A breakdown of the starters, strengths and weaknesses of the 2020 CCU football team
Coastal Carolina figures to be better on offense, defense and special teams this season with the return of most of its key contributors in all three areas, along with new additions and developing players.
CCU returns 17 players who started six games or more on offense or defense.
Sun Belt Conference coaches were not impressed, however, as the Chanticleers received the fewest number of votes among the league’s 10 teams in the annual preseason coaches’ poll.
So how do the Chants stack up this year as they try to improve upon a pair of 5-7 records over the past two seasons?
Last season, Coastal averaged 30.3 points per game, which was 55th nationally among 130 FBS teams, and gained 394 yards per game (74th), while allowing 30.5 points (85th) and 384 yards (62nd) per contest.
The Chants are off to a 1-0 start with a 38-23 win at Kansas on Saturday and host Campbell on Friday night.
Here’s a look at CCU’s starters for the season opener at Kansas on Saturday night, and where the team’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
Offense
▪ Quarterback: There is experience and competition at the quarterback position, as juniors Fred Payton and Bryce Carpenter have been jockeying for the starting job over the past two seasons. Payton has played in 17 games and started 10, and Carpenter has played in 18 games and started eight.
CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell has acknowledged that Payton established himself as the frontrunner for the starting job this offseason after leading the team in 2019 with 119 completions, 187 attempts, 1,421 passing yards, 12 passing TDs, seven interceptions and 1,602 total yards of offense.
Both players have similar dual-threat capabilities.
Redshirt freshmen Grayson McCall of Indian Trail, N.C., who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, has emerged as a candidate for playing time.
▪ Running back: The Chants are deep at running back, and senior C.J. Marable does everything in Coastal’s spread option offense. He was selected Preseason Second Team All-Sun Belt after leading the team last year with 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns on 204 carries (5.3 yards per carry), and finishing second to receiver Jaivon Heiligh in receptions with 38 for 295 yards and three scores.
Shermari Jones, is a 6-foot-1, 220-pound punishing runner who transferred from Independence Community College in Kansas and has impressed his teammates in practice.
Junior Baden Pinson is another bruiser and sophomore Reese White is elusive, and both will likely spell Marable and Jones at times.
▪ Wide receiver/Tight end: Heiligh returns for his junior season after catching 46 passes for 497 yards and three TDs, and is an inviting target at 6-2, 190.
But how good his supporting cast will be is uncertain, as there is little previous production or experience at the position.
Slot-type sophomore receiver Aaron Bedgood (5-8, 170) had eight catches in five games in 2019 before a season-ending injury, and redshirt freshman Deon Fountain and transfers Sam Denmark and Kameron Brown will also be counted on to produce.
Junior tight end Isaiah Likely (6-4, 245) may be CCU’s best player on offense, and was named preseason second team all-conference after catching 32 passes for 431 yards and a team-high five TDs last year. He should have a chance to lead the team in receptions this season and is a beast in the red zone.
▪ Offensive line: The offensive line has a fair amount of experience with returning starters senior tackle Steven Bedosky (6-2, 280), senior center Sam Thompson (5-9, 290) and senior guard Trey Carter (6-1, 300), who is the leader of the unit. But it suffered a big loss when 23-game starting senior guard Jack Franklin (6-4, 350) opted out of the season fairly late during fall camp. In addition, Seth Harrell, who has played in 18 games, was medically disqualified for the season.
Junior Antwine Loper (6-3, 275), a Carolina Forest grad, will start after starting six games last season, and junior Sean Fitzgerald (6-2, 285) or freshman Willie Lampkin (6-1, 295) will fill Franklin’s role.
Defense
▪ Defensive line: Coastal believes it may have the best defensive line and front seven in the Sun Belt Conference.
In its three previous years in the league, Coastal has had two players named all-conference first team – Tarron Jackson and Jeffrey Gunter – and they will both be attacking quarterbacks as edge rushers this season in CCU’s base 3-4 defense that morphs into a 4-3 and other looks.
Jackson (6-2, 260), a senior defensive end, could become a candidate for the conference’s defensive player of the year after setting school records last season with 10 sacks, 72 yards lost from those sacks and 13 quarterback hurries.
Senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer (6-2, 280) was named preseason all-conference second team after ranking third on the team with 54 total tackles, including 16 for loss and 16 solo stops, and recording seven quarterback hurries
The line adds redshirt sophomore 6-4, 335-pound nose tackle Jerrod Clark, who missed last season with an injury, and has sophomore Kennedy Roberts (6-3, 275) and JUCO transfers Travis Geiger (6-4, 320) and Wilt Gabe II (6-3, 240) for depth.
▪ Linebackers: Gunter (6-4, 260) will move around as an outside linebacker/bandit. He was named Sun Belt first team in 2018 after recording 49 tackles, including 14 for loss and five sacks, before he transferred to N.C. State. He returned to CCU after just one season and was cleared to play by the NCAA.
Senior middle linebacker Teddy Gallagher was named preseason second-team all-conference after leading the team and ranking 10th in the league with 88 tackles in 11 games, and senior middle linebacker Silas Kelly returns from a torn ACL that cut his season short in the second game last season. Kelly was second on the team as a sophomore in 2018 with 60 tackles in 10 games and is a leader of the defense.
Coastal adds dynamic linebacker/safety hybrid Kendricks Gladney Jr., a graduate transfer from Middle Tennessee State, to the starting lineup, and has depth at linebacker with E.J. Porter, J.T. Killen, Chris Evans, Myles Olufemi, Jamar Darboe and Enock Makonzo all returning with previous playing time.
▪ Secondary: A defensive backfield that was suspect last season – allowing a 69.8 completion percentage – has some newcomers and inexperience, so the front seven may be expected to carry the defense at least early in the season.
The eight players listed on the two-deep depth chart in the secondary have a combined 24 starts at CCU between them. Four juniors are listed as the starters in cornerbacks Derick Bush and D’Jordan Strong, who is a JUCO transfer, and safeties Brayden Matts and Alex Spillum, who started eight games in 2019.
Special teams
The Chants seem to be all set in the kicking game with experience and production. Junior place kicker Massimo Biscardi, who was named preseason all-conference second team, has made 28 of 36 field goal attempts over his career. He is 9 of 11 from 40 yards or longer including a school record-tying 53-yarder.
Junior punter Myles Prosser was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list for the second straight season after averaging 39.3 yards per punt and downing 14 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line last year, and has an able backup in Charles Ouverson of Murrells Inlet.
The Chants even have an experienced and reliable snap-holder tandem in CJ Schrimpf and Ouverson.
White and Heiligh are expected to return kickoffs and punts, respectively, with Marable a possibility in both roles.
Friday’s game
What: Campbell at Coastal Carolina
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway
TV: ESPN
Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM
Online: www.goccusports.com
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 12:41 PM.
