The Owl and The Roadrunner – Kennesaw State’s football start up journey mirrors UTSA’s

Ed. Note: Thank you to Kennesaw State Athletics for providing the featured image for this article.

Northern Georgia is one of the most beautiful places on this planet. This stretch of towering pine trees is made up of small, quaint towns like Woodstock, Acworth, Canton, and Jasper whose city limits reside in counties like Cobb, Cherokee, Bartow and Paulding. Cobb County, a true gem, is home to some of the finest lakes and golf courses you will see in the United States.

Cobb County is also home to Kennesaw Mountain, a historical site and civil war battleground of the Atlanta campaign back in 1864. A truly historic event that shaped America forever.

Today, just below that mountain in Cobb County, sits Kennesaw State University, home of the Owls. And yes, before you get all negative and uninterested, you should care.

Here’s why.

Back in 2015, Kennesaw State played their first ever football season. I for one, remember it well. 

See, when you live in Georgia, its all about the Dawgs. Sure, there might be some Tech Yellow Jackets peppered in here and there but overall, Georgia is Bulldog Country.

But in September of 2015, one Georgia county transformed from Bulldogs into Owls during a few magical hours on a Saturday afternoon. And it took place in none other but, you guessed it, Cobb County.

And it was a sight to behold. An absolutely jam packed, twenty thousand seat stadium decked out in black and yellow to usher in a new college football squad into the ever so football rich state of Georgia. Kennesaw State Football had arrived.

Let’s stop right here for a minute.

Now this story, about the Kennesaw Owls, may sound a little bit familiar. If it does, that is a good thing, because as UTSA Roadrunners, we already lived this story.

Only difference being that one took place in Texas, with an Alamo instead of a mountain, in a dome, with 56 thousand plus in attendance.

The differences, however, kind of stop right there. Both schools voted on football back in 2007, with inaugural games being only a few years apart. Both mascots are birds, and both schools are in prime football real estate territory. Folks may claim that football is bigger in Texas, and that is fine. But as a former Cobb County resident, I can confirm to you that it’s just as big in Georgia.

Kennesaw State and UTSA, both infants in terms of college football age brackets, will meet for the first time in history on August 31st in the Alamodome, a game that will be Kennesaw’s first ever FBS level matchup as a
member of Conference USA.

A first ever FBS game, in the Alamodome, against a Conference USA opponent whose mascot is of the same species and started football only a few years apart is not just another game folks. It is historic, in so many ways. And that needs to be recognized.

There is an old saying, that says to not forget where you came from. Kennesaw used the blueprint and framework UTSA Football laid down only a few years before, and with games against the likes of UNC scheduled in the upcoming years, it is clear the Owls are headed in the right direction.

And UTSA fans, alumni and students should be happy for Kennesaw. We should encourage the Owls to ride the coattails of our Roadrunners and let us show them the way to back-to-back championship promised lands.

Share the wisdom and pass it on, be an example to the Owls of what it means to blaze a trail.
Mentor, teach, and give freely of what has been given.

Because, at the end of the day, college football needs more story lines like this one.

Birds Up.

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