SAN ANTONIO – With 7:44 left in fourth quarter, Kennesaw State football began its drive trailing by just five points, but a tough-luck turnover stalled its momentum, falling 28-16 to UTSA on Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome.
 
The Owls (0-1) fell behind early, but redshirt kicker Austin Welch connected on 48- and 34-yard field goals and junior defensive back Milon Jones and redshirt junior linebacker Garland Benyard combined for a key fumble force and recovery to keep the deficit to 21-6 at the half.
 
The second half was a completely different story as Kennesaw State roared out of the intermission on both sides of the ball. 

After the Roadrunners (1-0) amassed 241 yards of offense in the first half (8.1 yards/play), the Owls completely thwarted their attack, holding them to just 75 yards in the second half (2.5 yards/play).
 
On the flipside, after recording just 89 yards of offense in the first half, the Black and Gold totaled 86 yards in the third quarter alone, finishing with 164 in the second half and 253 yards total.
 
Helping with field position was redshirt freshman punter Jacob Ulrich, who, in his first action punting for KSU, set the school record for punting, booming five kicks at a 54.6 clip. Of his five kicks, two were pinned inside the 20 and four were 50-yarders, including his game-long 59-yard rocket in the second quarter.
 
After Welch connected on his third field goal of the game – a 31-yarder in the third quarter – the Owls broke through in the endzone as redshirt sophomore quarterback Davis Bryson connected on a 25-yard bullet to redshirt sophomore tight end Carson Kent to make it a one-score game under 9:30 minutes left in the game.
 
UTSA would capitalize on good field position late, converting on a final touchdown in the fourth quarter. But Kennesaw State would respond once again, driving down the field to try to pull closer before running out of steam on the UTSA 19-yard line.
 
Leading the defense on the day was redshirt junior linebacker Baron Hopson, who posted a career-high 13 tackles. Redshirt defensive back Isaac Paul and redshirt sophomore linebacker Donelius Johnson both recorded seven stops apiece, with Johnson turning in 2.0 huge sacks and a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss.

In his second career start, Bryson finished 14-for-28 for 202 yards and a touchdown – all career highs. Kent led all receivers with three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, while redshirt junior wideouts Gabriel Benyard and Tykeem Wallace finished with 39 and 38 receiving yards, respectively. Redshirt sophomore running back Qua Ashley finished with 26 yards on 10 carries for the day.

Kennesaw State returns to Fifth Third Stadium for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 7 against Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the KSU Owls App.

Postgame Notes

Team Notes 

• Kennesaw State fell to 0-1 for just the second time in last six seasons and fourth time in program history. 

• Kennesaw State has now scored in every game of its history, now at 102 games. 

• Kennesaw State moved to 0-1 against UTSA and 0-2 against current members of the American Conference. 

• The Owls tallied five sacks Saturday, tying the program's single-game high last recorded against Gardner-Webb (Nov. 23, 2019). 

• Despite being short its starting center and backup right tackle, Kennesaw State surrendered just one sack in the first three quarters of action. The additional two sacks occurred on KSU's final two drives in the fourth quarter. 

• After being held to just 89 yards of offense in the first half, Kennesaw State stormed out of the gates to amass 86 yards in the third quarter alone, finishing with 164 yards in the second half and 253 overall. 

• On the defensive end for Kennesaw State, after the Roadrunners averaged 8.1 yards/play in the first half, the Owls battled strong in the second half, allowing just 2.5 yards/play. 

• Kennesaw State had seven Owls (four on offense, three on defense) make their first career start (or first start with the Black and Gold): r-Jr. OL Jacob Kettels, Fr. OL Jacob Norcross, R-Jr. WR Tykeem Wallace, r-Jr. DL Tylon Dunlap, r-So. LB RJ Taylor and Jr. DB Milon Jones. 

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Individual Notes 

• r-Fr. P Jacob Ulrich was ultra-impressive in his first career action at punter, setting the school record for punting average with a 54.6 clip (prev.: 53.5 vs. Presbyterian on Nov. 12, 2016). He boomed five kicks, pinned two inside the 20 and launched four 50-yarders (topping out at his 59-yard punt). 

• In just his second career start, r-So. QB Davis Bryson set career highs with 14 pass completions for 202 yards and a touchdown. 

• Bryson's 25-yard touchdown pass to r-So. TE Carson Kent was the first TD pass of his career and the first career TD reception for Kent. 

• Jr. DB Milon Jones forced his first career fumble in the second quarter and was recovered by r-Jr. LB Garland Benyard – his first career recovery. 

• r-Jr. LB Baron Hopson posted 13 tackles, marking a new career high. Fellow LB, r-So. Donelius Johnson, also set a personal best with 2.5 TFL. 

• r-Jr. K Austin Welch made his first collegiate field goal on the first points of the game for Kennesaw State when he converted from 48 yards out. He would also connect on 34- and 31-yard attempts. Welch is the fifth kicker in program history to make three or more field goals in a single game. 

• The 48-yard field goal is tied for second-longest in school history (50 yds. by Conor Cummins at Eastern Kentucky, Nov. 19, 2022) and is the longest since by a KSU kicker since Cummins converted on a 46-yarder vs. Tennessee State (Oct. 7, 2023).

• r-So. RB Qua Ashley hauled in his first career reception in the second quarter for 51 yards down the sideline. It also marked Bryson's longest completion of his Owl tenure.