Kennesaw State has just completed one of the best turnarounds in a year that you'll ever see. This is a team that was 2-10 a year ago and a year later is celebrating a Conference USA Championship after beating Jacksonville State on the road with a late fourth-quarter touchdown drive to cap off a remarkable turnaround.
This comes less than a month after in the same stadium where the Owls lost to the Gamecocks by 10 points. They got out to a 12-0 lead early before Jack State fought back and took the lead for the first time with 15-12, with a little more than four minutes in the game. It seemed that the Gamecocks were on the verge of a second straight conference championship, but Kennesaw State's quarterback Amari Odom had other ideas.
Odom ran for a first down on 4th and 14 with less than a minute to keep the Owl's offense that also included a late hit that tacked on 15 yards from the end of the run. Amari found Nevelle Dean in the endzone on the next play to go up 19-15, which ended up being the final score. As much as we focus on the college football playoff this may be one of the best stories that the average fan may not be aware of.
This is a football program that is less than five years removed from being an FCS program and has now elevated itself to a conference champion in the FBS. With this quick turnaround led by first-year coach Jerry Mack, it will be interesting to see how long it will be before they enter into the G5 playoff team conversation.
They started this 2025 season, nearly knocking off a much-improved Wake Forest team in week one, and maybe that should have given the college football world that it could be a special season for the Kennesaw State Owls. It should be a fun weekend on campus, and we will see which bowl game this team will be playing in on Sunday afternoon.