Monmouth U Answers The Bell With Dominant Win Over Kennesaw State

WEST LONG BRANCH – It was the shot heard around the FCS, Monmouth 42, Kennesaw State 17.

And it wasn’t even that close.

On a beautiful spring day at Kessler Stadium the Hawks successfully defended their Big South title and received an automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA FCS playoffs for the second year in a row.

“I couldn’t be happier with the performance our guys put forth today,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “I thought it was a dominant performance in every phase of the game. I think it started with our defense and our ability to shut their triple option off and shut it down and offensively we really never missed a beat. Both our offensive and defensive lines really controlled the tempo and the pace today, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Kennesaw State, on the other hand, must hope for an at-large bid to the playoffs after seriously underestimating and perhaps looking past the Hawks.

They marched into Kessler Stadium ranked seventh nationally in the latest FCS Top 25 Poll with an aura of invincibility and big brother attitude ready to humble the Hawks on their own turf.

And surprisingly they weren’t alone in the their flawed assessment of the Hawks.

Twitter trolls had already written off the Hawks and if there was a point spread on the game the Hawks would’ve been a double-digit underdogs.

“We knew that we were a great team but there was just a lot of doubters,” said Monmouth star wide receiver Lonnie Moore IV. “We saw everything. Our coaches let us know that almost everybody was doubting us and all we heard about was Kennesaw, Kennesaw, Kennesaw. So we just wanted to put the nation and the Big South on notice that Monmouth is here to stay.”

Monmouth on the hand, diligently went about its business exuding a quiet confidence that they were the better team and would take care of business.

The lack of love for the Hawks was a bit of a head scratcher though. After all, they were the Big South defending champions and had beat the Owls – ranked fourth at the time - at their own place by three touchdowns a year ago, but as Chris Berman always said, “And that’s why they play the game.”

And the Hawks definitely came to play the game.

“I think this is going to make people sit up and take notice if nothing else,” said Callahan. “Kennesaw State came in here ranked No. 7 in the nation and I think with the type of performance we put forth today should give us at least the same consideration. I would hope we would move up a little bit in the polls this week and be associated with those top 10 teams.”

Monmouth dominated Kennesaw State in every facet of the game. It was billed as the “battle in the trenches” but there was no real battle.

Upfront in the trenches on both sides of the ball the Hawks outmuscled, out punched, out maneuvered, out finessed and flat out beat the living tar out of Kennesaw State.

So dominant was the Monmouth front seven on defense they forced the Owls to basically abandon its highly publisized running game and turn to its rarely used passing game in a last ditch effort.

The Hawks suffocated Kennesaw States vaunted triple-option rushing attack and all but shut down their bread-and-butter play - the inside zone dive.

The Owls came into the game ranked second nationally in the FCS in rushing yardage averaging 297.6 yards per game but the Hawks held them to 161 yards on 48 attempts for a 3.4 yard average.

They came into the game averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

However, 68 of those yards came in garbage time the fourth quarter when the games outcome had long been determined.

By halftime the Owls had managed just 69 yards on the ground on 27 attempts for a 2.6 yards per carry average and after three quarters they were still averaging 2.6 yards per carry while rushing for 93 yards on 36 attempts.

“I felt confident in our scheme,” said Callahan. “Our players were confident in what they were doing out there but I really have to credit our defensive guys for being so disciplined in what they were doing. They were very, very physical on the defensive side as well.”

Once Kennesaw State turned to its passing game, Monmouth unleashed a ferocious pass rush that came at the Owls from all fronts. By the fourth quarter the Hawks defense had recorded six sacks giving them 15 sacks in three games. In contrast, Monmouth had 25 sacks in 14 games during the 2019 season.

Senior lineman Erik Massey got the sack party going late in the first half with an assist from junior defensive end Lorenzo Hernandez, who flushed Owls quarterback Johnathan Murphy out of the pocket and into Massey’s grasp.

“The whole game plan was, regardless of what was happening, everyone just do their job,” said Massey. “Everyone had their own assignments to slide to the ball. We wanted helmets on the ball every time and once that happens you can’t really do anything on us.”

With Monmouth already up 28-3 with under two minutes left in the half, Kennesaw State desperately needed to put some points on the board on its final possession. But senior linebacker Da’Quan Grimes, senior defensive end Khari Scarlett and junior defensive tackle Kurt Aumer all recorded a sack to put the finishing touches on masterful first half.

Scarlett added a fourth quarter sack for his second of the game and now leads the team with 3.5 sacks in three games. Senior linebacker Eddie Hahn also chipped in with a sack along with eight tackles, QB hit, TFL and his first interception as a Hawk. Scarlett finished with four tackles, two sacks and two TFL.

Massey led the team with nine tackles, sack and 1.5 TFL while Grimes added eight tackles, sack, TFL and QB hit and Aumer added six tackles, sack and TFL.

“This was a statement win for us,” added Massey. “I definitely think we were overlooked but this is a statement win for all the FCS to see .”

