Monmouth Football: In `Battle of the Birds,' opposites attract to decide Big South

On the surface, there’s very little that would lead you to believe Monmouth University and Kennesaw State would be linked in any way. In fact, pretty much everything about them is different.

Yet on Saturday the two school's football programs, each 9-1, will go head-to-head in Kennesaw, Ga., in the biggest game either has ever played, as the No. 21 Owls host the No. 22 Hawks to decide the Big South title in what's been dubbed the ``Battle of the Birds.''

Just how little do they have in common?

Take a look for yourself:

Kennesaw State, a public school, is the fourth largest university in Georgia, with around 37,000 students. Monmouth is a private school that ranks as the 32nd largest school in New Jersey, with total enrollment of around 6,300 students.

Between campuses in Kennesaw and Marietta, Kennesaw State is comprised of 581 acres. Monmouth’s campus in West Long Branch is on a 158-acre parcel.

Kennesaw State’s football rise to the FCS national rankings has been meteoric, with the program in just its third season of existence, going 6-5 in 2015 and 8-3 in 2016. Monmouth’s climb into the top-25 has been a 25-year progression, rising up through the non-scholarship ranks before making the jump to the Big South, a full-scholarship league, four seasons ago.

Kennesaw State’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium was a public-private partnership that cost $16.5-million, with the 8,300-seat facility opening in 2010. Monmouth’s Kessler Stadium is a $16-million, 4,200-seat facility that opened this year, with the majority of the money raised through donations.

It’s a battle between two college football recruiting hotbeds. Some 70 players on the Kennesaw State roster hail from Georgia, while 54 players on the Monmouth roster are from New Jersey. Kennesaw State has no New Jersey players, and Monmouth has none from Georgia.

Kennesaw State runs the triple-option, similar to Navy and Georgia Tech, with head coach Brian Bohannon having served as an assistant at both schools. They’ve run the ball 82 percent of the time this season. Monmouth runs a traditional offense under head coach Kevin Callahan, in his 25th season, running the ball 57 percent of the time this season.

As you can see, there’s very little that would lead you to believe these two institutions would have anything to do with one another. But what unites them is the 63-scholarship limit of FCS football.

So on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., just north of Atlanta, the Owls and Hawks will play for the Big South championship, in search of the one goal that's the same for both programs: to compete for a national championship.

Stephen Edelson: sedelson@gannettnj.com; Twitter: @SteveEdelsonAPP