Takeaways from Coastal Carolina’s win over Liberty

What it means

The Chanticleers (9-2) have dealt with an unusual amount of injuries at quarterback, and that trend continued Thursday night as Coastal Carolina took down its biggest football rival in Liberty by the largest margin ever in the series between the schools, which is now tied at 7.

This season three CCU quarterbacks have gone down with season-ending injuries – including season-opening starter Josh Stilley – and the Chanticleers then turned to junior Tyler Keane, who opened the preseason as a fifth-teamer. Keane played well in his time at quarterback before going down two weeks ago in a win over Monmouth. He did not start in last week’s win over Bryant, although Keane did play a few snaps late in the game and completed 3-of-3 passes for 32 yards.

Keane was back Thursday night, although he quickly found himself watching from the sidelines after taking a hit on a throw on just the team’s third offensive play and he would not return.

Former Coastal Carolina baseball standout Tyler Chadwick became the eighth player to complete a pass for the Chants this season and split time with true freshman Ryan Lee, who was originally recruited to play wide receiver.

And while the passing game took a hit Thursday, the Coastal Carolina rushing attack was in full force with senior De’Angelo Henderson leading the way with three touchdowns. Henderson surpassed 1,000 yards on the season and extended his NCAA Division I record for most consecutive games with at least one touchdown at 34.

The Chants defense also came up big, holding Liberty to a CCU best minus-23 rushing yards and it also recovered a fumble for a touchdown for its eighth defensive score on the season.

Looking ahead

With no postseason eligibility or no chance to play for a conference championship this season, the Chants have just one game left – a home contest against Hampton next Saturday at 2 p.m.

It will be the final time Henderson or any of the 20 or so other seniors on the roster will hit that teal field in uniform and they will look to make the most of it.

Then, the team will become an FBS member as it heads off to the Sun Belt Conference.

Game balls

Running back De’Angelo Henderson: The senior rushed for 139 yards on 20 carries and had three touchdowns.

Linebacker Alex Scearce: The senior recorded six tackles, 1.5 sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble that turned into a touchdown for the Chants.

Quarterback Tyler Chadwick: The graduate senior and member of the Coastal Carolina baseball team’s national championship team completed 6-of-9 passes for 71 yards as he stepped in for the injured Keane.

By the numbers

8

Players who have completed a pass for CCU this season after Chadwick saw his first significant time of the season

6

Consecutive wins for the Chants, who have just one game left

76

Team-high tackles on the season for Scearce, a candidate for the Buck Buchanan award – given to the top defensive player at the FCS level

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Takeaways from Coastal Carolina’s win over Liberty."