By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Entering its third year of existence the Kennesaw State University football program, by playing well and providing some big wins for two years, has something it didn’t have before. It has something that, usually, no third-year program has any right to have. It has expectations.

In the Big South Conference, the Owls are considered one of the top teams; at best, they are the team to beat, and at worst they are number two.

Certainly, those are lofty expectations for a team that isn’t even old enough to have seen Tom Brady win more than one Super Bowl.

But, while the team is green that doesn’t mean that the expectations aren’t earned.  KSU went 8-3 last season and 16 starters from that squad are returning to the fold in 2017. This is a team that came within one win of a conference title in its second year.

Now the trouble is that the Owls aren’t the only team bringing back big pieces, in fact every team in the Big South is returning their starting quarterback. The conference is improving and KSU needs to (and yes, is expected to) improve along with it.

The QB returning for Kennesaw State is junior Chandler Burks, who led a powerful offense for the Owls in 2016. Burks and the rest of the offense put up an average of nearly 40 points per game last season and ended the campaign ranked in the top 10 for total offense, rushing, scoring, pass efficiency, and third and fourth down conversions.

Much of that credit can go to Burks, a Georgia native who was responsible for over a third of the Owls’ touchdowns during the year, rushing for 799 yards and throwing for 1,250.

Of course, while Burks is the centerpiece, he’s got a slew of talented targets to choose from. Junior Justin Sumpter is back as well. He managed a stellar season of 31 catches and 538 yards despite missing four games because of an injury.

Teaming up with Sumpter is follow receiver Xavier Harper and preseason All-Big South running back Darnell Holland. Jake McKenzie returns to the backfield as well; all these playmakers are juniors as well.

The offensive line also returns four of five starters. That side of the ball looks to be locked and reloaded for another explosive and high scoring season.

On the other side of the ball, there is a little less consistency, owing to the fact that backfield stars Dante Blackmon and Derrick Farrow both earned pro contracts. Blackmon made history by becoming the first Kennesaw State player to ink an NFL deal with the Indianapolis Colts and Farrow was snatched up by the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Allouettes. No need to check, I’ve already confirmed that is an actual team name.

Those two aside, the front seven will show up with all-conference ends Desmond Johnson, Jr. and Tonarius Portress lining up next to all-league linebackers Izzy Sam and Anthony Gore, Jr.  It’s a defensive line that could be among the best in the Big South.

Last season these four lead the leagues’ best rushing defense, tallying nine sacks and 135 tackles just among the four of them. They also held opponents to less than 100 yards five times last season, not coincidentally those were five of the Owls’ eight wins.

This is a team that is big, strong, deep and experienced. 34 players on the roster have started at least one game during the past two seasons. 46 juniors are part of Kennesaw State’s roster makeup. This isn’t a team looking to build on last year’s team’s momentum; it’s a group of young men looking to build on THEIR OWN momentum.

8-3 may be just the beginning.