Tennessee 42, Kennesaw State 9: Owls Get Their Shot in a Sold-Out Neyland
By faNILy Team ·
Kennesaw State got its first-ever look at Tennessee on Saturday. The No. 15/14 Volunteers beat the Owls 42-9 at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 19.
But the result doesn't tell the whole story of what a day like this means for a program like KSU.
The game
Tennessee led 21-3 at halftime and kept KSU out of the end zone. All nine of the Owls' points came on three Daniel Kinney field goals, from 35, 25 and 20 yards, per the KSU box score. Per Tennessee's postgame notes, the win extended the Vols' regular-season non-conference winning streak to 21 games, dating back to Sept. 18, 2021.
The crowd was the other headline. Attendance was 101,915, a sellout, and Tennessee says it was the program's 29th straight sellout, a streak that dates back to Sept. 17, 2022. That's a big stage for any visiting team.
A first meeting with familiar faces
This was the first time the two programs had ever met on the football field. Still, the sidelines knew each other well. Kennesaw State head coach Jerry Mack was Tennessee's running backs coach from 2021 to 2023 under Josh Heupel, and Tennessee's notes point out that three more of Mack's assistants also worked under Heupel: offensive coordinator Mitch Militello, special teams coordinator Kyle Blocker and running backs coach Aston Walter.
So while the logos were new to each other, plenty of the people weren't.
Why these games matter
Games between a rising program and an SEC power can look lopsided on paper. They matter anyway, for a few reasons:
- Exposure. A road game at one of the sport's biggest venues puts a program and its players in front of an audience they rarely reach.
- Experience. Playing in a sold-out SEC stadium is the kind of moment players remember and recruits notice.
- Fan connection. Big games pull in casual viewers who may discover an athlete for the first time.
That last point is the one we care about most. Every player on that KSU sideline got a few hours on a much bigger stage than usual. Fans who noticed someone, like a kicker who went 3-for-3 in front of a sold-out crowd, now have a name to follow.
faNILy's KSU spotlight
faNILy ran a Kennesaw State spotlight campaign around this game. The scoreboard didn't go the Owls' way, but the spotlight was never about one result. It was about giving fans 18 and older a direct way to follow KSU athletes and buy digital content and experiences from them.
What's next
For Tennessee, the win keeps a ranked team rolling. For Kennesaw State, it's a first meeting the program and its fans will remember, and a reminder of how much attention a day at Neyland can bring.