Bucs’ fourth-quarter comeback falls short at No. 9 Kennesaw State

Trailing 24-7 with 10:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers (0-1, 0-1 Big South) mounted a furious comeback attempt with a pair of late touchdowns. Jack Chambers capped the Bucs’ first scoring drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to narrow the gap down to 24-13 with 7:46 remaining.

Following a KSU 3-and-out, the Bucs went back to work from midfield with Chambers again capping the scoring drive with a touchdown carry, this one from one yard out, to narrow the gap down to 24-19 with 1:46 to play. Kennesaw State (2-0, 1-0 Big South) recovered the ensuing onside kick and the Owls ran out the clock on their way to recording the key conference win.

Chambers went 14-of-23 through the air for 160 yards and a touchdown in his first action of the 2021 spring season. The redshirt junior quarterback added 48 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the day to pace the Bucs on the ground.

Garris Schwarting (Four catches, 55 yards) and Geoffrey Wall (four catches, 43 yards) were Chambers’ top targets on the day, while Demetrius Jones added two catches for 37 yards, including a key third-down catch near midfield on CSU’s first scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, seven different Buccaneers recorded at least 10 tackles on the day led by Cody Cline and Anton Williams’ 14 tackles apiece. Williams added CSU’s lone sack, while Shaundre Mims had three of the Bucs’ eight tackles for loss in the contest.

KSU’s Jonathan Murphy paced the Owls’ offense after going 4-of-5 through the air for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Murphy added 113 rushing yards and a third score to highlight Kennesaw State’s rushing game. Caleb O’Neal was his leading target with two catches for 77 yards, including a key 51-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter.

Bryson Armstrong paced the Owls’ defensive efforts with a team-high eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.