As good as the defense was, the offense was just as good accumulating 492 yards of total offense on Saturday.

“I really don’t think there is a weakness in our offense,” said true freshman quarterback Tony Muskett. “We have all guys that have the experience and know how to play in these types of games and know how to handle the pressure and adversity. So, that makes it really easy on me having those guys around me making plays.”

The Hawks led 7-3 after the first quarter, 28-3 at the half and 35-3 after three.

The line was physical at the point of attack and had enormous push up front thoroughly dominating the line of scrimmage.

Justin Szuba, Brian Syracuse, A.J. Farris, Charles James, Mahmoud Shabana and Manny Christian brought their lunch pals to work and ate the Kennesaw State defensive line for lunch.

Muskett was superb, there’s no other word for it. His poise and command of the huddle in only his third start of his career is at times mind boggling.

“Obviously, this is what I hoped for,” Muskett said when asked if this is what he envisioned when he signed with Monmouth. “I came here because of the culture and the expectations of winning conference championships. And now I feel like the expectation is being a contender for a national championship. For me it feels amazing to win the Big South and I’m really glad I was able to help these guys accomplish it again. Moving forward we hope to make a playoff run this year and win a national championship as well.”

Muskett completed 19-of-23 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns for an eye opening 245.9 passer rating. His arm strength and accuracy is something to behold, but it’s his calmness under fire that makes his workman-like approach to the game seem like just another day at the office.

Callahan was impressed with his young quarterbacks performance. “For him to come out there in a game of this magnitude and just kind of go to work and take what comes to him and not get rattled and make some big plays while he’s doing, that speaks a lot of his maturity and also his talent.”

Sophomore Juwon Farri was again relentless and never seems to tire. He averaged a whopping 8.1 yards per carry rushing for 179 yards on 22 attempts with touchdown runs of 29 and 48 yards and appears to be the front runner for the Big South Offensive Player of the Year award.

“Just an outstanding day for Juwon against a very quick defense,” said Callahan. “Kennesaw typically isn’t the biggest defense we’ll see but they have incredible quickness and speed. So for Juwon to hit the seam and pull away from some of their defenders on the way to the end zone is an indication of the speed and talent that he has.”

The Hawks opening drive stalled at the Kennesaw State 7-yard line and a 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

After the defense forced a three-and-out courtesy of a combined Hahn and Massey third down stop, Monmouth’s offense went 68 yards in nine plays. A Muskett to tight end Gene Scott 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal gave the Hawks an early 7-0 lead.

“That was huge,” said Muskett. “I got to give my guys a better chance down at the goal line (on Monmouth’s first possession) but the defense comes up huge with a three-and-out. We feel like we’re a well oiled machine and we can just go down and score on every drive so it was just staying calm and doing our thing.”

An improvised shovel pass by Muskett to Moore IV ended up going for a 43-yard touchdown. Moore IV left one defender after another in the dust as he zig zagged his way into the end zone pushing the lead to 14-3 with 9:50 left the half.

On Kennesaw State’s ensuing possession, Hahn intercepted a pass that was deflected by Grimes and three plays later Farri went 29 yards to make it a 21-3 game.

Right before the half, Muskett connected with junior wideout Terrance Greene Jr. on a 72-yard bomb down the right sideline extending the lead to 28-3. Greene Jr. finished with five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.

“T.G. has crazy breakaway speed,” said Muskett. “We wanted to get another score before half and go up 28-3. I gave him a chance, put it up there and T.G. does what he does, makes plays and scores touchdowns. That’s all there was to it.”

Greene Jr. now has 14 receptions for 331 yards and three touchdowns in three games.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Muskett found Moore IV for 40 yards down to the 6-yard line. On the play, Muskett looked off the defender then went back to him giving Moore IV time to shake loose.

Three plays later on third-and-goal from the five, Muskett lofted a perfect ball to Moore IV in the back corner of the end zone for a 35-3 lead.

“Tony’s been great,” said Moore IV. “Our connection is there as you can see, not just with me, but with all of our receivers. So we just keep looking at it like he’ll keep getting better and keep this thing going. I have great confidence in him. He’s been great at protecting the ball and hasn’t had a turnover in three games, so that’s great.”

Moore IV finished with eight receptions for 124 yards and two scores giving him 14 catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns in just two games.

“This win is tremendous for the program,” said Moore IV. “We prided ourselves at coming out here and just being dominant.”

Greene Jr. and Moore IV have already exceeded their preseason hype that portrayed them as one of the premier wide receiver combos in the FCS.

Junior wideout Archie Ezrah chipped in with three receptions for 29 yards.

Farri capped off the scoring with a 45-yard burst up the middle and a 42-10 lead with just under six minutes left in the game.

“This is our second consecutive Big South Conference championship and quite honestly these players deserve a lot of credit for the way they handled themselves throughout the entire pandemic,” Callahan added. “We have not had a positive test in this program yet, so that shows they’re not only taking care of business on the field but doing the right things off the field as well. So I’m very happy for them and very proud of them.”