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Conference USA Championship

Jacksonville State (8-4) vs. Kennesaw State (9-3)

Friday, 7 p.m. ET (AmFirst Stadium, Jacksonville, Ala.)

Regular-season champion Jacksonville State defends its CUSA title against Kennesaw State, which won two games a year ago and is only playing its second season at the FBS level.

The programs play Friday night for the second time in three weeks.

Both schools are operating under a first-year coach whose success made them a potential target for current openings at larger schools.

Jacksonville State won the title last year under Rich Rodriguez, now at West Virginia. Charles Kelly, most recently the co-offensive coordinator at Auburn, took over and built on the success.

Kennesaw State hired Jerry Mack, a former head coach at North Carolina Central and most recently the running backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mack brought in a fast-paced offense to a school that was a 'ground-and-pound' winner on the FCS level.

It would be surprising if this game wasn't filled with offensive fireworks. Jacksonville State leads the conference in total offense (428.4 yards) and Kennesaw is No. 3 (411.5 yards).

The regular-season game, which Jacksonville State won 35-26 on Nov. 15, was an offensive master class. The teams combined for 1,030 total yards -- 579 of them by Kennesaw State.

The difference was mistakes; Kennesaw State threw four interceptions and had a defensive meltdown that allowed a 62-yard Hail Mary to end the first half and swing the momentum.

--Players to Know

Jacksonville State

QB Caden Creel -- Creel threw for a career-high 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 143 yards and one touchdown last week to push the Gamecocks past Western Kentucky and into the title game. Creel threw for 137 and ran for 127 and two touchdowns in the win over Kennesaw State. He has 1,245 passing yards and eight TDs and 973 yards rushing with six TDs in 2025.

LB Walker O'Steen -- He leads the team with 69 tackles, include 5 tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and five hurries. He had a season-high 14 tackles and an interception against Kennesaw in the first meeting.

Kennesaw State

QB Amari Odom -- The Wofford transfer won the job outright in the third game and has thrown for 2,139 yards and 17 touchdowns, including a school-record five against Missouri State. Odom has also rushed for 379 yards and seven scores. Odom has thrown only six interceptions, but three came in the loss to Jacksonville State.

WR Gabriel Benyard -- Moved from running back to wide receiver in the spring, Benyard has found his happy place. Elusive and speedy with great hands, Benyard has 54 receptions for 877 yards and nine touchdowns. He also leads CUSA in punt returns with a 9.4-yard average and one touchdown.

--CUSA Championship history

Jacksonville State put up 52 points and scored a 40-point win in the 2024 championship game over Western Kentucky. It was the fourth consecutive year the winning team in the CUSA title game had at least 48 points.

--Field Level Media