Kennesaw State Football

Kennesaw State shocked previously undefeated Liberty 27-24 on Wednesday night to win its first-ever college football game against an FBS opponent.

The Owls entered the game with an 0-6 record on the season and were 27-point underdogs, but after taking the lead on a six-yard rushing touchdown by running back Qua Ashley in the third quarter, they never relinquished it.

Liberty was a perfect 5-0 entering the game, including 3-0 in Conference USA action, but the Flames' lack of discipline came back to haunt them Wednesday, as they were flagged nine times for 100 yards.

Per ESPN, in addition to Wednesday marking Kennesaw State's first win over an FBS team, it was also the Owls' first win against a Division I opponent since beating FCS UT Martin in November 2022.

Kennesaw State's win ended Liberty's FBS-best regular-season winning streak of 17 consecutive games, and it also represented only the sixth time in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll era that a team with a record of 0-5 or worse beat a team with a record of 5-0 or better.

The Kennesaw State football team began play in the FCS in 2015 before making the transition to FBS last season.

Beginning as an independent, the Owls went 3-6 last season, but their only victories were over teams that play below the FCS level.

Prior to Wednesday, all five of Kennesaw State's losses this season were by at least two scores, including a 63-24 drubbing at the hands of Jacksonville State earlier this month.

However, the Owls finally broke through against Liberty, and they likely smashed the Flames' College Football Playoff dreams in the process.

At 3-1 in conference play, Liberty still has a chance to win Conference USA, but with other Group of Five teams such as Boise State, Army and Navy already ahead in the rankings, the Flames would need a ton to go right in their favor in order to get back in the CFB conversation.

Former Kennesaw State cheerleader Tommia Dean has received $145,000 after settling a lawsuit with the university in response to its actions following a protest at a KSU football game in 2017, per Rosie Manins of the Marietta Daily Journal. 

According to the Associated Press, Dean and four other KSU cheerleaders took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

Dean said in the suit that Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and former state Representative Earl Ehrhart then convinced school president Sam Olens to keep the cheerleaders off the field during the national anthem for the next two home games.

That occurred, but the cheerleaders came back when the University System of Georgia ruled the U.S. Constitution protected their right to protest, per the AP.

Per Manins, the Georgia Department of Administrative Services will write a $93,000 check to Dean, with $52,000 going to her lawyers for legal fees.

Manins received a copy of the agreement from the state through the Open Records Act:

"A compromise has been reached. The intent of this agreement is to buy peace of mind from future controversy and forestall further attorney's fees, costs, or other expenses of litigation, and further that this agreement represents the compromise, economic resolution of disputed claims and, as such, shall not be deemed in any manner an admission, finding, conclusion, evidence or indication for any purposes whatsoever, that the KSU defendants acted contrary to the law or otherwise violated the rights of Dean."

Per the Associated Press, Dean said in the suit that Warren and Ehrhart were racially motivated in their complaints to Olens.

A federal judge found no evidence and dismissed those claims in February, but Dean is appealing Warren's dismissal as a defendant in the case.