AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO USING KENNESAW STATE IN CFB 25
Everything you need to know before stealing Brian Bohannon's job in Dynasty mode. Take us to the promised land, Coach.
As FBS newcomers and football video game rookies, Kennesaw State will be a natural underdog pick on Dynasty mode when College Football 25 releases this month. There’s not much history to weigh you down after only nine seasons in FCS, all of which happened after the series went on what looked like a permanent hiatus.
Rebuild doesn’t quite cover what you’re up against taking over an Owls program that racked up lower-level wins but enters Conference USA at the bottom of the FBS food chain in 2024. Developing your version of Kennesaw State will be more Civ. VI than Madden, with a blank map ready to be filled in by the college football equivalent of Settlers and Slingers.
“Every team is somebody’s favorite team” has been one of EA’s favorite catchphrases hyping the long-awaited return’s attention to detail regardless of a program’s prestige. That doesn’t mean they’ll make it easy on you choosing the Owls in Dynasty: A one-star, 71 rating will greet you in the selection screen as you start your new coaching career.
Thanks to EA’s Deep Dives, media coverage and a million influencer videos, we have a pretty clear picture of almost every detail from Dynasty Mode, gameplay, and all the extracurriculars that will separate the game from what we feared could be Madden re-skin. What else do you need to know about the video game Owls now that you’ve stolen Brian Bohannon’s job?
HOME - FIFTH THIRD STADIUM
Welcome. Your new palace allegedly seats anywhere from 8,300 to 10,000+ fans, depending on how many metal bleachers the athletic department drags into the north end below the scoreboard. Your newfound haters will call it a soccer stadium, which is true occasionally. You can also say the same for the Rose Bowl and Michigan Stadium.
Dynasty Mode facility upgrades didn’t make their way into this year’s game, so you won’t be able to fill in the bowl or add a second deck as you build the program. That mirrors real life, where there doesn’t seem to be much momentum toward expanding Fifth Third until ticket sales improve. EA’s Dynamic Attendance feature will simulate that to some effect - the more your Owls win, the more people will come. That’s up to you, Coach.
We just narrowly missed the Toughest Places to Play list, but EA gave a first look at virtual Fifth Third during the Sights and Sounds preview. I did a full Rick Dalton point when I heard Rece Davis’ “Who gives a hoot?” call at a faithful rendition of our modest home - with the KSU bushes included.
One small detail that interests me: Where will they place the away fans and Kennesaw students in the finished build? Our athletic department can’t even figure that out, so good luck EA.
PLAYERS TO KNOW IN YEAR ONE
We missed out on the video-game version of so many Owls during KSU football’s first decade of existence: Spamming virtual fades to Justin Sumpter, calling midline 10 plays in a row with Chandler Burks, or ignoring read keys to see if the genetic freak Bronson Rechsteiner can run through an entire defense.
Ranking the 14,000+ FBS players who opted in to the game can’t be an easy task, and there are sure to be some understandably strange numbers and depth charts out there. That task gets even more difficult when you try to use Kennesaw’s 2023 redshirt year as a reference point. No matter how their player ratings turn out, you will learn to love a few guys during your first season in Kennesaw:
WR/RB/KR Gabriel Benyard - Your #1 option on offense, a player who will take an absolute beating from EA’s new Wear and Tear system as you get him 30 touches a game. Line him up out wide, in the slot, or at running back - whatever you like.
FB/TE Preston Daniels - Come October, Daniels will be America’s sweetheart during midweek CUSA action. At 5-11, 260, the converted flexbone B-back is listed as a tight end in the new system. An extremely versatile option on offense, especially if you want to speed up the tempo without changing personnel too much. Your G5 version of Ravens FB Patrick Ricard, though you only get him for a season.
EDGE Donovan Westmoreland - Will he even play this year? Who knows. Local media doesn’t cover the team day-to-day or even month-to-month, so all we have is a report from the Owl Chat Podcast about a potential Achilles injury. Assuming he gets in the game anyway, the South Carolina transfer and former 247 four-star is the highest touted recruit in program history.
