Coastal looks for rare fast start on the road at Presbyterian

Coastal Carolina has been a gracious guest in the first half of its games as a visitor this season.

The Chanticleers have trailed at halftime in each of their three road games this year, and hope to buck that trend in their final opportunity of the 2016 season at 2 p.m. Saturday at Presbyterian.

The Chants trailed 14-3 at the half against Lamar in their opener before scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half for a 38-14 win, trailed 13-12 in a 27-26 loss to Jacksonville State in its third game, and trailed 7-3 at Gardner-Webb before taking a 17-7 victory.

“A coach doesn’t want to be down, but I do think it says more about your team when you do come from behind and win than when you’re just kind of controlling the game from the outset,” Coastal Carolina head coach Joe Moglia said.

Coastal (5-2) is playing its final road game of the season and has four remaining home games in a schedule that does not include conference games in its first year of transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision level of NCAA Division I football.

Presbyterian (2-5), meanwhile, is playing just its third home game of the season after playing five of its first seven on the road.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to get some energy from our crowd and be able to put up a good fight against a really good Coastal Carolina team,” said eight-year Blue Hose coach Harold Nichols. “We play in some difficult environments and it toughens your football team up, but you’ve got to be able to take advantage of the opportunities you have at home.”

The Blue Hose are 1-1 at home with a 28-7 loss to Florida Tech and 17-13 win over Big South Conference foe Monmouth two weeks ago.

Of Presbyterian’s three losses, one has come to FBS member Central Michigan and two have come to top-10 FCS teams Chattanooga and Charleston Southern. Coastal Carolina is ranked 18th in the STATS FCS poll.

Presbyterian has endured injury woes at quarterback that rival those of Coastal Carolina, which is starting former Myrtle Beach High standout Tyler Keane for the fifth consecutive game. Keane, a fourth-year junior, was fifth on the Chants’ QB depth chart at the start of the season.

“The things we’ve asked him to do he’s handled really well. He has unbelievable poise for a guy who hasn’t played a lot of football,” CCU offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said. “He is the state record holder for touchdowns in a high school game with eight so the kid can play, he’s just 5-9. You can’t tell him that. He doesn’t look at it that way. He looks at it like he’s 6-2.”

Presbyterian started third-year sophomore John Walker of Simpsonville against Charleston Southern last week, its third different starting quarterback in 2016. The team’s top two quarterbacks, Ben Cheek and Will Brock, have suffered injuries. Brock is out this week, according to Nichols, while Cheek is questionable.

“The reason John has been in there the last six quarters has been because of injury and he’s been the next man up,” Nichols said. “It’s a day-to-day thing with us right now.”

The Blue Hose offense has struggled this season, averaging just 9.1 points per game while allowing an average of 28.6. Their worst struggles came last week against CSU, which defeated CCU 59-58 in double overtime on Oct. 1.

Presbyterian was held to four first downs and 102 yards of offense with 28 rushing yards on 21 carries and 74 passing yards. In the second half, the Blue Hose had just 18 yards and one first down. Walker was 14 of 22 with an interception while finding eight different receivers.

“It certainly was disappointing for us,” Nichols said. “[Walker] played okay. He didn’t do anything to hurt us. We just weren’t able to make some plays. … We’ve got to play better at the quarterback position if we’re going to have a chance to win this weekend, there’s no doubt about it.”

Senior running back De’Angelo Henderson, who holds the NCAA Division I record with 32 consecutive games with a touchdown, will be held out for a second straight week with a shoulder injury, according to Moglia, so senior Kenneth Daniels will get his second consecutive start in the backfield.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Coastal looks for rare fast start on the road at Presbyterian."