Breaking down the game

•  Series | First meeting

•  Weather | 80 degrees and partly cloudy

•  Injuries | Coastal: TE David Duran (toe), RB Marcus Whitener (knee), DE Chris Thomas (knee) are out; RB Travis Small (foot) is questionable. Eastern Kentucky: N/A

Key number: 196

Eastern Kentucky does the bulk of its damage on the ground. The Colonels averaged 196 rushing yards per game last season to rank 22nd among all FCS teams and look to be every bit as strong this year after going for 282 rushing yards last week against Morehead State.

Key matchup

Eastern Kentucky senior running back Matt Denham vs. Coastal Carolina’s defensive front. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Denham has more than 2,000 career rushing yards to his credit and had his ninth career 100-yard game last week with 166 yards against Morehead State. He ranked third among all FCS players last year with 130.8 rushing yards per game and is on the 2012 Walter Payton Award watch list. The Chanticleers have allowed an average of 147.5 yards on the ground through two weeks.

Quarterback

Senior Aramis Hillary has set career highs in passing yardage each of the last two weeks and is the reigning Big South Conference Offensive Player of the Week. He was at his best late in the Chants’ 47-45 triple-overtime win at Furman last week, leading the team on a game-tying field goal drive at the end of regulation and orchestrating three touchdowns in overtime while completing five of his last six passes with each going for at least 20 yards. Through two games, Hillary has passed for 566 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 70.9 percent of his passes. ... Eastern Kentucky also has a veteran signal-caller in senior T.J. Pryor, who has 30 career starts on his resume and needs 474 passing yards and 49 completions to become the Colonels’ all-time leader in both categories. After missing the opener due to injury, he was 13-of-22 passing for 148 yards and one touchdown last week.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Running back

The Chants don’t have a running back like Denham, who averaged 5.6 yards per carry last year while gaining a total of 1,570 yards – the fourth-best single-season total in Eastern Kentucky’s program history. But they look to have a decently productive backfield with senior Jeremy Height handling the bulk of the carries (155 yards through two games) and 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior Lorenzo Taliaferro offering a change of pace option (team-high 55 yards in 13 carries last week).

•  Edge | Eastern Kentucky

Wide receiver/tight end

Coastal’s receivers were impressive for the second week in a row while helping pull off that thriller at Furman. Juniors Matt Hazel (7 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown) and DeMario Bennett (5-87-1) both set career highs. Junior Niccolo Mastromatteo was quiet in the slot last week, but he showed his potential with seven catches in the opener. At tight end, meanwhile, redshirt-freshman Thomas Pauciello replaces injured starter David Duran. ... Eastern Kentucky did not have a player rank in the top-10 among Ohio Valley Conference receivers last year and doesn’t look to have a game-changing target this fall either. Senior Cameron Bailey leads the team with 10 receptions for 109 yards through two games.

Edge | Coastal Carolina

Offensive line

Eastern Kentucky is strong at the edges as senior left tackle Patrick Ford (6-6, 305) and senior right tackle Aaron Adams (6-5, 295) were both first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selections last year. Junior right guard Justin Meredith (6-2, 290) is also a returning starter, giving the Colonels significant experience up front. Nonetheless, the team allowed 30 sacks last year and has given up four already this season. ... The Chants’ offensive line, meanwhile, is coming off a shaky performance after allowing four sacks last week.

•  Edge | Eastern Kentucky

Defensive line

The final score and final stats aside, Coastal’s defensive front actually looked quite impressive for most of the game last week as Furman consistently struggled to find any yards up the middle of the field or generate movement at the line of scrimmage. The Chants’ starting defensive line has not exactly been dominant, though, producing just one sack through two games. ... Eastern Kentucky, meanwhile, has some proven playmakers on the line as junior Shawn Shupperd, junior David Carter and senior Robert Knowles combined for 22.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks a year ago.

•  Edge | Eastern Kentucky

Linebacker

Junior Mike McClure and sophomore Quinn Backus have been revelations for the Chants this season as first-year starters. Backus is the reigning Big South Defensive Player of the Week and leads the team with 21 tackles, while McClure has 19 tackles, a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss and had a 100-yard interception return on a two-point conversion last week. ... The Colonels are just as stout at linebacker, though. Juniors Anthony Brown and Ichiro Vance were first-team all-conference picks last year and senior Kevin Hamlin led the league with four interceptions last year.

•  Edge | Push

Secondary

Both teams are likely down a starting cornerback as senior Tre Henderson (hamstring) is expected to play but not start for Coastal and senior Cejay Ceniza has missed the first two games for Eastern Kentucky, leaving mostly unproven backups in their stead. On the other side, senior Dontavais Johnson has been solid for Coastal so far with three interceptions and two pass break-ups and senior Justin Bell was a 2011 All-OVC first-team pick. Another player to keep an eye on is Colonels senior free safety Brooklyn Fox, who had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the team’s season-opening loss to Purdue.

•  Edge | Push

Special teams

Sophomore Alex Catron is 5-of-6 on field goals already for Coastal and should be kicking with plenty of confidence after nailing a 45-yarder at the end of regulation last week to force overtime. Height, meanwhile, filled in just fine for Henderson on kick returns last week with a 63-yarder in the fourth quarter. ... Eastern Kentucky kicker Luke Perry has made just 1 of 3 field goals so far (a 26-yarder). The Colonels do boast a strong punter in all-league junior Jordan Berry (41 yards per punt last year), though, and have several players sharing return duties.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Intangibles

There seems to be an overt confidence among this Chants team, and that is only growing after a 2-0 start and a key road win over Furman. With another large crowd expected Saturday night at Brooks Stadium, Coastal should be primed to vie for the upset over the No. 20-ranked Colonels. After all, Eastern Kentucky won narrowly – 24-17 – last week against a Morehead State team that plays in the non-scholarship Pioneer League and went 3-8 last year.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Pick

Coastal Carolina, 24-21

News and Notes

Big Opportunity

While CCU head coach Joe Moglia has downplayed the significance of playing a ranked team, athletic director Hunter Yurachek talked about what a win over the No. 20 Colonels would mean for Coastal.

“By no means is this a make or break game for our season, but I think if we can go in there and play like what we’ve been playing and win this game, it’s a huge springboard for the rest of the season,” Yurachek said. “... I think we’ve got a great chance to win the ballgame Saturday, and I think if we can, we’re 3-0 and that really changes the entire complexion of your season.”

History vs. ranked teams

Coastal is 3-2 all-time when hosting ranked teams inside Brooks Stadium. That includes wins over No. 1 James Madison in 2005 (31-27), No. 3 Furman in 2006 (29-27) and No. 11 Liberty in 2010 (45-31).

Family Weekend

It’s Family Weekend at Coastal, which usually brings a large football crowd in on Saturdays. Athletic department officials said Friday afternoon that about 8,500 tickets had been sold so far.

By Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com