Redshirt freshman CB JeRico Washington and junior DT Pooda Walker will end up as your highest-rated defenders if PFF grades hold the most weight in the ranking process as has been reported.
Your QB? You get to decide. Adding up the career stats of the entire roster, the Owls bring back a total of 2 D1 completions in 2024. What they lack in starting experience, they make up for with a ton of mobility throughout the QB room to help your Owls with the FBS learning curve. Davis Bryson (63 OVR), standing all of 5-9 but weighing in at a RB-like 190 pounds, is the leader in the clubhouse. Braden Bohannon (62 OVR) isn’t far behind on the beta roster. Transfers Khalib Johnson and Earl Woods III could push for playing time if they’re included in the launch roster. Incoming freshman Lucas Scheerhorn (60 OVR) gives you a fun project for Dynasty users who plan on sticking around in Kennesaw.
PLAYBOOK - THE FLEXBONE IS DEAD, BUT LONG LIVE THE OPTION
If your previous Kennesaw State knowledge is limited, odds are you still know one of three things: Bron Breakker, the turnover Plank, and the flexbone offense. One of those characters is long gone and currently wrestles on Monday Night Raw. The other may or may not be in the game, depending on how protective Warner Bros. Discovery is over their Cartoon Network IP. (Update: Definitely not, per the MDJ).
That leaves us with the Owls’ option identity, which we do know will be in the game. It will just look much different than the original flexbone formations that Bohannon brought to campus after years in the Paul Johnson coaching tree. Since you last checked in on the Owls, they’ve started using a pistol option offense, rolled out on a trial basis last season under former Nevada OC Chris Klenakis.
We’re still unclear on exactly how that will look this fall as co-coordinators Chandler Burks and Stewart Cook, two flexbone holdovers, take charge on offense. For all that spring games are worth (not a whole lot), every offensive TD came on some form of option concept. Based on what we’ve seen so far from life after the flexbone, the Owls’ default playbook should have a lot of 12 and 21 personnel and look similar to some of the Ravens pistol sets from Madden. Early reviews about the CFB 25’s option mechanics and RPO setup sound promising, too. You should be able to stay true to life without feeling too gimmicky like when we used to abuse zone reads on NCAA back in the day.
Personally, I’m including at least one true flexbone formation to pay homage to the FCS era. Come and take it, brother.
On defense, the base system will be a 3-3-5 with a couple hybrid guys at Bandit end and Rover. If EA relies on PFF to grade players, I would’ve expected the defense to out-rate the offense on the game by a decent margin, yet both units are equal at 71. You won’t have a ton of size year one, but you will have an endless supply of guys who are around 190 pounds to move all over the field. With your current personnel, it’s best to stick with three down lineman until you work your magic in recruiting.
YOUR FIRST SCHEDULE
Here’s the slate you’re up against during the inaugural CUSA season. Your Owls have a couple tough non-conference games early on and close out the season with seven straight CUSA matchups. At least you have a bye week to get ready for FCS Southeast (also d.b.a. as UT-Martin). Book all your recruiting visits by that Friday night JSU game, otherwise you’re stuck bringing them in for Liberty or waiting until November.
WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC?
Matt Brown of Extra Points worked the CFB 25 beat dilligently over the past few years, firing off FOIA request after FOIA request to see which materials that athletic departments submitted to EA. Based on Brown’s reporting (an insane thread with details on what feels like every single FBS team), Kennesaw sent EA this four-song mixtape for consideration.
Our fight song was written in 2012 yet styled like the sort of old-fashioned anthem the team would sing boarding the Macon and Western Railroad on the way to play Mercer to a 12-12 tie. Something always sound slightly off, almost satirical. The song symbolizes more complex issues in trying to building a culture without decades and decades of history as a foundation. You will learn to love the song, but under no circumstances should you ever think about the words.
OUR MEN AND WOMEN BRING HONOR AND FAME,
STRONG IN THE CLASSROOM, STRONG IN THE GAME.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN, WE BRING SPIRIT,
KENNESAW! IT’S ON TO VIC-TO-RY!
