A year ago Kennesaw State was a 2-10 punchline and Sam Houston was chasing a bowl bid — now the Owls are defending Conference USA champs and the Bearkats own the league's other big reclamation project.
Bush’s Picks
KENNSHSU
KENNSHSU
OverUnder
Best BetKennesaw State
Kennesaw State is the proven commodity here — reigning CUSA champs with a defense that returns real playmakers in Baron Hopson and Tony Williams Jr. Sam Houston is still finding its footing offensively even with the receiver upgrades, and until that group proves it against a quality defense, the safer outright pick is the visitor.
Kennesaw State
+Reigning Conference USA champions under Coach of the Year Mack
+Key defenders Hopson, Williams Jr. return
−FBS's fifth-fewest returning players this offseason
−Blown out 6-41 by Western Michigan in bowl game
Sam Houston
+QB Landyn Locke back healthier in year two
+Receiver room upgraded with O'Neill, Reed, portal adds
−Coming off a 2-10 debut season under Longo
−Offensive line still the unit's biggest question mark
Kennesaw State rolls into Huntsville on Saturday, November 14 still riding the best turnaround story in the sport. Jerry Mack took a 2-10 team from 2024 and won a Conference USA title with it in year one, capping the run with a 19-15 win over Jacksonville State in the championship game. On the other side, Phil Longo is trying to pull off a smaller-scale version of the same trick. His first year at Sam Houston bottomed out at 2-10, but quarterback Landyn Locke is back healthier and the receiver room got a real facelift heading into year two.
The funny wrinkle here is Sam Houston's new starting center, Josiah Chenault, is a transfer straight out of Kennesaw State's own program — he'll be trying to hold up an offensive line that was the clear soft spot of Longo's debut season. If that group can give Locke time, the Bearkats have actual weapons now with returning leading receiver Grady O'Neill, deep threat Chris Reed, and portal additions Christian Zachary out of NC State and Kyan Berry-Johnson from Wisconsin.
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KENN Kennesaw State
SHSU Sam Houston
Kennesaw State's title defense comes with an asterisk worth knowing: the Owls returned the fifth-fewest players of any FBS team this offseason, yet somehow they won more one-possession games than anyone in the country a year ago. That's a formula that's hard to run back twice. A 6-41 flattening in the Myrtle Beach Bowl against Western Michigan was a reminder that this roster still has a ceiling when the competition levels up.
Kennesaw State Owls
Nov 7?vs Delaware—
Oct 28?@ Middle Tennessee—
Oct 22?vs Liberty—
Oct 14?@ Missouri State—
Oct 7?vs Jacksonville State—
Sep 26?@ Arkansas State—
Sep 19?@ Tennessee—
Sep 12?vs Georgia State—
Sep 3?vs West Georgia—
Sam Houston Bearkats
Nov 7?@ Jacksonville State—
Oct 27?@ Missouri State—
Oct 21?vs New Mexico State—
Oct 14?vs Western Kentucky—
Oct 8?@ Liberty—
Sep 25?@ Texas Tech—
Sep 19?vs Nicholls—
Sep 12?vs Tulsa—
Sep 5?@ Troy—
Recent form.
Linebacker Baron Hopson and UCF transfer safety Tony Williams Jr. give Mack's defense a foundation even with all the roster churn, and that's the group Sam Houston's retooled passing game will have to solve. For the Bearkats, this is as much about identity as it is about the scoreboard — getting back into a renovated Bowers Stadium after a season of road-team home games in Houston is its own kind of statement.
Kennesaw State Owls
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Sam Houston Bearkats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither program is chasing a Playoff berth here, but the stakes are real in a Conference USA race that Kennesaw State currently owns and Sam Houston is trying to climb back into. Whichever team looks more like itself by the fourth quarter tells you a lot about who's actually built for a second act.
