Coastal Carolina releases 2012 football schedule

A year after encountering all kinds of hurdles while trying to complete its football schedule, Coastal Carolina had no such issues this time around and released its 2012 season slate Wednesday.

The Chanticleers unveiled a lineup featuring five home games and intriguing non-conference road matchups with Furman, Toledo and Appalachian State.

The Chants, who will be launching a new era under first-year head coach Joe Moglia, open Sept. 1 at home against North Carolina A&T and will also host Eastern Kentucky in the season’s opening weeks.

“I am excited by the schedule. It’s a tough schedule,” Moglia said. “We’ve got the one FBS game with the MAC, and we’re playing [four] FCS teams that were nationally ranked -- all of whom were ranked ahead of us last year. That includes [Big South Conference mates] Liberty and Stony Brook, so it’s going to be a tough, challenging schedule.”.

After having a couple programs back out of contracts late in the process of setting the schedule last year, CCU athletic director Hunter Yurachek said everything went smoothly this time and his only remaining obstacle had been getting the Appalachian State game locked in for 2012.

The Chants and Mountaineers have met twice before with Appalachian State winning 30-3 in 2005 and 45-28 in the 2006 FCS playoffs. The programs inked a one-game contract with Coastal receiving a $100,000 guarantee rather than a return game.

The Mountaineers have won three FCS national championships and went 8-4 in 2011, finishing with a No. 12 ranking in The Sports Network/Fathead.com national poll.

“I consider them the premier program in FCS, and I wanted to see where our program compares to their program,” Yurachek said. “We have aspirations to one day win a national championship, so I think that will give us a good barometer and a good gauge to judge exactly where our program is.”

Instead of taking a large paycheck to go play an ACC, SEC or other BCS behemoth on the road this year, the Chants instead have a date with Toledo that will net the athletic department a guarantee of $375,000.

Coastal lost 59-0 last season at Georgia after previously taking lopsided defeats at Clemson, Penn State and West Virginia over the years. Guarantee games are a necessary chunk of revenue for the athletic department, but Yurachek said he’d rather take that money for games that provide the Chants a better opportunity to stay competitive. He referenced the program’s 18-0 loss at Kent State back in 2009.

Toledo finished 8-5 in 2011 and lost to Florida International in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

“Toledo was one of the best teams in the Mid-American Conference this year and went to a bowl game. They’ve got an explosive offense,” Yurachek said. “... That will be a huge challenge for our program, but I still [think] a game against a Mid-American Conference school or a Sun Belt Conference school gives our players a chance to be more competitive than against an FBS opponent from the SEC or ACC. I’m looking for guarantee games where we can be competitive and have an opportunity to win the game.”

Meanwhile, the Chants conclude their home-and-home contract with Furman (they defeated the Paladins 30-23 last season) in 2012, but Yurachek said conversations are ongoing to continue that series further. Furman finished a few spots outside the top-25 last season.

And the game with Eastern Kentucky Sept. 15 at Brooks Stadium begins a home-and-home agreement the Chants will return in 2013. The Colonels finished 7-5 in 2011 and were ranked 24th in the final FCS poll. It will be the first meeting between the programs.

Yurachek said he hopes to continue to schedule FCS opponents that will bolster Coastal’s strength of schedule and noted that the Chants will begin series with Elon, South Carolina State and UNC Charlotte starting in 2013.

Coastal is coming off a 7-4 overall finish in 2011 and a 3-3 mark in the Big South. It will open conference play Oct. 13 at home against defending league champion Stony Brook (No. 18 ranking in 2011) and will also host league foes Liberty (No. 25) and Charleston Southern.

Moglia, meanwhile, said he is eager to launch his CCU tenure with that Sept. 1 game against North Carolina A&T at Brooks Stadium. The Chants are 3-0 all-time in the series and rolled to a 31-14 win over the Aggies last season.

“I can’t tell you how excited I’ll be about that game,” Moglia said. “For me to be able to walk out on the field with our team for our home opener, that’s going to be incredibly exciting for me.”

NOTES: Season tickets will be available for purchase as of March 1. Coastal is also introducing a new ticketing system in March, partnering with TicketReturn, that will allow fans to print tickets at home, e-mail tickets to other fans and manage tickets online. For more information, call the CCU athletic ticket office at 843-347-8499.

2012 CCU Football Schedule

(All times to be announced later)

Sept. 1 vs. North Carolina A&T (Brooks Stadium, Conway)

Sept. 8 at Furman (Paladin Stadium, Greenville, S.C.)

Sept. 15 vs. Eastern Kentucky (Brooks Stadium, Conway)

Sept. 22 at Toledo (Glass Bowl, Toledo, Ohio)

Sept. 29 at Appalachian State (Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, N.C.)

Oct. 6 Bye

Oct. 13 vs. Stony Brook (Brooks Stadium, Conway

Oct. 20 at VMI (Alumni Memorial Field, Lexington, Va.)

Oct. 27 vs. Liberty (Brooks Stadium, Conway)

Nov. 3 at Gardner-Webb (Spangler Stadium, Boiling Springs, N.C.)

Nov. 10 at Presbyterian (Bailey Memorial Stadium, Clinton)

Nov. 17 vs. Charleston Southern (Brooks Stadium, Conway)