Kennesaw State ends Liberty winning streak with first FBS victory

KENNESAW, Ga. – Davis Bryson threw a touchdown, Michael Benefield and Qua Ashley each rushed for a score, and Kennesaw State defeated previously unbeaten Liberty 27-24 on Wednesday night to secure the program's first FBS win.

Kennesaw State (1-6, 1-2 Conference USA) also earned its first win against a Division I team since defeating FCS member UT Martin on Nov. 5, 2022. The Owls won against lower-ranked Tusculum, Lincoln ( California). ) and Virginia Lynchburg last season. They entered Wednesday 0-10 against FBS teams in school history.

Liberty (5-1, 3-1), which entered the FBS as one of 11 undefeated teams, had the longest active regular-season winning streak at 17.

According to ESPN Research, it was the sixth time in the AP Poll era that a team 0-5 or worse defeated a team 5-0 or better. The last time this happened was in 2001 when North Texas upset Middle Tennessee.

Kennesaw State was leading 24-17 when Liberty decided to go for it with eight minutes left in the fourth and sixth. The Flames were accused of a false start when they moved out of field goal range, and the Owls then forced Kaidon Salter into a throw out of bounds to get the ball back.

Bryson then completed passes of 15 yards to Christian Moss and 25 to Blake Bohannon to get into Liberty territory. Austin Welch capped the drive with his 11th straight field goal from 42 yards for a 27-17 lead with 4:13 left.

Liberty moved quickly down the field, ending with a 17-yard scoring throw from Salter to Elijah Canion to get within three points with 1:49 left.

Kennesaw State's Preston Daniels recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Owls were unable to get a first down and Liberty got the ball back at the 35 with six seconds left. Salter's throw went out of bounds and the fans rushed onto the field – but the officials set the clock back by one second. After fans returned to the stands, Liberty fumbled a lateral play to end the game.

Salter threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.