How a late twist of fate affected Coastal Carolina’s goal of getting bowl eligible
Coastal Carolina had a chance Saturday to pull within one win of becoming bowl eligible for the first time, and took a six-point lead over Arkansas State with 2:30 to play.
But the Red Wolves scored a touchdown with 32 seconds remaining to defeat the Chanticleers 28-27 at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Ark., handing the Chants (4-6) their fifth loss in the past six games to fall to 1-5 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Arkansas State (6-4, 4-2) drove 76 yards in 11 plays for the game-winning drive. Layne Hatcher hit Kirk Merritt for a 21-yard touchdown reception over the middle and Blake Grupe kicked the winning extra point.
“They’re disappointed. We all are. We were two minutes away from winning the game and they drive and score on us there,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell told WRNN 99.5 FM. “We had a lot of guys step up and make some plays. Unfortunately they made one more.
“They didn’t really have sustained drives obviously except for the last one, you know, and that’s when it matters. When we really needed it we didn’t get it.”
Jacqez Hairston had scored a go-ahead 9-yard touchdown run with 2:30 to play and a Bryce Carpenter two-point conversion run gave CCU a 27-21 lead. Hairston’s TD was the second of two CCU touchdowns in the span of 3:30 to overcome an eight-point deficit.
C.J. Marable scored on a 1-yard run to pull Coastal within two points at 21-19 after a fourth-down interception at the 1 was negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty, which was one of 14 ASU penalties for 116 yards. A two-point attempt failed. Greg Latushko forced a Merritt fumble on the ensuing kickoff return and Michael Makins recovered at the ASU 29 to set up Hairston’s score.
“The energy was good we just made way too many mistakes. We tried to give it away,” ASU coach Blake Anderson said on the ESPN+ broadcast.
The Chants were coming off a 48-7 loss last Thursday at home against Louisiana-Lafayette, and outgained ASU 412-376, including 233 rushing yards on 58 carries, and held a more than 22-minute advantage in time of possession.
“I was disappointed last week with the way we competed and everything. I told them today I want to see who the real Coastal team is,” Chadwell said. “Our guys showed up and played. They fought. We dominated most of the game, then in the third quarter they’re up and our guys fought back.”
Marable had 142 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, sophomore Fred Payton completed 11 of 22 passes for 149 yards with a TD and interception in his first significant action in four games because of a shoulder injury, and Ky’Jon Tyler had 74 yards receiving.
Hatcher, a freshman, completed 24 of 35 passes for 305 yards and three scores against a CCU secondary decimated by injuries, and was intercepted twice. Omar Bayless, who entered the game leading the nation with nearly 130 yards receiving per game and 13 receiving TDs, had seven receptions for 102 yards and a TD, and Merritt had seven catches for 70 yards and two TDs.
CCU sophomore safety Kameron Burton had a fumble recovery, interception and team-high eight tackles in the game.
“We had a good game plan for them. We tried to force them to not throw it deep and try to see if they’d be patient, and I thought our guys handled it,” Chadwell said. “I’m proud of the way we came back and fought and the way our guys really competed and laid it on the line. We had some guys step up and make plays, unfortunately they made one more.”
The Chants led 13-7 at halftime before ASU controlled the third quarter.
Arkansas State regained the lead early in the third quarter when linebacker Caleb Bonner intercepted a fluttering pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown after defensive back Logan Wescott hit Carpenter’s arm as he was attempting to throw.
Wescott came on a blitz off the right corner, and the interception snapped a streak of 121 consecutive Carpenter passes without an interception dating back to last season. Burton had intercepted a deep Hatcher pass at the Coastal 31 on the opening drive of the second half.
CCU’s Baden Pinson was stopped for a loss of a yard on an inside run on a fourth-and-1 at the Arkansas State 39 – the aggressive Chants were 5 of 9 on fourth-down conversions Saturday – and the Red Wolves drove 60 yards in eight plays to extend their lead to 21-13 on a Bayless 7-yard touchdown reception with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Freshman Jarius Reimonenq intercepted a Payton pass at the CCU 33 on CCU’s ensuing possession and ASU drove to the 10, but C.J. Brewer stopped Marcel Murray for no gain on fourth-and-1 to give the Chants possession. On the interception, Payton was flushed from the pocket and rolled to his right before throwing into traffic near the sideline.
“Some guys did some good stuff and competed but we made some just bonehead plays, that one [missed block on an interception] and then Fred made a bonehead interception – just not winning football,” Chadwell said. “That’s what you can be ticked off about. We allowed them to stay in the game and take control of the game.”
After Brewer’s stop, the Chants converted a fourth-and-1 at their own 20 – the second one of the game they converted at or inside their 20 – on a 2-yard Pinson run on their next possession before punting, and Derick Bush intercepted a Hatcher pass that sailed over a receiver’s head to give CCU possession at the ASU 33, leading to CCU’s first points of the second half on Marable’s score with 6 minutes remaining.
Coastal controlled the first half, running 51 plays to ASU’s 24. Coastal drove 57 yards in 13 plays over nearly 8 minutes on the game’s opening possession but came up empty when a pair of runs on third- and fourth-and-1 at the ASU 13 were stopped for no gain.
The Chants all but gifted ASU its only points of the first half and the first touchdown of the game when an option pitch from Carpenter to Marable was fumbled and recovered at the CCU 7 by William Bradley-King. Hatcher hit Merritt for a 7-yard TD pass three plays later.
The Chants pulled within a point on a pair of Massimo Biscardi field goals of 25 and 45 yards.
Chadwell gambled on a fourth down with a full yard to go from the CCU 19-yard line midway through the second quarter and the Chants converted on a 4-yard Pinson run. The decision paid dividends when the Chants completed a 90-yard, eight-play scoring drive capped by a 31-yard TD pass from Payton to Jai Williams, who got behind three defenders in the end zone. Tyler had a 34-yard reception on the play prior to Williams’ TD.
A 75-yard touchdown reception by Jonathan Adams was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty – one of Arkansas State’s nine penalties in the first half compared to two for Coastal in the half.
Coastal failed to convert a fourth-and-3 at the Arkansas State 41 when Marable slipped a yard shy of the first down after taking an option pitch from Payton with a minute left in the first half. Hatcher hit Bayless for a 30-yard gain on the Red Wolves next play but Matts forced a Bayless fumble and Burton recovered at the CCU 31 to preserve Coastal’s six-point lead going into halftime.
Coastal travels to Louisiana-Monroe (4-6, 3-3) next Saturday before finishing the regular season at home on Nov. 30 against Texas State (3-7, 2-4).
“After all the turmoil and everything we went through, we’ve got two opportunities to extend our season,” Chadwell said. “. . . This is disappointing but we still have two opportunities that can help this program grow and help us get better.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 6:55 PM.
