Kennesaw State football exploded for 35 unanswered points and 400 yards of offense to roll to a 35-7 triumph over Louisiana Tech on Thursday night at Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium.
The Owls (4-2, 2-0 Conference USA) won their fourth-straight game and remained unbeaten at home, improving to 4-0.
The Bulldogs (4-2, 2-1 CUSA) drew blood first, capping off a 13-play march with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 7:12 in the first.
Once the second quarter began, Kennesaw State flipped the script and put together a 15-play, 92-yard scoring drive with a 6-yard dart from Dexter Williams II to true freshman wideout Clayton Coppock to even the score.
Gabriel Benyard then put an exclamation point on the first half by taking an end-around rush nine yards to the house after defensive back Kody Jones picked off LA Tech in the second quarter.
The intermission wouldn't cool the Owls' wings, as Williams diced up the Bulldogs' defense with three more touchdowns to run away with the game – connecting on a 29-yard pass to Jordan Jackson, 7-yard pass to Lyndon Ravare and a 50-yard pass to Coleman Bennett.
Kennesaw State also thwarted LA Tech's first redzone trip in the second half as Antonio Stevens gave KSU its second turnover, picking off the Bulldogs in the endzone in the third quarter – the second of his career.
Williams finished 27-of-36 for a career-high 290 passing yards and four touchdowns – all to different targets. Bennett finished with 55 receiving yards and 73 yards on the ground for 128 all-purpose yards, including 20 yards late in the fourth to seal the win.
Through the air, Christian Moss led all receivers with four catches for 66 yards, while Ravare finished with 50 receiving yards.
Defensively, the Owls were all over the place, forcing a trio of three-and-outs, three sacks, two turnovers and six punts overall.
Baron Hopson led the way with 10 tackles – his third-straight double-digit game, while Rod Daniels made 9 stops with 0.5 sacks and a tackle for loss. Tylon Dunlap continued to wreak havoc in the backfield, finishing with a career-high 2.0 sacks, a quarterback hurry and eight total tackles.
Kennesaw State once again faces a short rest before back-to-back Tuesday games as part of Conference USA's #WeekdayCUSA. The Owls travel to FIU on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and KSU Owls app.