "0 yard interception" for a touchdown, but it appears KSU picked off a pass, dropped the ball before reaching the end zone, which was recovered by his own teammate.

Apparently, the teammate scooping up the fumble is credited with the interception and score, not the guy that actually picked it off and returned it 60 yards.

[The Jackal]

#theoriginal.

[The Jackal]

Kennesaw State is transitioning out of the triple option and into still a run-heavy look from the shotgun. The new OC comes through Nevada and Louisville, two programs that were traditionally behind athletic running QBs.

The QB, Jonathan Murphy, is the straw that stirs the drink for them offensively. Currently, he's had twice as many carries as the Owls' primary running back. He hits on a high percentage of his passes. Their offense is nothing we haven't seen before, and shares some similarities to what we do in terms of run-pass-options.

KSU's offense didn't blow the doors off D2 Tusculum until late in the contest. It was 17-7 in the 4th Quarter. They struggled against UTC, who held them to 10 points until the 4th quarter.

My read is that KSU is an offense built on the big momentum-shifting plays. They want to suck you in on the run and then get their receivers in behind you. We're going to have to tackle Murphy. He'll handle the ball a lot for them.

Good news for Furman is we are pretty stout against the run. Bad news is we are susceptible to surrendering big plays, which KSU appears to survive on.

This is a team we should beat. I have no idea how good UTC is after their bad opening loss to UNA, but the Mocs appeared to handle them alright. It's not a bad road trip, there should be a good Furman fan contingent in metro-Atlanta, and the atmosphere won't be nearly as loud or problematic as what we just dealt with Saturday.

[FUwolfpacker]

Probably folly, but I feel better about the game with KSU than I did before the season. Transitioning offensive system and the broadcast talked about them wanting to redshirt as many guys as possible this year makes me think it'll look/feel like the games against App and GSU did when they left.

Feels like if we can at least somewhat limit the deep shots, we should have enough to win. Still some questions with the offense and defense, but feel like we'll know a lot more about this team in regards to the rest of the season after this week. 2-1 OOC is what I think most would have expected anyways.

[FU Hoopla]

[Flagman]

Great show, but I still wish we could have a traditional coach's show with highlights.

[FUBeAR]

Probably folly, but I feel better about the game with KSU than I did before the season. Transitioning offensive system and the broadcast talked about them wanting to redshirt as many guys as possible this year makes me think it'll look/feel like the games against App and GSU did when they left.

Feels like if we can at least somewhat limit the deep shots, we should have enough to win. Still some questions with the offense and defense, but feel like we'll know a lot more about this team in regards to the rest of the season after this week. 2-1 OOC is what I think most would have expected anyways.

Major difference…
- The Players GaSou and Appy wanted to redshirt in 2013 were not allowed to step on a field during a game and keep their redshirt
- KSU can use Players for 4 full games without losing their redshirts. They only play 9 games.

They play Tusculum (D2), Lincoln (CA) (?), Virginia Lynchburg (?) - with up to 85 scholarships, they should be competitive with any of these 3 Teams using their 2’s & 3’s only. All at home.

They play FBS Sam Houston in Huntsville, TX - FUBeAR thinks they will want to give their fellow (1 year ahead) FBS newbie as competitive of a game as they can. So…this is 1 game they will use all their Players

Chattanooga- away, but a Team from a conference that told KSU we had no interest in them - all their players will play … so that’s 2 they probably use all players

The owlets are away at Tennessee Tech and Charleston Southern…sure they’d like to win these games, but they are away…and not Top tier Teams. FUBeAR expects no play from Players they want to redshirt. So that’s 5 of 9 - the 3 lower division and these 2 away FCS games.

They have an HBCU Team coming into their Stadium for Homecoming in Tennessee State and FUBeAR thinks they will want to show well in this one. This will be Game 3 for their Top Players

Furman at home is a premier Team coming in from that conference that told KSU we had no interest in them - all their players will play … so that’s 4 (not in chronological order)

We will see their best complement of Players. The Team that Played Chattanooga, instead of the Team that played Tusculum is who we will see.

