By Don Stone – KennesawStateSports.com, FootballAtlanta.com
It’s another midweek night game for Kennesaw State as an old rival, Liberty, comes to Fifth Third Stadium.
The Flames were one of the Owls’ original rivals in the early days of the football program. They Owls entered football back in 2015 as part of the Big South Conference. Liberty was the dominant force at the time with eight conference championships under their belt. Like KSU is doing this season, the Flames made the move up to the FBS level, but as an independent, in 2018 before joining Conference USA in 2023. The Flames won their first Conference USA championship and FBS conference title last season in their first year in the conference.
Liberty (5-0, 3-0 Conference) is 2-1 all-time against the Owls, with all three meetings coming back when both teams were Big South Conference members (2015-17).
Kennesaw State (0-5, 0-1 Conference) is still seeking their first victory of the season after a tough start, characterized by five consecutive losses since moving up to the FBS level themselves and joining Conference USA.
This game is probably their least likely chance to find that win with Liberty owning the nation’s longest active regular-season winning streak (17 games). The Flames have also equaled the program record of six straight road victories and won 20 consecutive matchups with CUSA foes.
Head Coach Jamey Chadwell is in his second year at Liberty and will coach his 20th game with the Flames on Wednesday. He is 18-1 at Liberty and owns a 49-7 coaching record dating back to the start of 2020.
Inconsistency has plagued the Owls’ efforts. Quarterback Davis Bryson has thrown for 616 yards with 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, while running back Michael Benefield leads the ground game with 194 rushing yards and a touchdown. Bryson was actually replaced by a committee of QBs in last Tuesday’s 14-5 conference loss at Middle Tennessee in an attempt by Head Coach Brian Bohannon to create a spark. The score tells you that the new guys were not very effective in putting up points.
The Owls will need to tighten their defense and find a rhythm on offense to even make it competitive against Liberty.
In stark contrast, the Flames are riding high with an undefeated record and are currently dominating their conference.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter has been impressive, throwing for over 1,000 yards with 7 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Running back Quinton Cooley has also been a standout performer with 545 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns this season. Liberty’s balanced attack and solid defense has been a winning formula.
Game time is 7:00 PM ET. It can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
