The Kennesaw State Owls picked up their first ever FBS victory on Wednesday night, beating the Liberty Flames 27-24 and ending what was the longest active regular-season winning streak in college football.
The Owls, who were 0-6 and 27-point underdogs coming into the game, have lost all 10 of their previous encounters with FBS teams since the inception of the program in 2015.
But Kennesaw State quarterback Davis Bryson completed 16-of-20 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown, as his team became the first in 23 years to beat a team which is 5-0 or better when it is 0-5 or worse, according to ESPN.
It is the Owls’ first win against a Division I team in nearly two years, since it beat UT Martin in November 2022.
“All we talked about for the last month-and-a-half is sticking together, believing in one another,” said head coach Brian Bohannon, who has been in charge for all 10 seasons that the program has operated.
“We said, ‘If we just keep doing it, something good will happen somewhere.’ We didn’t have the crystal ball to know when. But man, I could not be more proud of this football program than I am tonight,” he continued.
“We’ve had a lot of great wins here. Nothing was better than that right there.”
It is the first regular-season loss head coach Jamey Chadwell has ever experienced in charge of Liberty and is a huge blow to the program’s hopes of being the highest-ranked Group of Five team, which would mean an automatic bid in the new 12-team playoffs.
Both of the American Athletic Conference’s Army and Navy remain unbeaten and will not play each other in the regular season.
Liberty began the evening well, scoring on its opening drive with Kaidon Salter’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Treon Sibley.
But the Owls tied the game in the first quarter through Christian Moss on a 41-yard TD pass from Bryson, before Michael Benefield’s TD rush in the second.
The Flames fought back when Salter found Donte Lee in the end zone to level things up before the half, but the game’s defining moment came in the third quarter when Kennesaw State went in front on a six-yard touchdown run by Qua Ashley. Liberty would never catch up to the Owls.
Two field goals from Austin Welch in the fourth quarter extended Kennesaw State’s lead to 27-17, and Salter’s third touchdown of the game was not enough to stop the Owls making history.