How did the youngest offensive line in the nation fare for Coastal Carolina vs. Troy?

For the second consecutive game, Coastal Carolina started on Saturday the youngest and least experienced offensive line in the country at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.

The line faced a daunting task against a Troy defense that is statistically the best in the Sun Belt Conference and has yet to allow an opponent this season to score more than 24 points, including LSU, which it defeated 24-21 on the road.

The Chants hit a couple pass plays longer than 30 yards for touchdowns, but were held to 258 yards of offense in a 42-17 loss at Brooks Stadium.

The Chants had 164 yards passing on 28 attempts and 94 yards rushing on 37 carries, and Troy recorded 13 tackles for loss including five sacks.

“We gave up some sacks we don’t need to and had some negative yards plays, and I think they did some different things than Arkansas did (last week) and it gave us some issues, but I thought we did some positive things as they continue to grow and jell,” Coastal offensive coordinator and interim head coach Jamey Chadwell said.

The starting line consisted of true freshmen Jack Franklin and Brock Hoffman, redshirt freshmen Steven Bedosky and Trey Carter, and redshirt sophomore Ethan Howard.

A pair of upperclassmen who have been battling injuries also contributed Saturday. Senior Rodney Mitchell saw some action at tackle and junior guard Adam Lawhorn saw action in the fourth quarter, but he appeared to reinjure the knee that has kept him out of the past few games and exited the game.

“Where we’re at right now you feel like sometimes you have to be perfect in everything you do to continue drives, and you’re not going to be,” Chadwell said. “Right now with the youngness, with learning each other and with us trying to figure it out, you’ve got to play a good clean game and when you have young people it’s hard to play a clean game. I thought they got better in a lot of ways. … We’ll be able to grow from that and it will help us in the future.”

Wilson makes debut

Coastal had high hopes when it announced in February that Austin Wilson was joining the team as a graduate transfer from Syracuse with a year of eligibility remaining.

But it took 10 games for Wilson to see his first action. He replaced starter Kilton Anderson for a few plays after Anderson was dinged up from a hit with 9:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wilson completed his first pass for 7 yards and went 1 for 3 with a receiver drop before Anderson returned.

At Syracuse, Wilson played in nine games, completing 49 of 85 passes for 418 yards with a TD and seven interceptions.

Rare sighting

For the first time in the past two years, two Coastal tight ends caught a pass in the same game.

The Chants run a spread option offense that often features three and four wide receivers, so tight ends aren’t used in the passing game much.

So the 11-yard catch by sophomore Maxwell Kjosa and 8-yard catch by junior Laquay Brown constituted a first-time occurrence.

Kjosa, a Socastee High grad, now has four receptions on the season and in his career, with two going for touchdowns. Brown’s catch was his first this season and gives him three in his career, with the previous two going for TDs.

Injuries hit defense

Coastal lost a couple defensive players to injuries in the game, though it’s unclear if they will keep the players out of Friday’s game at Idaho.

Backup sophomore safety Jave Brown suffered an upper body injury, while sophomore linebacker Laqavious Paul suffered a lower body injury. Paul has started two games this season and five in the past two years and is also a major contributor on special teams.

“If he’s out his role will be hard to fill for the last couple weeks here,” Chadwell said. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing in a lot of areas so that would be a tough loss.”

Campbell retires

Coastal had several on-field celebrations and acknowledgments Saturday, and one included the announced retirement from competition for two-time Olympian Amber Campbell.

The 2004 Coastal graduate competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games in the hammer throw.

In addition she won the hammer throw in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships three times in 2010, 2012 and 2015, was a runner-up in event four times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014), won six USA indoor weight throw titles (2007-2012) and also finished as runner-up four times (2005, 2006, 2013, 2014) in the national indoor meet.

Troy milestones

Troy players reached some impressive milestones Saturday, led by senior Jordan Chunn, a bruising 6-1, 235-pound running back who set school records for career carries and touchdowns in the game.

His 12 carries give him 656 in his career, his 30 yards rushing put him over 3,000, and his 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter gives him 46 touchdowns in his career – all rushing – to break a tie with Danny Grant.

Senior quarterback Brandon Silvers has started 45 games, and his 18 completions Saturday give him 900 in his career in 1,402 attempts, and he’s now less than 250 passing yards from 10,000 in his career with 61 TDs and 28 interceptions.

Junior cornerback Blace Brown had two interceptions Saturday, giving him 10 over the past two seasons. Brown’s first came at the 2-yard line to halt Coastal’s opening drive, and he returned his second in the second quarter 40 yards after receiver Chris Jones fell on a deep throw.

This story was originally published November 11, 2017 at 11:57 PM with the headline "How did the youngest offensive line in the nation fare for Coastal Carolina vs. Troy?."