# 2018 Kennesaw State Owls football team

The 2018 Kennesaw State Owls football team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Brian Bohannon and played their home games at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia as fourth-year members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 5–0 in Big South play to win the Big South conference championship for the second consecutive year. The Owls received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. The Owls earned a No. 4 seed and a first round bye. They defeated Wofford in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to No. 5 South Dakota State.

## Preseason
### Big South poll

In the Big South preseason poll released on July 23, 2018, the Owls were predicted to finish as Big South champions.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Kennesaw State | 107 (17) |
| 2 | Monmouth | 82 (1) |
| 3 | Charleston Southern | 75 |
| 4 | Gardner–Webb | 52 |
| 5 | Campbell | 36 |
| 6 | Presbyterian | 26 |

### Preseason All-Big South team

The Big South released their preseason all-Big South team on July 23, 2018, with the Owls having fourteen players selected along with two more at three positions on the honorable mention list. Quarterback Chandler Burks was named preseason offensive player of the year and linebacker Bryson Armstrong was named the preseason defensive player of the year.

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Chandler Burks | QB | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Bryson Armstrong | LB | SO |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | at Georgia State* | No. 5 | Georgia State StadiumAtlanta, GA | ESPN+ | L 20–24 | 23,088 |
| September 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech* | No. 7 | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN | ESPNU | W 49–10 | 4,118 |
| September 15 | 6:45 p.m. | Alabama State* | No. 7 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN+ | W 62–13 | 8,799 |
| September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Clark Atlanta* | No. 5 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN+ | W 70–13 | 6,009 |
| September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | Samford* | No. 4 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 24–10 | 6,304 |
| October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | Presbyterian | No. 4 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 56–0 | 6,414 |
| October 13 | 1:30 p.m. | at Gardner–Webb | No. 3 | Ernest W. Spangler StadiumBoiling Springs, NC | ESPN3 | W 56–17 | 4,150 |
| October 27 | 6:00 p.m. | at Charleston Southern | No. 2 | Buccaneer FieldNorth Charleston, SC | ESPN+ | W 38–10 | 1,242 |
| November 3 | 2:00 p.m. | Campbell | No. 2 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN+ | W 49–0 | 6,012 |
| November 10 | 12:00 p.m. | at Monmouth | No. 2 | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN3 | W 51–14 | 2,332 |
| November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Jacksonville State* | No. 2 | SunTrust ParkAtlanta, GA | FSS | W 60–52 $^{5OT}$ | 16,949 |
| December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 13 Wofford* | No. 2 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 13–10 | 3,515 |
| December 8 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 5 South Dakota State* | No. 2 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | ESPN3 | L 17–27 | 3,242 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* Source:

## Game summaries
### At Georgia State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Owls | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| • Panthers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 24 |

### At Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 7 Owls | 7 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 49 |
| Golden Eagles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

### Alabama State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hornets | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| • No. 7 Owls | 14 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 62 |

### Clark Atlanta

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • No. 5 Owls | 14 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 70 |

### Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • No. 4 Owls | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Hose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 4 Owls | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 |

### At Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 3 Owls | 7 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 56 |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |

### At Charleston Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 2 Owls | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Buccaneers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Campbell

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Camels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • No. 2 Owls | 0 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 49 |

### At Monmouth

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 2 Owls | 7 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 51 |
| Hawks | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Vs. Jacksonville State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| No. 6 Gamecocks | 7 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 28 | 52 |
| • No. 2 Owls | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 60 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Wofford–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Terriers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • No. 2 Owls | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |

### South Dakota State–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 5 Jackrabbits | 3 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 2 Owls | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | 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 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Coaches | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |