By Don Stone, KennesawStateSports.com, FootballAtlanta.com
Kennesaw State will make program history on Friday, Dec. 19, when the Owls line up for their first-ever bowl appearance against MAC champion Western Michigan in the Myrtle Beach Bowl presented by Engine. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on the campus of Coastal Carolina at Brooks Stadium in Conway, SC and will air nationally on ESPN, pairing Conference USA’s surprise champion with one of the hottest teams out of the Mid-American Conference.
The stage caps a stunning one-year turnaround in Kennesaw. Under first-year head coach Jerry Mack, the Owls climbed from a 2–10 record in 2024 to 10–3 and a Conference USA title, sealed by a dramatic 19–15 win over reigning champ Jacksonville State in the league championship game. Quarterback Amari Odom was the star of that night, completing 26 of 32 passes for 246 yards and the game-winning 11-yard touchdown to Navelle Dean with 51 seconds left, earning Championship MVP honors and etching his name into KSU lore.
For a program still relatively new to FBS life, a bowl berth just two years into its transition is validation of both Mack’s rapid culture reset and the university’s investment in football.
Awaiting the Owls is a Western Michigan team that cut through the MAC and arrives at the beach as a battle-tested champion. The Broncos are 9–4 after beating Miami (Ohio) 23–13 at Ford Field for their fourth conference title in school history, a game defined by explosive runs from tailback Jalen Buckley and a defense that clamped down after an early RedHawks score. It will be the first ever meeting between Western Michigan and Kennesaw State, creating a contrast in styles: the Broncos’ balance and big-play ground game versus an Owls offense built around Odom’s efficiency and late-game poise.
For KSU, the trip to Myrtle Beach is about more than hardware. It’s a national showcase window on a quiet Friday morning, an opportunity to introduce a growing brand—backed by a conference championship—to a broader audience of recruits and fans. Mack has stressed that the Owls are “far from finished” after hoisting the CUSA trophy, and his veteran core now has a chance to deliver the school’s first FBS bowl victory less than a month later. And, any rumors of the hot coach leaving were put to rest with a new contract extension to 2031.
Western Michigan, meanwhile, is chasing the program’s first bowl win since its last MAC title run, motivated to prove that its conference crown can travel outside the Midwest.
The Myrtle Beach Bowl’s sixth edition was designed as a stage for rising programs, and this year’s matchup delivers exactly that: two conference champions, one established in the Group of Five hierarchy and the other trying to crash the conversation in real time. Whether it’s Odom extending drives with his arm and legs or the Broncos’ Buckley testing the Owls’ front, Friday’s matinee promises to be a measuring stick for both leagues—and a defining chapter in the young FBS life of Kennesaw State football.