Defense leads the way for KSU homecoming win
Oct. 17—KENNESAW — It wasn't always pretty, and in some ways it was downright messy, but Kennesaw State sent a record-breaking homecoming crowd of 9,556 home happy with a 14-0 victory over North Carolina A&T.
The crowd was the largest to see the Owls play at Fifth Third Bank Stadium, breaking the previous mark of 9,506 set in the program's inaugural home game against Edward Waters in 2015.
What the crowd also saw was a stellar performance by the Kennesaw State defense, and a performance from the offense that likely left 14 to 21 points on the field thanks to miscues.
The No. 15 Owls (5-1, 2-0 Big South) held the Aggies (3-3, 2-1) to only 31 yards rushing and 207 yards of total offense to run their winning streak to four games.
"Awfully proud of our defense (Saturday). I think A&T was averaging 30 points a game, and to get a shutout against a really good offense that takes pride in running the ball, is really pretty impressive."
North Carolina A&T came into Saturday allowing a conference leading 90 yards rushing per game. Kennesaw State ran for 222 for the game but only twice were they able to put enough plays together to find the end zone. Quarterback Xavier Shepherd scored both touchdowns and ran for 66 yards. He also threw for a career-high 129 yards to help KSU finish with 351 yards of total offense, but it could have been so much more.
"Offensively, early on, we had three turnovers," Bohannon said. "It wasn't easy moving the ball. We miscued on two pitches and then threw an interception and that really got us off schedule a little bit and we had to grind some stuff out in the second half."
On KSU's first drive, it drove to the North Carolina A&T 35 before the first mistake. On first down, Shepherd had a bad pitch that turned into a fumble. Midway through the second quarter, the Owls had driven to the Aggies' 46 when another bad pitch short-circuited another promising drive, and late in the quarter Shepherd threw his third interception of the year. He was trying to throw a short pass over the middle when defensive lineman Daniel Henry put his hand up and the ball stuck to it.
"Offensively, to be honest, we were very subpar (Saturday)," Bohannon said.
Sandwiched between the miscues and some untimely dead-ball penalties — a face mask and an unsportsmanlike call — that had players in Bohannon's doghouse on the sideline, there was a second-quarter touchdown drive.
Starting on their own 20, the Owls marched 80 yards in 10 plays highlighted by an Iaan Cousin 18-yard run and a 34-yard pass to Irving Smith, the longest reception of his career, to set up Shepherd's 3-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead at the half.
"You have to give a lot of credit to A&T," Bohannon said. "There's always going to be things that we could have done better. Having a little more attention to detail, better execution, avoiding the penalties... the controllables."
KSU held the Aggies to only eight yards rushing and 129 yards of offense in the first half. The Owls also benefitted from a pair of North Carolina A&T miscues on special teams. Twice the Aggies drove deep enough into KSU territory to try field goals, but kicker Andrew Brown missed chances from 25 and 36 yards. He came into the game making 8 of 9 on the year.
The second half was cleaner for the Owls. There were no turnovers and they controlled the field position. Midway through the third quarter they drove to the A&T 39 where the drive stalled. Punter Ben Moran pinned the Aggies at their 4 and they could not move the ball past the 7.
After a short punt, KSU took over at the A&T 44 and needed only six plays to find the end zone. The drive featured a 29-yard completion to Smith that saw him go airborne, do a summersault, and land out of bounds at the 1. Shepherd scored from there to push the lead to 14-0.
