A bowl win would put Kennesaw State in historic turnaround territory

Only two teams have improved their win total by nine or more from one season to the next. Tulane went 2-9 in 1997 and was 12-0 in 1998 under Tommy Bowden. Hawaii was 0-12 in 1998 and went 9-4 in 1999 when June Jones took over the program.

Only two other teams improved by eight wins: Kansas State, from 3-9 in 2021 to 11-2 in 2022, and South Florida, from 1-11 in 2022 to 9-4 in 2023.

None of the accomplishments are lost on Kennesaw State coach Jerry Mack, who is quick to spread around the credit rather than bathe in it himself.

“Compliments to the players, the coaches, the support staff, the administration,” Mack said. “When you have a season like this, I get a lot of the praise, but they don’t see behind the scenes, just everything that goes into a season like this.”

Mack has reaped the rewards. He was the CUSA Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award for national coach of the year. And during the week after winning the conference title, when Mack was rumored to be a target for more high-profile programs, Kennesaw State extended his contract through the 2031 season.

And while Mack won’t be going anywhere, it could be the final KSU appearance for quarterback Amari Odom. A redshirt sophomore quarterback, Odom has opened plenty of eyes with his ability as a two-way playmaker. The first-team all-CUSA selection has thrown for 2,385 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 376 and seven touchdowns.

Odom and prominent underclassmen such as cornerback JeRico Washington, wide receiver Clayton Coppock and linebacker Tywon Christopher are among those who could be targeted by schools with larger NIL budgets.

“This program can be as great as we want it to be as fast as we want it to be if we do a good job staying together and making sure we’re all on the same page,” Mack said. “I’m in it to try to build something special. My family enjoys it here, I enjoy it here, and I hope it shows the commitment level that we’re all in this together.”

Meanwhile the Owls have an on-field challenge awaiting in Western Michigan, whose season mirrors that of Kennesaw State. The Broncos (9-4) lost to Miami (Ohio) during the regular season, but avenged the loss in the Mid-American Conference championship game — much as KSU did to Jacksonville State in winning the CUSA title. Western Michigan also extended through the contract of coach Lance Taylor, who arrived in 2023, to ward off the suitors.

The game could match Kennesaw State’s offense, which led CUSA in scoring (34.5 points), against Western Michigan’s defense, which ranked No. 14 in the nation in points allowed (18.2).

KSU’s offense must deal with one of the nation’s more dominant defensive players in Western Michigan All-American defensive end Nadame Tucker. The senior leads the nation in sacks (14.5) and tackles for loss (21) and had at least a half sack in each of the past five games. The Houston transfer was named Defensive Player of the Year for the Mid-American Conference.