[FU Hoopla]

Scholarship players be damned, I am still pissed about our game with them from 2016 in the second year they had a program
https://www.espn.com/college-football/g ... /400871432

MUST WIN THIS GAME!

[gofurman]

Scholarship players be damned, I am still pissed about our game with them from 2016 in the second year they had a program
https://www.espn.com/college-football/g ... /400871432

MUST WIN THIS GAME!

This. I recall dedicated fans from this board leaving the game in disgust. New program going up and down the dam field on us sickening

[gofurman]

Kennesaw State is transitioning out of the triple option and into still a run-heavy look from the shotgun. The new OC comes through Nevada and Louisville, two programs that were traditionally behind athletic running QBs.

The QB, Jonathan Murphy, is the straw that stirs the drink for them offensively. Currently, he's had twice as many carries as the Owls' primary running back. He hits on a high percentage of his passes. Their offense is nothing we haven't seen before, and shares some similarities to what we do in terms of run-pass-options.

KSU's offense didn't blow the doors off D2 Tusculum until late in the contest. It was 17-7 in the 4th Quarter. They struggled against UTC, who held them to 10 points until the 4th quarter.

My read is that KSU is an offense built on the big momentum-shifting plays. They want to suck you in on the run and then get their receivers in behind you. We're going to have to tackle Murphy. He'll handle the ball a lot for them.

Good news for Furman is we are pretty stout against the run. Bad news is we are susceptible to surrendering big plays, which KSU appears to survive on.

This is a team we should beat. I have no idea how good UTC is after their bad opening loss to UNA, but the Mocs appeared to handle them alright. It's not a bad road trip, there should be a good Furman fan contingent in metro-Atlanta, and the atmosphere won't be nearly as loud or problematic as what we just dealt with Saturday.

Exactly. Great that we face a run oriented team. However said team went 12-16 (not an old Woff type stat) for 180 pass yards on Chatt. So they do throw some. Not an old Woff 3-7 kinda thing. And when they complete a pass it’s for a big gain. Good learning time for our pass rush (though that’s tough when you expect a run) and coverage.

Do Not allow many big momentum plays like deep passes

I know it’s hard to sack when you expect a run play. But I hope to see a few sacks as we have struggled with that the past two weeks. I’m aware teams got the ball out quick the past two weeks and it was an SEC OL but still we need more pass rush to be a strong contender

[gofurman]

To put all in one thread.

Final OOC game

Played UTC so there is some take away... Chatt won 27-20 at Chatt

UTC won though KSU missed two FGs.. Road game, dangerous !

Mostly I see that KSU :
Only gained about 280 yards. Nice. The split was 180 in the air and 100 on the ground. Interestingly, the run much more - again I like to see that ! - as they ran 35 times and passed 16 times. Like to see it. Side note- in both Tusculum and Chatt , KSU ran twice as much as they threw. I like it.

But the reason I saw "interestingly" is this is not ol' school inefficient option passing. They went 12-16 (very efficient) and gained 180 yards on 12 completions ! That's some big completions mixed in there. So while they run more than they pass .. when they hit a completion vs UTC they really capitalized.

I like to see that Chatt won despite a -2 turnover ratio. That tells me Chatt was probably the truly better team.

Those are positives I see...

Tough that Chatt had to get most of their yards through the air. Couldn't just pound away for 5/6 yards a run. Chatt got 275 of their 400 yards via the air.

So 400 yards for Chatt and 280 for KSU.

But even with Ford, KSU held up vs the run decently -Ford is a very good runner and only got 58 yards on 17 carries. That's a strong effort by KSU. Many SoCon teams will give up much more to Ford I suspect. he runs hard. Overall, UTC ran 30 times for 120 yards - a 4.0 average.

Both teams were incredibly efficient passing the ball as UTC went 23-28 (! wow) for 275 yards. So they were definitely able to move the ball easier through the air. I watched a little prior to our game and one of the UTC catches was a bounce off a DB then caught and run for a TD of 70 yards or so. Still, it appears Chatt went to the air for most of their success.

I like everything I see here (KSU wants to run but struggled) except that we may not be able to run on them easily.

[gofurman]

We owe these guys for that embarrassment a few years bakc