Seven lead changes, last one wins it: Kennesaw State 26-27 Jacksonville State

Seven lead changes. That is the shape of this game: Kennesaw State 26, Jacksonville State 27, no lead all night bigger than eight points, and the last of them came off a kicker's foot.

Daniel Kinney opened the scoring with a first-quarter field goal, and the Owls carried a slim 3-0 lead into the second. That period turned into a trade: four touchdowns, two for each side. Jamill Williams put Jacksonville State in front at 3-6, Rickie Collins answered for Kennesaw State at 9-7, Caden Creel restored the Gamecocks' edge at 9-13, and Javon Rogers sent the Owls to the break ahead 15-14 — a single point between them at halftime.

Latrelle Murrell stretched the Owls' lead to 22-14 in the third quarter, the high-water mark of the night. Jalen Likely answered for the Gamecocks, 23-20, and the fourth became a kicking duel. Of the ten scoring plays in the game, the final three were all field goals. Garrison Rippa nudged Jacksonville State in front, 23-24. Kinney flipped it back with his second field goal, 26-24. Rippa had the last word: 26-27.

Rippa was the difference. Two field goals in the final period, six points, and a road win resting on the second of them. Kinney held up his end with a pair of his own, including the kick that briefly put Kennesaw State back in front at 26-24. But the Owls' 22-14 third-quarter cushion was as good as it got, and it did not survive the fourth.

One point. Seven swings of the lead. Three field goals in a fourth quarter that refused to settle. Jacksonville State took the last one, and with it the game.