The “traditional” fight song plays plenty of times, but the War Chant took its place as the Marching Owls’ go-to in big moments and media timeouts. Last week’s Sights and Sounds deep dive doesn’t make me super optimistic that our second theme will be in the game, as only 180 band songs made the cut for the 134 FBS members. If the CFB 25 devs did give the Owls a second song, the extremely simple lyrics will echo in your brain long you leave us for a Power 4 job:
YOU DON’T WANT TO GO TO WAR
WITH THE OWLS, WITH THE OWLS
As for the third party music, roughly 5,000,000 teams use Hells Bells on third downs, so the value may have been there for EA to write the check. During the media preview event, Brown also confirmed that EA got the rights to Neck, which makes me laugh every time I hear it at an Owls game. Unconfirmed whether those rights include a version of LSU’s lyrics as well.
RIVALRIES
You are looking at a fairly clean slate when you take charge in Kennesaw. We’ve only matched up against eight programs currently in FBS: Three CUSA members in Jacksonville State, Liberty and Sam Houston, along with Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, Kent State and Cincinnati. You’re free to explore new enemies in dynasty mode, with only Jacksonville State locked in as our main potential rival thanks to close proximity, deeply insecure internet trolls, and a four-game series (3-1 in favor of the Owls) that’s already produced a few classics. I’m still recovering from the 5OT game at the Battery.
Last time out, the Gamecocks broke their losing streak and lit up victory cigars in the locker room, a tradition Rich Rod admits he stole from the Alabama-Tennessee series. Kennesaw’s CUSA opener against them (Friday, Oct. 4) will be the biggest football game in program history by a considerable margin. Past that, we hate Liberty just as much as everyone else does. We’re not really unique for that.
WHAT ELSE TO KNOW?
While sitting on your couch, you will face exactly as many tough media questions as Brian Bohannon does in real life. Just do a quick five-minute postgame presser in your bathroom mirror. You won’t have to answer any follow-up questions.
During the Dynasty Deep Dive, Metro Atlanta got some love, along with south Florida, as two of the most loaded recruiting areas for the 3,500 HS players that will generate every season. That will help.
Only 50 mascots - 40 costumed and 10 live animals - will be in the game, according to EA. Scrappy will most likely have to wait for next edition, or until there’s a $20 Mascot Game DLC.
First down at Fifth Third? You’ll hear a Hoooo in real life. TBA if it gets in the game, but you can play along at home.
The Owl eyes hand sign makes an appearance in crowd cut scenes. I’d feel like I’m in a sorority throwing this, but oh well.
One last Matt Brown plug, by way of the preferred uniform combos. Use the interlocking KS helmets and either all black or white unis. This is the way. Keep the gold Eagles helmets in the equipment trailer where they belong.
UPDATE: WE HAVE OWLS DYNASTY GAMEPLAY
Just when I was tapping out on the College Football 25 media industrial complex, a YouTube channel called Not The Expert dropped a 50-minute preview on dynasty with Kennesaw. We could use an extended director’s cut for Owls fans to go even deeper, but it’s loaded with enough new info to carry you through the weekend until early access opens Monday afternoon.
Fifth Third, in gameplay footage, looks true to life. Like, to an uncanny valley extent. Even with some quirky stuff that they may never be able to fix (north end zone, empty concourses, loge seating, etc.), KSU’s 1,500-picture submission worked out extremely well for an accurate portrayal. Same goes for the uniforms.
This deep dive goes HEAVY into recruiting, which appears to be way easier in this beta than initially advertised. He picked up a 5-star in year one, boosted the program’s ratings by a few points, and finished 8-4 with a Bahamas Bowl bid.
We only saw a handful of player ratings before the season - mainly the QBs, with Davis Bryson at 63. NTE gave a more in-depth look at the postseason rankings, with a handful of standouts: Donelius Johnson at 82, Westmoreland at 81, Nate Wright/Baron Hobson at 80, and Gabriel Benyard / JeRico Washington at 79. Some of the summer transfers (the two new QBs in particular) weren’t loaded into this particular version, so we’ll see who ends up on the launch roster.
Dynamic Attendance: Machines may be too smart. We saw a half-empty season finale in Kennesaw against WKU, despite being the CUSA title game. Sick.
