Breaking down the game

•  Series | Coastal Carolina leads 4-1

•  Weather | 68 degrees and sunny

Key number: 117

Presbyterian ranks 117th out of 121 FCS teams in total defense, allowing an average of 493.9 yards per contest. That number is even worse in conference play, where the Blue Hose are giving up 513 yards per game – 63.5 more than any other Big South team.

Key matchup

Coastal Carolina’s rushing attack vs. Presbyterian’s defensive front. Here are two stats to think about this week: The Chanticleers rank second in the Big South in averaging 253 rushing yards per game in league play, while the Blue Hose rank last in rush defense, having allowed 320.5 rushing yards per conference game.

Quarterback

Senior Aramis Hillary is expected to return to the starting lineup this week for Coastal after sitting out one game due to injury. He still leads the Big South in total offense with 2,058 yards – 1,770 passing and 288 rushing – and hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 180 attempts. That’s a program record. … The Blue Hose have been starting redshirt-freshman Kaleb Griffin at quarterback. He’s completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 734 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions while starting three games and playing in all nine.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Running back

Coastal has been a proficient rushing team for a solid month now, averaging 253 yards on the ground over the last four games. Senior Jeremy Height is averaging 5.4 yards per carry for the season while totaling 624 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, and junior Lorenzo Taliaferro (321 yards and four touchdowns in 69 carries) has been an effective change-of-pace complement. … Senior Lance Byrd is Presbyterian’s best offensive player and has had a nice season while rushing for 554 yards. Sophomore Demarcus Rouse has handled the team’s goal-line opportunities and has nine touchdowns while rushing for 6.7 yards per carry. Nonetheless, the Blue Hose are averaging just 123.6 rushing yards per game.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Wide receiver

Junior Matt Hazel is already second on Coastal’s all-time single-season receptions list with 42, totaling 533 yards and three touchdowns, while juniors DeMario Bennett (36 catches for 485 yards and five scores) and Niccolo Mastromatteo (33-419-3) aren’t far behind. … Senior Anderico Bailey leads Presbyterian with 38 catches for 308 yards, while junior Arthur Williams has 30 receptions for 331 yards. The Blue Hose have only five receiving touchdowns as a team.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Offensive line

There can’t be enough said about the improvement Coastal’s offensive line has made since last season in regard to opening up holes for the rushing game. Some of that surely has to do with play-calling and schemes and some of the credit goes to the team’s running backs, of course, but there have been ample running lanes and everybody the Chants have put in the backfield has had success. That line has also allowed only one sack over the last two games. … Presbyterian has been about league-average up front, allowing about two sacks per game while averaging 4.1 yards per rushing attempt.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Defensive line

After tallying 11 sacks over the last three games, Coastal leads Big South in sacks with 2.0 per game. Senior defensive end Quinton Davis had two sacks last week and also leads all Chants defensive linemen with 5.5 tackles for loss. … Presbyterian has not done a good job pressuring the quarterback and ranks last in the conference with only nine sacks overall – and none in four conference games.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Linebacker

What more can be said about Chants sophomore Quinn Backus? He’s the only player in the Big South ranked in the top 10 in tackles, sacks, tackles for loss, forced fumbles and fumbles recovered. He’s second in the league with 11.3 tackles per game and has been named the conference’s defensive player of the week four times already. And junior Mike McClure ranks fourth in the Big South with 7.3 tackles per game. … Sophomore Donelle Williams is having a nice season for Presbyterian and ranks third on that list with 9.2 tackles per game.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Secondary

Coastal’s defensive backs have made four interceptions over the last two games as the at-times-maligned unit has shown some improvement. Junior cornerback LaDarius Hawthorne has interceptions each of the last two weeks while earning a larger role for the Chants. For the season, though, Coastal still ranks next-to-last in the Big South in pass defense while allowing 240.9 yards per game through the air. … Presbyterian’s defensive backs have only two interceptions all season, meanwhile, and the Blue Hose list two freshmen and a sophomore among their starters in the secondary.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Special teams

Sophomore kicker Alex Catron has something to prove this week after missing two extra point attempts in Coastal’s win at Gardner-Webb. He’s been solid overall this season, though, making 7-of-9 field goals and 30-of-32 PATs. Senior Tre Henderson hasn’t had many opportunities, but he’s averaging 32 yards per kickoff return in 10 attempts. … Presbyterian doesn’t have much of a kicking game as senior Aaron Mayes is just 3-of-10 on field goals. The Blue Hose do have one of the Big South’s better punters, though, as senior Patrick Morgano is averaging 39.0 yards per attempt.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Intangibles

After making progress in recent seasons under coach Harold Nichols, the Blue Hose have taken a clear step backward this fall. They enter this week having lost four straight games by double figures, and their lone wins came against a Division II Brevard team and a Davidson team that plays in the non-scholarship FCS Pioneer Football League. … Coastal, meanwhile, has won three straight – each by at least 22 points – and has no shortage of motivation while retaining some hope for an FCS playoff berth.

•  Edge | Coastal Carolina

Pick

Coastal Carolina, 45-11

News and Notes

Playoff hopes

The Big South playoff picture will come into focus this week.

If Stony Brook wins at Liberty, the No. 6-ranked Seawolves clinch the conference championship outright as they have no other games remaining.

But if Liberty somehow pulls the upset, well, Coastal is suddenly in position to slip into the postseason because if those three teams tie atop the standings with one league loss each, the tiebreaker would be determined by best road record in conference games. And assuming the Chants can take care of business these last two weeks, they would win the league’s automatic FCS playoff berth.

So expect plenty of scoreboard watching Saturday as the Flames and Seawolves kick off at 3:30 p.m. in Lynchburg, Va.

It’s that time of the year

For what it’s worth, Coastal is the Big South’s winningest team in the month of November with a 23-6 record all-time – one win better than Liberty.

The Chants have now won seven straight regular-season games in November, dating back to the 2009 season.

Recent history

It was just last season that Presbyterian gave Coastal a scare in Conway while holding an 8-7 fourth quarter lead. The Chants would eventually pull back ahead on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jamie Childers to DeMario Bennett with 4:48 remaining on the way to a 15-8 win.

Of course, those were different times for the Blue Hose.

Presbyterian won three conference games last season – its most since joining the conference – before tumbling back down to the bottom of the standings again this fall.

Familiar face

Presbyterian’s defensive coordinator this season is Drew Watson, who was previously the Chanticleers’ safeties coach. He was on Coastal’s coaching staff for all nine seasons under former head coach David Bennett.

By Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com