Kennesaw State's Baron Hopson Leads the Owls Into CUSA Kickoff Week

While the SEC was in Tampa, Conference USA held its own media event, the 2026 CUSA Football Kickoff, at Texas Live! in Arlington, Texas. Kennesaw State sent head coach Jerry Mack, graduate linebacker Baron Hopson, and redshirt junior offensive lineman Nikola Milovac, and the Owls arrived with plenty to talk about.

Meet Baron Hopson

The headliner is Baron Hopson, a Leesburg, Georgia, native. On July 17, the league's 10 head coaches named him CUSA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. It's easy to see why. In 2025 he posted:

• 138 tackles, a school record
• 9 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and an interception
• A team-leading tackle total in 9 of 14 games
• A school single-game record of 16 tackles in the regular-season finale

He was also the 2025 CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, a first-team All-CUSA pick, and a third-team HERO Sports Group of Five All-American.

In Arlington, Hopson made clear the Owls don't view last season as a one-off. "What happened last year wasn't a fluke," he said. Mack, for his part, credited relationships for keeping Hopson in Kennesaw instead of losing him to the transfer portal.

Mack and Milovac

Mack talked about culture. "Every day we fight for the culture," he said, adding that "every day we try to lay a great foundation." Milovac credited the offseason work: "I feel like our strength coaches put in a pretty good program this offseason."

Home games to circle

The Owls' 2026 home schedule includes:

• West Georgia, Sept. 3
• Georgia State, Sept. 12
• Jax State, Oct. 7
• Liberty, Oct. 22
• Delaware, Nov. 7
• FIU, Nov. 21

The Jax State game is a rematch of the 2025 Conference USA Championship, and the two in-state games against West Georgia and Georgia State open the home slate.

Why fans should follow the Owls

Group of Five programs don't get the national spotlight that SEC and Big Ten teams do. That's exactly why players like Hopson are worth following. A record-setting linebacker who chose to stay put has a story fans can get behind, and the NIL era means athletes at schools like KSU can build personal brands, too.

That matters for fans as much as athletes. In a sport where so much attention goes to a handful of national brands, local fans are often the ones who notice a player like Hopson first, and they're the ones who can help turn a breakout season into a lasting personal brand.

As a Georgia-based company, we'll be watching the Owls closely this fall. The home opener against West Georgia is Sept. 3.

Sources

• The Owls at 2026 CUSA Football Kickoff (Kennesaw State Athletics)
• Owls ready for 2026 CUSA Football Kickoff in Texas (Kennesaw State Athletics)
• Hopson named Preseason CUSA Defensive Player of the Year (Kennesaw State Athletics)
• Kennesaw State football's full 2026 slate announced (Kennesaw State Athletics)