SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs, the Wofford College football team was defeated 28-21 by Kennesaw State at Gibbs Stadium on Saturday. With the game tied at the half, Wofford took a 14-7 lead on the first possession of the third quarter. The Owls responded with the next three touchdowns for a 28-14 lead until the Terriers scored with 1:18 left in the game for the 28-21 final margin.
 
Wofford, ranked #11 in the nation, end the season at 8-4 overall. Kennesaw State, ranked #15 in the nation, is 11-2 overall and advance to the second round. The Terriers were led by Blake Morgan with 65 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. T.J. Luther had 120 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Joe Newman was 6-of-13 passing. Back-up quarterback Jonathan Murphy led the Owls with 206 rushing yards on 23 carries with three touchdowns.
 
"There is a lot of time and a lot of effort that goes into this," said Wofford head coach Josh Conklin. "We had a good year and a good season, but we didn't play our best football tonight and that is 100-percent on me as the head football coach. There are a lot of factors that go into it. My hats off to Kennesaw State. They came out and played with a lost of tenacity on both sides of the football. They came to play and I am impressed with that group. I just wish we had been able to give them a little more of our best effort. We didn't play poorly, just not with our best effort. They had a really good plan on defense with some movement and pressure that affected us. They executed and we had some negative plays on offense and some penalties that you can't have in these games. We pride ourselves on being a line of scrimmage team and they owned the line of scrimmage tonight. That is going to have to be addressed moving forward."
 
The Owls had the ball first and gained two first downs before a penalty made it first-and-25. The Terrier defense forced a punt and Wofford took over at the 27-yard line. Blake Moran had a first down and Ryan Lovelace followed with a first down. A 23-yard pass to T.J. Luther gave Wofford first-and-goal from the ten. Blake Morgan capped the eight-play drive with a five-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter. Kennesaw State went three-and-out and punted on their next drive, while Wofford also went three-and-out. With the ball back, the Owls had a rushing first down and two passing first downs to move inside the ten. A two-yard touchdown run by Tommy Bryant tied the game at 7-7 with 12:14 left in the second quarter.
 
Wofford was stopped on a tackle for loss and a sack on their next drive, forcing a punt. On the first play for the Owls, the pitch was fumbled and recovered by Mason Alstatt at the 43-yard line. Wofford went three-and-out on the ensuing drive and punted. The Owls had two first downs and then on fourth-and-one the pitch was fumbled and Wofford took over at midfield. Blake Morgan had a first down run but then T.J. Luther had a fumble that was recovered by the Owls at the 34-yard line with 1:27 left in the first half. Quarterback Jonathan Murphy had runs of 19-yards and 35-yards before the half ended.
 
To open the second half, Joe Newman found T.J. Luther for a first down pass and then a 46-yard pass to move inside the red zone. On fourth-and-two from the eight-yard line, Blake Morgan picked up the first down and then scored on a two-yard run for a 14-7 lead at 9:15 in the third quarter. The Owls had a first down and then a pass on fourth-and-four was incomplete. Wofford then went three-and-out and punted. A 29-yard punt return gave the Owls starting field position across midfield. Jonathan Murphy ran for 40-yards on the first play for first-and-goal and then scored a one-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.
 
Wofford had a first down pass to Jason Hill, but then on third down D'mauriae VanCleave fumbled and it was recovered by Cincere Mason and returned 37-yards to the 20-yard line. After a first down, the Owls faced fourth-and-one and Jonathan Murphy gained the one yard for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead with 10:15 remaining in the game. Wofford then went three-and-out and punted. Kennesaw State had one first down and then punted with the Terriers taking over at the 10-yard line. Wofford went three-and-out and punted. On the first play of the drive, Jonathan Murphy ran for a 61-yard touchdown and gave the Owls a 28-14 lead with 4:02 left on the clock. Wofford had a first down run by Joe Newman and then Jimmy Weirick completed a fourth-and-ten pass to T.J. Luther. After two more first downs, Weirick found T.J. Luther for a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it a 28-21 game with 1:18 remaining. The Owls recovered the onside kick attempt and took a knee twice to end the game.
 
Wofford had 282 total yards, with 171 passing yards. Kennesaw State had 350 total yards, 309 of which were rushing. Wofford had 12 first downs, while Kennesaw State had 16. Wofford was 2-of-12 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Kennesaw State was 5-of-11 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down. Wofford was called for six penalties to two for the Owls. Kennesaw State had a 31:42 to 28:18 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. Kennesaw State Post-Game Notes
Kennesaw State won the only previous meeting by a score of 13-10 in the 2018 NCAA Playoffs.
 
The home playoff loss was the first by Wofford since December 11, 2010 against Georgia Southern, ending a streak of four straight home postseason wins.
 
The three sacks by Kennesaw State were the first by an opponent since the season opener against South Carolina State.
 
The fumble recovery by Mason Alstatt in the second quarter was the third of his career.
 
Luke Carter made all 141 extra points in his career to set a new NCAA record for most career PATs without a miss.
 
T.J. Luther had 120 receiving yards, his second career 100+ receiving game.
 
Joe Beckett led the team with ten tackles, while John Beckley had a sack.
 
Game captains were Joe Newman, Justus Basinger, Mason Alstatt, Jireh Wilson and Blake Morgan.    
 
Attendance was 1,992 at Gibbs Stadium.
 
The Owls will advance to play at #3 seed Weber State on Saturday, December 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET.