September 11, 2024

In This Issue 

Kennesaw State Owls Campus Sports

Along with News from the

Conference USA (C-USA)

Owls Fly Cross Country to Take on San Jose State

 Kennesaw State Owls (0-2, 0-0 CUSA) 

@ San Jose State Spartans (2-0, 1-0 MWC)

Date: Saturday, September 14

Site: CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, CA

Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.

TV: Click Here;

Play-by-Play: Ari Wolfe

Analyst: Darius Walker

Sideline: Jared Greenberg

Mobile App: ESPN

Online: WatchESPN.com

Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 988 Tune In: KSU Owls App

KSU Owls Radio Network

Play-By-Play: Jordan Griffitt

Analyst: Barclay Miller

Sideline Reporter: Brandon Sutton

KSU Game Notes: Click Here

SJSU Game Notes - Click Here

San Jose State Preview - Click Here

C-USA Weekly Release: Click Here

Kennesaw State Sports: Click Here

In its first season as an FBS member, Kennesaw State is in search of its first win over an FBS opponent when it travels 2,100 miles to take on San Jose State on Saturday, Sept. 14....the farthest that KSU football has traveled to play an opponent.

Kennesaw State is facing its third-straight bowl team from 2023 and its third-straight team it has never faced in its nine-year history.

Saturday’s game will see the Owls take the national stage for the first time this season, as the game will be broadcast on TruTV and Max.

R-Jr. linebacker Donelius Johnson has started the season strong, ranking No. 3 in Conference USA in sacks (2.0) and No. 6 in tackles for loss (2.5) through two games.

Defensively, Kennesaw State ranks among the league’s best, co-leading CUSA with two fumbles forced.

San José State football (2-0, 1-0 Mountain West) is the defending co-regular season MWC champions looking for their fourth bowl game in the last five years and third in a row. 

The Spartans had five takeaways against Sac State (8/29/24). Jordan Pollard led the Spartans with a career-high 17 tackles against Air Force (9/7/24) on his way to winning his first Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week award (9/9/24). They are coming off a pair of wins against Sacramento State (42-24) and Air Force (17-7).

Click Here For The Full Story

Watch Head Coach Brian Bohannon's Weekly Press Conference 

Previewing San Jose State

We're ready to play another good football team, another bowl team that's won a lot of games. Obviously, (Ken) Niumatalolo is their head coach. He and I are good friends, lived down the street from each other for six years at the Naval Academy. They played two games, opened at Sacramento State, which was a big game for them. A lot of momentum changes, then San Jose pulled away late (42-24). Then they went to Air Force. The score isn't indicative of they kind of game it was. They won 17-10. 

The quarterback's a transfer (Emmett Brown, redshirt sophomore from Washington State). He can spin it. A lot of good skill kids. They keep their defense really active.  (LB Jordan Pollard was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week)

We travel to California and get a chance for some national exposure (on TruTV). We'll see if we can put together the pieces that you see for four quarters. See what that looks like.

Click Here To Watch

The Full Press Conference

Watch San Jose State HC Ken Niumatalolo Weekly Presser Previewing KSU

Looking forward to Kennesaw State coming in. Very familiar with their program. The head coach and I worked together for six years at the Naval Academy. We were neighbors. I know him really well.

Good ball coach. He started that program from the ground up. They were an FCS perennial playoff team. Now, they're making the transition. They have really good players. Being right there in Atlanta, there's a ton of good players in that area.

It's going to be a tough game for us. Our kids aren't too familiar with them. But we, as coaches, have to a good job of getting ready because we know how talented they are.

Click Here To Watch

The Full Press Conference

CONFERENCE USA FOOTBALL This Week's Games SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

(All times Eastern)

LA Tech at NC State (ACC Network) 11 a.m.

UTEP at [RV] Liberty (ESPN+) 5 p.m.

FIU at Florida Atlantic (ESPN+) 5 p.m.

WKU at MTSU (ESPN+) 6 p.m.

Jax State at Eastern Michigan (ESPN+) 6 p.m.

Hawai’i at Sam Houston (ESPN+) 6 p.m.

Kennesaw State at San Jose State

(truTV) 6 p.m.

NM State at Fresno State (truTV) 9:30 p.m.

C-USA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Player of the Week –

Keyone Jenkins, FIU

Defensive Player of the Week –

CJ Bazile Jr., Liberty

Special Teams Player of the Week – Colin Karhu, Liberty

Conference USA Website - Click Here

Owls Volleyball Fails To Topple Bears in 3-1 Setback

Kennesaw State Volleyball played a thrilling match against Mercer on Tuesday night but couldn't overcome an early 2-0 deficit as the Owls would fall 3-1 (23-25, 27-29, 25-19, 19-25) to their in-state rivals at the Convocation Center. This was also the annual Griffin's Game for the Owls, their fund-raiser for a local family dealing with childhood cancer. Fans can still make donations for the Senat family online at KSUOwls.com.

In the clinching fourth set, the Owls (2-5) hit just .000 (7-7-27), and that was enough to give Mercer (6-1) the win despite finishing with a lower overall hitting percentage for the game (.215 to .237 for KSU).

"I was pretty disappointed in our grittiness in sets 1 and 2. We were hoping for things to happen instead of making them happen," said HC Keith Schunzel.

The Owls will be back on the road for the Troy Invitational on Sept. 13-14. KSU will take on The Citadel on Friday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m., and then face the host Troy Trojans on Saturday, also at 2 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Women's Basketball Finalizes 2024-25 Schedule

Kennesaw State women's basketball head coach Octavia Blue revealed the team's full 2024-25 29-game schedule, featuring 14 contests inside the KSU Convocation Center and 11 non-conference games. 

The Owls welcome in-state rivals Georgia State and Mercer to the Nest after tipping off at home on Monday, Nov. 4 against Life at 7:00 p.m. 

2024-25 marks the 4th season for Blue at the helm of the program, and the first for the Black and Gold as a member of Conference USA. 

After starting the season against Life, KSU hosts Utah Valley for its first of two games of the CUSA/WAC Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. 

Click Here For The Full Story

Florida Waits as Owls Soccer Prepares for Showdown At Gators

Something has to give Thursday night in a battle of two struggling soccer teams.

The history is brief between the Owls and Gators but KSU has shown promise against the Florida program. Last year, Kennesaw State hosted UF in a 1-1 draw in Kennesaw with a score from graduated midfielder, Agata Giani. This match tallied the first tie ever versus an SEC opponent with the last win versus the SEC coming against the Georgia Bulldogs, Sept. 9, 2018. The match will mark the 22nd all-time meeting with an SEC team.

The 2-1-3 Gators are coming off a shutout home loss vs in-state rival Florida State on Sunday. The 0-5-1 Owls are still looking for their first win.

Thursday's match takes place at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, FL. It can be seen on SEC Network +. 

Click Here For The Full Story