Odom-led comeback nets Conference USA championship for Kennesaw State

Odom, who last week was named first-team quarterback on the All-CUSA team, was at the heart of it. He endured five sacks, which knocked his rushing yardage to minus-3 yards, but he picked up a first down on fourth-and-14 late in the fourth quarter to give the Owls a chance to win the game.

On the crucial scramble, Odom saw all his receivers covered and found a crease. He just got to the first down sticks when he went out of bounds, where he took a late hit and wound up crashing into the kicker’s practice net.

“Amari saw that people were covered down the field, and for him to take off and get that first down was incredible,” Kennesaw coach Jerry Mack said. “We talked all week about a game like this is going to take strain and being disciplined. You saw the strain at the end. That was truly championship DNA exhibited right there.”

Odom agreed. “That fourth-and-14 was do or die. That’s our season on the line. That’s the championship on the line.”

With 56 seconds left, Odom found redshirt sophomore Navelle Dean in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. It was only the fourth reception of the season for Dean and his first touchdown. It was the 25th completion in 32 attempts for Odom.

“I just found some space and caught the ball,” Dean said. “The first thing I did was look to see there was no flag. I just said really, really, thank God.”

Dean, who has battled injuries most of the season, got a chance to play when top receiver Gabriel Benyard took a fierce blow to the head by Jacksonville State safety Trevor Woods, who was ejected for targeting. Benyard did not return.

“Sometimes it’s just guys getting opportunities,” Mack said. “Navelle Dean has been up and down with injuries the whole year. He finally started the last six weeks, just putting great practices together. The guy can catch the ball.”

The Kennesaw State defense did its job, too. The Owls were able to limit Cam Cook, the No. 1 rusher in FBS football, to only 78 yards on 19 carries, and he was tackled for a safety. Cook ran for 132 yards against the Owls in the first meeting and entered the game with a streak of eight consecutive 100-yard games.

“Out last few weeks we’ve been giving up points, giving up rushing yards and that’s not really our standard,” linebacker Baron Hopson said. “Jacksonville State got the best of us last time we were here, so we really made it a staple this week to just play to the best of our ability because we know what they’re going to do.”

The KSU defense came up with a stop in the red zone to set up the first score. With Jacksonville State at the KSU 9, safety Milon Jones stretched across his body to intercept a pass, his first, in the end zone.

Kennesaw responded by driving 80 yards for a score, with Coleman Bennett scoring on a 3-yard run to give the Owls a 7-0 lead.

The Kennesaw defense came up big again on Jacksonville State’s next possession. On four-and-1 at the 9, Caleb Offord and Jones hit Cook in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

The momentum quickly switched to Jacksonville State when KSU’s Davis Bryson fumbled the free kick. The Gamecocks recovered and drove for a score, a 1-yard run by Cook. After forcing Kennesaw State to punt, Jacksonville State scored again, this time on a 19-yard keeper by quarterback Caden Creel with 4:04 remaining.

Just enough time for Odom to work his magic.

“At the end of the day, our guys showed some perseverance and some toughness and some grit to finish the game the right way,” Mack said. “I can’t say enough about the way our guys continue to compete.”