Everything you need to know for Coastal Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb

Last meeting

Coastal Carolina won 46-0 on Oct. 31, 2015

Series record

The Chanticleers lead 11-2

Coastal Carolina

Strength: Strong running game, offensive line.

Weakness: Inexperience and lack of depth at quarterback.

Gardner-Webb

Strength: Linebacker, offensive line.

Weakness: Youth in the defensive backfield.

Key matchup

Gardner-Webb QB Tyrell Maxwell vs. CCU’s defensive line and linebackers: Maxwell is the Big South Conference record holder for most games with 100 yards both rushing and passing with four. He has twice been the conference player of the week this season, and in last week’s 24-3 win over Presbyterian he posted 377 total yards, completing 7 of 12 passes for 222 yards and a score and rushing 11 times for 155 yards and a touchdown. G-W has balance between the run and pass in its spread-option offense, and runs some option and zone-read plays, with Maxwell carrying out fakes and often keeping the ball with home-run speed. A defensive line featuring senior Jabarai Bothwell and redshirt freshman Myles White and an experienced linebacker corps featuring senior Alex Scearce and junior Shane Johnson will have to mix aggressiveness with discipline.

Players to watch

Coastal Carolina

Senior running back De’Angelo Henderson: He looks to extend his NCAA Division I record for touchdowns scored in consecutive games to 32, and has gained 349 yards rushing in the past two games. He scored four touchdowns last week against Charleston Southern.

Junior quarterback Tyler Keane: The Myrtle Beach High graduate makes his third career start and is 32 of 51 (62.7 percent) for 408 yards with five TDs and one interception on the season.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Myles White: Despite starting the season second on the depth chart, White has 23 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and two blocked kicks this season.

Gardner-Webb

Sophomore running back Khalil Lewis: He has gained 628 yards on 114 carries for a 5.5-yard average with 10 touchdowns this season. Has breakaway speed, with a recorded 40-yard dash time of 4.42 seconds.

Junior quarterback Tyrell Maxwell: Has gained 505 yards on 80 rushes for a 6.3 average with 5 TDs this year, and has completed 62 of 115 passes (53.9 percent) for 832 yards, 4 TDs and just one interception.

Senior linebackers Chad Geter and Aaron Cook: Geter is a Preseason STATS FCS All-American who is 17 tackles from 300 in his career, while Cook is already a two-time All-Big South selection.

He said it

“He runs like a running back as opposed to a quarterback, and when he’s on the perimeter he’ll look to throw but he doesn’t hesitate to take off. They’re very effective running the quarterback draw, and if you’re doing a good job of pressuring him and there’s a little hole there, he can hurt you with that. So we’ve got to make sure the quarterback is relatively contained.” – CCU head coach Joe Moglia on Tyrell Maxwell

Scouting report

Both teams run the ball proficiently. CCU has rushed for at least 240 yards in four of its five games and G-W has rushed for more than 200 yards in four of its six games behind an offensive line that returned four starters from 2015. GWU ranks No. 12 nationally in FCS in rushing yards per game (257.3) and has scored 14 times on the ground in five games. CCU’s De’Angelo Henderson has 683 yards on 99 carries for a 6.9-yard average per carry.

Senior tight end Mike Estes is a weapon for G-W with 17 catches for 230 yards. For his career, he has 98 catches for 1,269 yards and 9 TDs, giving him the Big South’s tight end triple crown leader for catches, yardage and touchdowns.

There may be some opportunities down field for Keane with a pair of true freshman in the G-W defensive backfield in safety Devin Mines and cornerback Jaylan Foster. “They do a good job of disguising what they do and where they’re coming from blitz-wise. I think if we’re able to cover that then we’ll be okay,” Keane said.

Notes

▪ Coastal is 11-2 when coming off a bye week, and under Moglia it is 3-1 with four consecutive wins after bye weeks.

▪ With a pair of one-point losses to top-10 teams this season, CCU has lost just six of its past 44 games vs. FCS opponents by a total of 19 points.

▪ G-W’s 519 yards of offense on 55 plays last week against Presbyterian set the program’s single-game Division I mark for most average yards per play at 9.4.

Prediction

Coastal Carolina 38, Gardner-Webb 23. The Bulldogs’ experienced offensive line and talent on offense will make it difficult to keep them out of the end zone. But CCU has won 11 of the past 12 against G-W and has never lost at Spangler Stadium, and it’s not likely to lose Saturday.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Everything you need to know for Coastal Carolina vs. Gardner-Webb."