Kennesaw State claims another Big South title with 51-14 win

Nov 10, 2018, 08:54 pm

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Darnell Holland and Chandler Burks each ran for three touchdowns and Kennesaw State rolled past Monmouth 51-14 on Saturday for its second consecutive outright Big South Conference title and automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

The Owls, ranked No. 2 in the FCS, won their ninth straight game and extended their streak of regular-season victories over FCS opponents to 17, a Big South record. They also snapped the Hawks' 10-game home winning streak. Monmouth's previous home loss was also to Kennesaw State in 2016.

Holland rushed for a program-high 195 yards on just nine carries in surpassing 2,000 career yards rushing with scoring runs of 9, 46 and 59 yards. Burks' three scores left him one shy of tying the FCS record of 27 in a season by a quarterback set by Georgia Southern's Chaz Williams in 2002.

The Owls (9-1, 5-0), which came in with the No. 1 scoring offense at 41.1 points per game, had 412 yards rushing against the Hawks (7-3, 3-1) and outgained Monmouth 502-192.

Kennesaw State led 17-14 at halftime before scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and three in the fourth.