CNN
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The Kennesaw State Owls earned their first-ever FBS victory on Wednesday night, defeating the Liberty Flames 27-24 and ending what was the longest active regular-season winning streak in college football.

The Owls, who came into the game as 0-6 underdogs with 27 points, have lost all 10 of their previous meetings with FBS teams since the program’s inception in 2015.

But Kennesaw State quarterback Davis Bryson completed 16 of 20 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown as his team became the first in 23 years to beat a team that is 5-0 or better when it is 0-5 or worse, according to ESPN.

It’s the Owls’ first win against a Division I team in nearly two years since beating UT Martin in November 2022.

“All we’ve talked about for the last month and a half is sticking together and believing in each other,” said head coach Brian Bohannon, who has been in charge for all 10 seasons of the program’s run.

“We said, ‘If we just keep doing it, something good will happen somewhere.’ We didn’t have a crystal ball to know when. But man, I couldn’t be more proud of this football program than I was tonight,” he continued.

“We have had many great victories here. Nothing was better than that there.”

It’s the first loss head coach Jamey Chadwell has ever experienced leading Liberty and it’s a huge blow to the program’s hopes of becoming the top-ranked team in the Group of Five, which would mean an automatic bid in the new twelfth grade. team play-offs.

Both Army and Navy of the American Athletic Conference remain undefeated and will not play each other in the regular season.

Liberty started the night hot, scoring on the opening drive with Kaidon Salter’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Treon Sibley.

But the Owls tied the game in the first quarter through Christian Moss on a 41-yard TD pass from Bryson before Michael Benefield’s TD rush in the second.

The Flames fought back when Salter found Donte Lee in the end zone to take things to the next level before halftime, but the game’s defining moment came in the third quarter when Kennesaw State went ahead on a six-yard touchdown run by Qua Ashley. Liberty would never overtake the Owls.

Two field goals from Austin Welch in the fourth quarter extended Kennesaw State’s lead to 27-17, and Salter’s third touchdown of the game wasn’t enough to prevent the Owls from making history.