Top Storylines:
• Kennesaw State football kicks off its highly anticipated 2026 campaign and Year 2 under head coach Jerry Mack under the lights at Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium when it hosts in-state foe West Georgia on Thursday in the two programs’ first-ever matchup.
• The reigning Conference USA Champions posted a record year, finishing with 10 wins to mark the seventh-largest year-over-year improvement in NCAA history and the largest in CUSA history (+8 wins).
• The Owls were a perfect 6-0 in home contests last season and have won seven-straight at Fifth Third Stadium dating back to 2024, marking the eighth-longest active home win streak in FBS and the second-longest in Group of Six.
• Kennesaw State boasts an impressive 9-2 record in home openers at Fifth Third Stadium and has won eight of its last nine games overall.
• The uptempo Owls will once again look to get off to hot starts at home in 2026 after posting 14 or more first-quarter points in four different home games last season. Only eight other FBS teams had that many home starts in 2025 and only three in four-plus games (North Texas, Texas and Texas Tech).
• Thursday night will give Owl Nation its first look at starting quarterback Rickie Collins. Collins previously played at Syracuse (2025) and LSU (2023-24). He enters 2026 with 1,080 career passing yards and six touchdowns.
• Last season, Kennesaw State rewrote the offensive record book, recording seven of the top-10 offensive yard totals in program history and a completely new top 5.
• Per ESPN, the Owls return the third-most defensive production in Conference USA (55 percent) and will be led by 2025 Co-Defensive Player of the Year LB Baron Hopson.
• Hopson was voted the CUSA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by the league’s coaches, while also earning selection to the prestigious watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (national defensive player of the year) and the Lombardi Award (most outstanding lineman/linebacker).
• Kennesaw State’s defensive back room may be one of the deepest in the conference, boasting more than 315 games of experience and 121 starts, helped lead by Owl returners Tyler Hallum, Isaac Paul, Kody Jones, Ethan Tookes, Tay’vion Lawson and Jaden Martin-Burgess.
