# 2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team

The 2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Brian Bohannon and played their home games at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia as third-year members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 12–2, 5–0 in Big South play to win the Big South conference championship. The Owls received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, their first trip to the playoffs in school history. In the first round of the playoffs, the Owls defeated Samford in a rematch of their only regular season loss and marked the school's first ever playoff win. In the second round, the Owls upset No. 3 seed Jacksonville State to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, despite a furious second half comeback, they lost to Sam Houston State.
On January 9, 2018, head coach Brian Bohannon was named the American Football Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Samford* | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 WPCH | L 23–28 | 4,908 |
| September 9 | 7:00 p.m. | Tennessee Tech* | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | BSN WPCH | W 27–14 | 8,418 |
| September 16 | 8:00 p.m. | at Alabama State* | | New ASU StadiumMontgomery, AL | ASAA | W 20–14 | 11,000 |
| September 30 | 3:30 p.m. | North Greenville* | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | WPCH | W 38–34 | 6,161 |
| October 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Texas Southern* | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | WPCH | W 48–3 | 6,743 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | at Liberty | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | W 42–28 | 17,726 |
| October 21 | 7:00 p.m. | Gardner–Webb | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 17–3 | 6,954 |
| October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | at Presbyterian | | Bailey Memorial StadiumClinton, SC | WPCH | W 28–0 | 2,804 |
| November 4 | 2:00 p.m. | at Montana State* | No. 25 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | WPCH | W 16–14 | 16,337 |
| November 11 | 3:30 p.m. | Charleston Southern | No. 23 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 38–0 | 6,224 |
| November 18 | 2:00 p.m. | Monmouth | No. 22 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 52–21 | 6,808 |
| November 25 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 14 Samford* | No. 18 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA (FCS Playoffs First Round) | ESPN3 | W 28–17 | 5,516 |
| December 2 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Jacksonville State* | No. 18 | JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 17–7 | 17,412 |
| December 9 | 8:30 p.m. | at No. 5 Sam Houston State* | No. 18 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | ESPN3 | L 27–34 | 5,725 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Game summaries
### @ Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 23 |
| • No. 19 Bulldogs | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| • Owls | 10 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 27 |

### @ Alabama State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Owls | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| Hornets | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### North Greenville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Crusaders | 7 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 34 |
| • Owls | 14 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 38 |

### Texas Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Owls | 10 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 48 |

### @ Liberty

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Owls | 7 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
| Flames | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| • Owls | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### @ Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Owls | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| Blue Hose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### @ Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 25 Owls | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| Bobcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Charleston Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 23 Owls | 7 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

### Monmouth

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • No. 22 Owls | 14 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
This victory clinched the Owls' first ever postseason bid.

## FCS Playoffs
### Samford–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Bulldogs | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| • No. 18 Owls | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

### @ Jacksonville State–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 18 Owls | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| No. 2 Gamecocks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### @ Sam Houston State–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Owls | 7 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
| • No. 5 Bearkats | 14 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 34 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 8 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 23 | 21 | 16 | 9 |