By Don Stone – KennesawStateSports.com, FootballAtlanta.com
The way the game started was a sign of how the whole game would go. The Owls got the ball first and went a quick three and out.
A different story for the Gamecocks as running back Tre Stewart ran for 25 yards on the first play to the KSU34. Quarterback Tyler Huff kept it for an 8 yard gain to the 27. Stewart again for 10 to the 17 and 16 for a first and goal at the one. He carried it across the goal line for a quick 7-0 lead.
The Owls fought valiantly throughout, but were just overmatched. At one point, trailing 21-3, KSU put up 14 unanswered points to pull to within 4 at the half.
But, the third quarter saw the Gamecocks match that output and more with 21 in a row of their own to pretty much put the game out of reach, doubling the score at 49-17.
For the most part, the Owls just had no answer for the offensive combination of Huff and Stewart. Both cranked out over a hundred yards rushing.
And, it wasn’t like the defense could key in on those two’s ground game with Huff having an equal amount of success through the air hitting Cam Vaughn for seven catches and 96 yards or Michael Pettway (26), Floyd Lacey (21) and Jacob Barrick (20) getting near equal distribution to keep them off balance.
Add to that a salt in the wound Jabari Mack pick six that allowed the Jax State defense to get in on the act.
The Owls did break the streak briefly when Benefield got a nice 59 yard run, taking it in for a meaningless score to make it 49-24. Even with that, it was still a 25 point differential. That didn’t last long with Huff and Stewart quickly getting the points back with still another score to return the lead to 32.
Jax State outgained the Owls in total yard 577-240 even though the time of possession was relatively even.
The biggest surprise at that point was the fact that Rich Rodriguez still had his starters in the final minutes of the game.
The Jax State points were the most scored by a Conference USA team so far this season.
Kennesaw State (0-5, 0-1 CUSA) takes it’s quest for a first win of the season on the road to Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro for a strange Tuesday night game staying in the conference on October 15th. The weeknight game does give the Owls an 11 day break.
They might have a shot in that one with the Blue Raiders (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) also struggling out of the gate and a conference road game before then at Louisiana Tech on October 10. Unlike the Owls, they’ll be playing on just five days rest. KSU at MT Kickoff is 8:00 p.m.
