Kennesaw St Owls 2026 College Football Preview
Posted June 1, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 10-4
ATS – 9-5
WHOA, NELLIE!
Nobody — and we mean NOBODY — saw this coming.
The Owls lost their opener to Wake Forest by a single point and then got annihilated at Indiana 56–9 in Week 2 — at which point most folks wrote them off entirely. Well, HOOT HOOT on all of you, because Kennesaw State proceeded to reel off SEVEN consecutive wins, win the CUSA Championship Game over Jacksonville St, and finish as one of the genuine Cinderella stories of the 2025 season.
The bowl game ended in a blowout loss to Western Michigan, but that doesn’t diminish what HC Jerry Mack accomplished in his first season with the Owls. The question now — can they do it again with a giant target on their backs?
Kennesaw St Owls 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (CUSA):
- Scoring: 26.7 PPG (#6 CUSA)
- Total Offense: 402.4 YPG (#4 CUSA)
- Rushing: 159.4 YPG (#5 CUSA)
- Passing: 243.1 YPG (#6 CUSA)
- Sacks Allowed: 27 (#7 CUSA)
The biggest CHASM to fill is at QB, where ace dual‑threat Amari Odom has departed for Syracuse after posting a strong 19–8 TD/INT line with 7 rushing scores LY. The irony? The potential replacement is Rickie Collins — who arrives from Syracuse. The portal works in mysterious ways, yo. Also in the mix is Landon Varnes from Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, who threw for 3,296 yards and 31 TDs in 2025 and could push hard for the starting role. This is an open and genuinely competitive battle.
The RB room needed a significant reload after losing the productive 1–2 combo of Coleman Bennett and Chase Belcher (1,300+ yards, 6 TDs combined LY), and HC Jerry Mack went digging in the portal. Triston Morgan arrives from Division II Benedict (809 yards LY), and Latrelle Murrell comes over from West Georgia (893 yards LY) and brings legit receiving chops. It’s a capable committee, even if neither is a proven FBS commodity.
The WR situation is the most glaring concern on the offense — star Gabriel Benyard (949 yards, 9 TDs) is now with the Buffalo Bills, and #2 WR Christian Moss is off to Washington. Matching that production will be extremely difficult. Javon Rogers averaged an eyebrow‑raising 26 YPC in limited action LY and is generating buzz according to our EXTRA-DEEP OWLS INSIDERS, and several portal additions round out the group — but this is genuinely uncharted territory.
The OL, however, is a genuine bright spot — holdover tackles Jadarious Lee and Nikola Milovac anchor the edges, and transfer center Mateo Guevara is an outstanding addition. Guevara started at MTSU LY and logged a team‑high 785 offensive snaps. Solid, experienced, and a clear team strength.
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (CUSA):
- Scoring Defense: 25.5 PPG (#4 CUSA)
- Total Defense: 404.6 YPG (#9 CUSA)
- Rush Defense: 184.6 YPG (#11 CUSA)
- Pass Defense: 220.1 YPG (#2 CUSA)
- Sacks: 31 (#1 CUSA)
The defense was the backbone of last year’s championship run, particularly when it came to pass defense and PENETRATION.
CUSA Defensive Player of the Year LB Baron Hopson is BACK — the man racked up 138 tackles LY and anchors what should still be one of the better defenses in the conference. That’s a massive retention for HC Mack. The pass defense was excellent at #2 in CUSA and remains a genuine team strength heading into 2026.
The DL is the area of concern. Freshman sensation DE Elijah Hill — who led the team with 9 sacks (the most by any freshman in the entire nation LY) — is off to Kansas State (!). DL Tylon Dunlap (5 sacks LY) is also gone. That’s 14 sacks walking out the door, and while the Owls still have some returning production supplemented by portal additions, replacing that level of PENETRATION is the defining question of the defense. The run defense ranked #11 in CUSA LY and needs improvement as well.
The secondary has returning pieces, including safety Isaac Paul (#3 tackles), while the portal is being used to shore up the back end. Combined with Hopson’s dominance at LB, this defense should remain above average in the conference even with the DL losses — but there’s enough uncertainty to keep us up at night.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Some encouraging news — PK David Kinney was a sharp 6/7 on FG attempts in limited action LY and should be an upgrade at the position. Australian punter Matt McKenzie arrives from Arizona State, which can only be viewed as a positive, because Australia is awesome. On a down note, Benyard will be missed in the return game (9.4 PR avg, TD).
Schedule Analysis
Overall — The schedule tilts in their favor. They’ll get smoked at Tennessee, but they should roll into CUSA play with two or three wins. The biggest bonus is getting both Jacksonville State and Liberty at home — that’s an enormous advantage for a program trying to defend its title. The regular season finale at WKU could literally be a PLAY‑IN GAME for the CUSA Championship.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot — at Arkansas State (Sept 26)
Coming off the Tennessee massacre and heading back on the HIGHWAY — like Willie Nelson, they’re on the road again — with CUSA play looming immediately after. The Owls could be mentally elsewhere in this one. Definitely worth circling on the betting calendar.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – June 1
Over 6.5 +120
Under 6.5 -150
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over.
We could only look to the over at this number, as we’ve got them pegged as a 6–7 win team.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
HC Jerry Mack won the CUSA Championship in his first season at Kennesaw State — and this after going 31-15 and winning three MEAC titles at NC Central. The man just wins wherever he goes.
Kennesaw sits about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta and is home to one of the more interesting local laws in America. Back in 1982, the city passed an ordinance requiring heads of households to own a firearm. The law is mostly symbolic — KAREN will be happy to hear that it’s never been enforced and comes with plenty of exemptions — but it still stands as one of the most distinctive municipal rules in the country. Trivia bomb, activated.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
The CUSA defending champs won’t be sneaking up on anybody this season — every team on the schedule has circled their date with the Owls. The talent losses are real, particularly at QB, WR, and pass rush, but HC Mack has proven he can plug and play with portal and JUCO pieces, and Baron Hopson anchoring the defense gives them a genuine difference‑maker to build around.
The schedule favors them with two of the three biggest games at home, and that regular season finale at WKU sets up as a potential conference‑title play‑in game. We won’t pick them to repeat — there’s too much turnover for that — but we view them as a STRONG VALUE PLAY at medium to long odds.
HOOT HOOT!