Kennesaw State running back Isaac Foster will try to have a bounce-back year and lead the Owls to its third Big South tile in five years.
172 KICKOFF 2021
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE
Special - Anthony Stalcup
Monmouth, KSU, NC A&T lead Big South contingent
By John Bednarowski
sportseditor@mdjonline.com
Kennesaw State enters the final year of
the current Big South Conference setup
with something to prove.
After winning back-to-back conference titles
in 2017 and 2018, the Owls have seen their
momentum squelched by reigning two-time
champion Monmouth, who beat Kennesaw
State soundly in the process.
The Owls, along with North Alabama,
will head to the new ASUN football conference
beginning next season, so they will
want to go out on a high note.
To do that, they will have to find a way
to beat the Hawks, a difficult task which
will not be any easier this fall.
Monmouth returns 23 of 25 starters from
the spring championship team and will be
led by running back Juwon Farri, the Big
South Offensive Player of the Year and a
second-team All-American in 2020. He averaged
15 points per game as he led Monmouth
to the FCS playoffs. Add Big South
Freshman of the Year in quarterback Tony
Muskett to the equation, who threw for 259
yards per game and nine touchdowns, and
they pack a pretty good 1-2 punch.
Kennesaw State will try to get back on
track with its run-first attack. Isaac Foster
will attempt to bounce back from a difficult
spring season and will be aided from
an offensive line that returns four starters.
Jonathan Murphy is expected to be the
opening day starter, but will get a test from
Xavier Shepherd. The defense will have
to replace much of the linebacking corps
and secondary.
The wild card in this season’s lineup may
be North Carolina A&T. The Aggies, a perennial
top 15 program in FCS, makes their
Big South debut this season after moving
from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
They are led by running back Jah-Maine
Martin, who ran for 1,446 yards and earned
all-MEAC and All-American honors during
the 2019 season.
Campbell, Charleston Southern and Gardner
Webb could pose problems for Monmouth,
KSU and North Carolina A&T, as
each has enough talent to pull of an upset.
The Camels are led by quarterback Hajj-Malik
Williams, a preseason Big South Conference
Offensive Player of the Year nominee.
Buccaneers’ quarterback Jack Chambers led
the conference in total offense during the
shortened spring season, and Gardner-Webb
running back Narii Gaither was among the
conference rushing leaders.
Robert Morris had a rough welcome to
the Big South in the spring schedule going
0-3 and being outscored 96-30. Hampton
did not play either in the fall or spring season,
and North Alabama is not eligible for
the conference championship until 2022
as it completes its transition to Division I.
Prediction
1. Monmouth
2. Kennesaw State
3. North Carolina A&T
4. Campbell
5. Charleston Southern
6. Gardner-Webb
7. Robert Morris
8. Hampton
9. North Alabama*
*Not eligible for conference title
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