Head Coach: Jerry Mack
Overall: 1st season, 0-1
Bowl Appearances at Kennesaw State: 0
2024 Record: 2-10 (2-6)
Mascot: Scrappy the Owl
Colors: Black and Gold
Outfitter: adidas
National Titles: 0
Conference Titles: Three
Heisman Winners: Zero
Last Week: 10-9 loss at Wake Forest
Betting Information
Kennesaw State at IU (-35.5) | Point total is 50.5
Statistical Leaders
Passing: Dexter Williams – 12-33 for 149 yards
Rushing: Coleman Bennett – 17 carries for 68 yards with one touchdown
Receiving: Gabriel Benyard – 5 catches for 103 yards
Tackles: Baron Hopson – 11 tackles (.5 TFLs)
Stat of the Week
Against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, nine Kennesaw State players finished with five or more tackles and the Owls recorded four sacks (one shy of their program record) and seven tackles for loss.
Betting Overview
Following a 27-14 win over Old Dominion, Indiana will face another non-Power 4 team at home in Week 2. Kennesaw State just entered the FBS via Conference USA in 2024. The Owls won two games during their inaugural season, starting with a huge upset win against Liberty and its former quarterback, Kaidon Salter.
Cignetti’s offense was underwhelming in Week 1 and faces an Owls’ defense that surrendered only 10 points in a one-point road loss to Wake Forest lastSaturday. Indiana Sports Betting sites have the point total listed at 50.5, so a bet on the under in
this Week 2 matchup between the Hoosiers and Owls could return value.
Owls Talking Points
- Winning Against the Run
Wake Forest is expected to be one of the worst power conference teams in the country but they are still an ACC squad and were certainly planning on being able to run the ball effectively against Kennesaw State in week one. Those plans were foiled as the Owls limited Wake Forest to only 2.8 yards per carry on 47 rushing attempts. The Demon Deacons were held to only 130 net rushing yards and they only had three rushes of more than 10 yards on the evening. Will the Owls be able to continue that against an IU rushing attack that racked up 309 yards on the ground and averaged an impressive 5.4 yards per carry?
2. Executing in the Red Zone
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti believes his Hoosiers left 35 points on the field in the week one victory against the Old Dominion Monarchs. Part of that was a dropped would-be touchdown on a deep pass to Omar Cooper but the bulk of the issues occurred in the red zone. On multiple occasions, IU got inside the ten-yard line and had “goal to go” opportunities and failed to punch it in for touchdowns. The Hoosiers ran the ball at will until they got near the end zone and then they stalled and turned it over on downs or settled for a short field goal. That is an area that will have to get cleaned up and it will be really interesting to see what changes offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan makes after the frustration from the missed chances in week one. Kennesaw State will enter the contest feeling good about their defense after an impressive start.
3. Staying Focused on Defense
All in all, IU’s defense had a really nice day against a dangerous Old Dominion offense. Two long touchdown runs by quarterback Colton Joseph served as a reminder of how important it is to remain “locked in”. Kennesaw State does not have a runner as explosive as Joseph but they do have an offense featuring a mobile quarterback that will almost certainly be used often as a runner. Former Indiana quarterback Dexter Williams ran the ball 14 times for 54 yards in Kennesaw State’s opening week defeat to Wake Forest. His long run was only 13 yards but Kennesaw State but the offense is going to challenge IU’s ability to remain disciplined and not blow any defensive assignments.