With Myrtle Beach High grad’s career possibly over, CCU looks to another starting QB

Tyler Keane, who has started 15 games at quarterback for Coastal Carolina over the past two seasons, may not see the field again this season as his college career comes to a close.

The Myrtle Beach High graduate and lefthander has a sprained left thumb after hitting a helmet on a follow through in the second quarter against Arkansas last week and is expected to miss at least the next two games against Troy and Idaho and possibly the season finale against Georgia Southern.

Keane’s injury has opened the door for former Fresno State starting quarterback Kilton Anderson to earn his first start at CCU on Saturday against Troy, and possibly starts in the final three games. “Kilton will have the plan to go forward and play the whole game and hopefully we’ll keep him healthy,” CCU interim head coach Jamey Chadwell said.

Anderson, a junior, is the third starting QB this season – Chance Thrasher started in the fourth game of the season and was injured on the first play – and sixth over the past 21 games, joining Josh Stilley, Austin Bradley and Tyler Chadwick last season.

“Throughout this whole season I’ve just been taking it one play at a time just waiting on my chance,” Anderson said. “I got that opportunity in the Arkansas game. There were definitely some plays that I missed that I wish I would have hit when you go back and watch film. I think the most important thing is that we played together as a team and we all fought and went in and competed with an SEC team. I think we just need to hopefully bottle that and continue to move forward.”

Anderson has played in three games this season, completing 16 of 44 passes (36.4 percent) for 306 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and has gained 23 yards on 16 carries rushing. At Arkansas last week, he threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes and was 6 of 17 for 115 yards while rushing for 37 yards on seven carries.

“I do think Kilton is ready for it. I do think he is capable of doing a lot of good things for us,” Chadwell said. “I think he’s shown that in his time, he’s been able to make some nice plays with his running ability and obviously making some nice plays throwing it.

“He is seeing things new. There are new things he sees that you wish he had more experience seeing that, but that’s part of growing. You’ve got to go through some of the growing pains with your quarterbacks. But the thing I do like about him is he’s not gun-shy when he goes in there, the moment’s never really too big for him, and he competes and I think the guys rally around him.”

In two seasons at Fresno State in 2014-15, Anderson completed 78 of 157 pass attempts for 817 yards with two TDs and five interceptions, and rushed for 211 yards and five TDs despite playing through a shoulder injury.

Anderson has a tough task in his first start against Troy, which is first in the Sun Belt Conference in rush defense, total defense and scoring defense, allowing just 17.7 points per game, and second in the conference in pass defense. But he says he’s not deterred.

“I love to compete. It will be a fun time and I think we’re more than ready for it,” Anderson said.

Though past starters Stilley and Thrasher will likely be back next season, and other quarterbacks may also be contending for the job, the next two or three games may serve as an audition for Anderson for the 2018 starting QB position.

“I just want what’s best for the team so I’m going to go out there and give it my all because I know everyone out there is playing for me as well,” Anderson said. “I think it’s a great audition, but I just want to leave these seniors on a good note. I think that’s what’s most important. They deserve it, being the first year in the Sun Belt and FBS and stuff like that. I think we’re a way better team than our record shows so I’m just going to go out there and play for them.”

Grad student Dalton Demos, who has played in six games this season, is available as a backup, as is Austin Wilson, a graduate transfer from Syracuse who has yet to play this season.

If Keane doesn’t play again he went out with a bang. He was 9 for 11 for 113 yards and a touchdown last week to help Coastal nearly upset Arkansas, and hasn’t thrown an interception in 116 consecutive pass attempts, dating back to the first half of the fourth game of the season at Louisiana-Monroe.

After being a holder for extra points and field goals for two seasons, Keane became a starter shortly after Josh Stilley suffered a season-ending injury in the third game last season. For his career he has completed 167 of 275 attempts (60.7 percent) for 2,249 yards and 21 TDs with seven interceptions. His career passing yards are fifth all-time at CCU.

“If Tyler does come back it looks like it might be the last game,” Chadwell said. “Our plan is that he’s not coming back and if he is capable of it we’ll figure that out when he comes back, but I don’t foresee that for at least the next two games.”

Baby-faced blockers

Anderson will be playing behind the youngest and least experienced offensive line in the nation at the FBS level Saturday, according to CCU associate AD for media relations Mike Cawood, as the Chants will start two true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and a redshirt sophomore for the second consecutive week.

