Takeaways from Coastal Carolina’s loss against Charleston Southern

What it means

Coastal Carolina now has two losses on the season, both coming to top 10-ranked FCS programs (No. 3 Jacksonville State, No. 10 Charleston Southern) and both by one point.

Chanticleers coach Joe Moglia said the losses didn’t sting any less despite knowing his team is ineligible for postseason play or conference honors as they make the transition from the Big South Conference to the Sun Belt Conference (Division I-A).

“No. No. We’re not like any other college football team. We don’t come in and say this our goal, this our goal and this our goal. We come in with a mission, and that mission is to give an effort that our school is truly, truly proud of. Not many football teams in the nation say that. That’s what we begin with, that’s number one,” Moglia said. “Number two, everything we do is [our motto] ‘BAM’ (‘Be A Man’). ‘BAM’ means you take responsibility for yourself, treat others with dignity and respect and it also means you never give up and give one hundred percent [all] the time.”

Looking ahead

The Chants, of course, wanted an undefeated season heading into the Sun Belt next year. But, despite two losses, Moglia said there’s still plenty to play for.

“We have guys that have been together with me since I’ve been here. They deserve to go out as hard as they possibly can,” he said. “We have guys that potentially have shots at [playing at] the next level. They deserve to get all the support we can possibly [give them]. At the end of the day – and I’m not thinking of 2017 at all – the best thing we could do [going into] 2017 is go in there with a good record and we still have the opportunity, certainly, to do that.”

Now, Coastal Carolina will have a bye week before heading to North Carolina to take on Gardner-Webb on Oct. 15. Halfback De’Angelo Henderson and Co. won’t be focusing on the past too much as they prepare for the contest with the Bulldogs.

“The main thing we need to do is try not to point fingers at any particular group. Just regroup, correct our mistakes and move forward for Gardner-Webb in two weeks,” Henderson said. “[We can’t] dwell on it. The game is over and there’s nothing we can do about it and just move forward.”

Game balls

Halfback De’Angelo Henderson: The senior had 164 yards on 18 carries and had four touchdowns – which tied a school record – to follow up his performance in last week’s win over Furman in which he racked up a career-high 185 yards on the ground.

Safety Richie Sampson: The redshirt senior racked up a game-high 14 total tackles and one pass breakup. He now leads the team in tackles with 39 on the season.

Linebacker Alex Scearce: The senior recorded seven tackles and had one sack.

By the numbers

15

Straight contests with a reception for Chants wide receiver Bruce Mapp.

8

Coastal Carolina junior linebacker Shane Johnson recorded a team-high eight tackles in his first game back since suffering an ankle injury in the season opener.

3

Straight completions on two-point conversions for Coastal Carolina’s Chris Jones, who converted one Saturday.

10,231

Total fans in attendance Saturday, which was the fourth highest total in program history.

This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Takeaways from Coastal Carolina’s loss against Charleston Southern."