Kennesaw State’s football team will open fall camp on Monday as it prepares for its second season.
Playing mostly underclassmen, the Owls went 6-5 overall, 2-5 in the Big South Conference last year. The team will open the season hosting East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
Camp will run until Aug. 13.
Here are six things to watch for.
Handling expectations. Coach Brian Bohannon said after last year that the team won't be able to sneak up on any opponents this year. Each will have a season's worth of game film, as well as familiarity with the Owls' personnel and tendencies.
Still, after the Owls were predicted in the preseason to finish last in the Big South last year, they were picked to finish third, even receiving one first-place vote, this season.
Outside expectations have been raised. Bohannon said they won’t affect his expectations.
“The preseason poll doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. “Nobody is going to go into season saying we want to be third or fourth. Our goal is to continue to build to a championship-level football team.
“It is an honor to gain a little bit of respect from our peers. But at the end of day we have high expectations for our program.”
Who will fill key roles in special teams? The team will enter camp needing to sort out starting spots at kicker, punter and kick returner and punt returner.
Taylor Henkle handled punt returns last season, handling nine for an average of 6.9 yards per attempt. Arguably the team’s best defensive player, he may not handle the punt return role this season simply to preserve him.
Prentice Stone handled the majority of the kick returns last season, averaging 21.9 yards on 24 attempts. He exhausted his eligibility.
The punting and kicking duties will be decided by competition. The team averaged 30.1 yards per punt (last in the Big South) and 37.7 yards per kick last season (fifth in the Big South).
Develop inside running game. Being productive while running between the tackles is something Bohannon emphasized during the spring and it will likely continue during the camp. The Owls led the Big South with an average of 293 rushing yards per game on a league high 5.3 yards per carry.
Bohannon wants more.
It’s reasonable to think that the players having another year in the strength and conditioning program, as well as a year running the offense against live competition, should combine to make the team more efficient on offense this season.
Develop B-back depth behind Jake McKenzie. McKenzie, formerly a quarterback, will take over at B-back after playing the position in a few games last season. He averaged 35.7 yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry. Micah Reed is a candidate. He averaged 61.8 yards per game and 4.5 yards per carry.
Freshman Brandon Simmons is a player to watch here.
Sort which true freshmen may be able to play. Bohannon has said a few times that he's excited about the group of freshmen and is looking forward to seeing which ones can immediately play. Adding athletic freshmen should help the return teams, as well as provide depth at numerous positions. Bohannon signed 18 players in February and includes three defensive backs, three linebackers, three running backs, three offensive linemen, two defensive linemen, two wide receivers, a quarterback and a kicker.
The group includes three players rated three stars by at least one service: quarterback Daniel David, who transferred from Appalachian State, offensive lineman Forrest Evans of Walton High School, and Simmons of Pleasant Grove (Ala.) High School.
Find a receiver to complement Justin Sumpter. Sumpter, recently named to the preseason all-conference team, led the Owls in receptions (26), receiving yards (525) and touchdowns caught (four). Each total was significantly more than the next most-productive player.
While it’s great to have a go-to receiver, the Owls need to come up with more options to ease the burden on quarterback Trey White, should the team find itself in second- or third-and-long situations.
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