Coastal’s line was already young this season after the loss of four starters from 2016 – including three that received tryouts with NFL teams – and got younger with injuries to junior left guard Adam Lawhorn and senior left tackle Rodney Mitchell in the past few weeks.

That led to redshirt freshman tackle Steven Bedosky and freshman guard Jack Franklin joining freshman center Brock Hoffman, redshirt freshman guard Trey Carter and sophomore tackle Ethan Howard in the starting lineup.

The starters have a combined 48 games of playing experience with 32 starts. Illinois’ line is second in fewest combined games played with 59 and San Diego State’s is second in fewest starts with 42. Yet CCU’s line limited Arkansas to one sack last week while helping CCU gain 131 yards on 38 carries, throw for 228 yards and take a 13-point fourth-quarter lead.

“That was a different environment and Arkansas has a pretty solid defensive front, but our guys weren’t intimidated,” Chadwell said. “I thought they played well and I thought we were able to mix our run and pass relatively well. Those guys did a pretty nice job in that environment.”

Mitchell has missed a couple games but is expected to be available for more plays in rotation with Bedosky on Saturday.

CCU has faced defenses with three down linemen in recent weeks and Troy plays a 4-3 defense with four down linemen.

“Because they’re young it takes them a while to adjust, and we’re going to see something completely different this week so that’s going to be the biggest challenge, how we adjust,” Chadwell said.

A full day

There are several events and acknowledgements surrounding Saturday’s football game.

The occasion is both CCU Athletics Hall of Fame Day as well as Military Appreciation Day. In a ceremony set to begin at noon, Coastal will induct five new members into its Sasser Athletics Hall of Fame: Josh Norman (football), David Anderson (baseball), Anthony Meo (baseball), Frank Talotta (baseball) and Marie Matrka (women’s tennis). The group will also be recognized at halftime of the game.

CCU’s players will run through the Rolling Thunder military motorcyclists to enter the field, the school will be recognized as one of 45 Purple Heart universities in the first quarter, former CCU cross country runner Katherine Jenerette will be honored as a Purple Heart recipient and veteran of the Persian Gulf War in the second quarter, and Olympic track and field athlete Amber Campbell will also be recognized between the first and second quarters.

Additionally, active members or veterans of the military can purchase tickets for themselves and family for $5 each.

First-time host

This week’s Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament is the first Sun Belt championship hosted by Coastal Carolina, which joined the league in all sports but football last season, and the top-seeded Chants are attempting to defend their 2016 soccer title.

In Thursday’s opening round, Georgia Southern faces Appalachian State at 4 p.m., with the winner facing Georgia State in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday. Hartwick faces Howard at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the winner facing CCU at 7 p.m. Friday. The championship match is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the CCU Soccer Complex.

Coastal (10-6-1) won its last three games and went 4-1 in conference play, while Georgia State (11-6-1) went 3-1-1 in Sun Belt play.

Coastal has seven players on the all-conference team, led by Player of the Year senior Frantzdy Pierrot. Joining him on the First Team are Louis Dargent, Kervin Kenton Fadel, Miguel Gutierrez and goalkeeper Braulio Linares-Ortiz. Martin Melchor and Romario Piggott are on the Second Team, and CCU coach Shaun Docking is the Coach of the Year.

Hoops tips off

The Coastal Carolina men’s and women’s basketball teams begin their seasons on Friday at the HTC Center.

The men face Piedmont International at 7:30 p.m. before embarking on a four-game road trip that includes the Island of the Bahamas Showcase, and the women face Lees-McRae College at 5 p.m. to begin a four-game homestand that includes games against UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington and Allen.

Coastal’s men tied for sixth in the Sun Belt last year with records of 20-19 overall and 10-8 in the conference, and were voted to finish eighth this year by the league’s coaches.

Coastal’s women tied for seventh in the conference last year with records of 13-16 overall and 8-10 in the conference, and were picked by the league’s coaches to finish 11th this season.

Women’s soccer falls

The CCU women's soccer team lost to four-time defending champion South Alabama 5-0 Sunday in the Sun Belt championship match in Foley, Ala. The seventh-seeded Chants (11-8-1) reached the title game for the second straight year.

South Alabama (14-5-1) will represent the Sun Belt in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Tournament at No. 17 Florida on Friday.

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 7:59 PM with the headline "With Myrtle Beach High grad’s career possibly over, CCU looks to another starting QB."