Coastal Carolina defeats Kansas for the second straight year behind redshirt freshman QB
Coastal Carolina now has two wins over a Big 12 opponent in 12-plus months, and may have found its starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.
Chanticleers coach Jamey Chadwell started Grayson McCall at quarterback in a surprise move in the season opener Saturday night, and the redshirt freshman led Coastal to its second win over Kansas in consecutive years.
McCall accounted for more than 200 yards of offense and all five CCU touchdowns and led Coastal to a 28-0 lead en route to a 38-23 win over the Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.
“We wanted to get off to a fast start and we did defensively and we did offensively,” Chadwell told WRNN 99.5 FM. “In the first half we really played almost a flawless game.”
Coastal’s 12-7 win at Kansas last year was the program’s first over an opponent from a Power Five conference.
“Last year you could have said it was a fluke. There’s no way you can say that this year,” Chadwell said.
McCall completed 11 of 18 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns, and added 73 yards and two scores on 11 carries.
“I thought he played really well,” Chadwell said. “I think he hit a little rut there in the second half. I think he felt a little pressure there because they were making a comeback. . . . Zero turnovers, he ran our offense, helped us control the clock. I thought he did a really nice job for us.
“I’m very proud of him and his performance.”
Though Kansas outgained CCU 367-318, the Chants recorded three turnovers and 12 tackles for loss, including three sacks. Kansas only had two tackles for loss, no sacks and no turnovers.
Senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer had two sacks and an additional tackle for loss, Jeffrey Gunter had a sack among two tackles for loss and an interception, and linebackers Enock Makonzo, Teddy Gallagher and Silas Kelly combined for 24 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss.
“Really I felt like we dominated the game for the most part,” Chadwell said. “I thought our defense was outstanding.”
Coastal scored on its first three possessions, and the Chants forced turnovers on Kansas’ first two possessions to set up the first two.
Junior cornerback Derick Bush intercepted a Thomas MacVittie pass at the CCU 30 on the game’s opening possession after the ball went through the hands of freshman receiver Lawrence Arnold.
The Chants then drove 62 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown on a 12-yard McCall run, the quarterback spinning through the air and into the end zone after being hit high and low near the goal line.
McCall might have had some nerves early. He fumbled on Coastal’s second offensive play on a run but he recovered it after the ball bounced right back up to him off the artificial turf.
On the third play of Kansas’ next possession, Takulve Williams caught a pass but ran into three players as CCU safety Alex Spillum, cornerback D’Jordan Strong and Kansas receiver Andrew Parchment – attempting to block Strong – all made contact with him and the ball popped out of his hands. The fumble was recovered by CCU safety Enock Makonzo at the Jayhawks’ 26.
McCall converted the turnover into points by hitting Brewer with a 2-yard TD pass as Brewer changed his jersey number to an offensive number, lined up in the slot and came open in the right side of the end zone as McCall rolled to his right.
The Chants drove 89 yards in seven plays to take a 21-0 lead on a 2-yard TD catch by tight end Isaiah Likely on a shovel pass from McCall as he rolled to his left. The drive included a 43-yard catch by Jaivon Heiligh down the right sideline.
Gunter, playing outside linebacker, intercepted a Miles Kendrick pass at the Kansas 39 to set up CCU’s fourth score, leaping near the line of scrimmage to bat a short pass into the air and retrieving it.
McCall hit Heiligh for a 25-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field on a hitch-and-go with 55 seconds remaining in the first half. Heiligh stopped and turned toward McCall before continuing on and getting behind the Kansas defense.
A 47-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar by Jacob Borcila, who came up just short on an earlier 53-yard attempt, got Kansas on the board on the final play of the half.
Kansas brought more energy into the second half and grabbed momentum with a long, time-consuming drive and pair of touchdowns late in the third quarter.
A 15-play, 89-yard drive took 8:21 off the clock and was capped by a 14-yard Parchment back-shoulder touchdown catch of a Kendrick pass to the left side of the end zone.
Velton Gardner added a 61-yard touchdown run around the right side just 2:25 later gave Kansas 17 consecutive points after Coastal failed to get a first down on its possession between the scores.
The Chants responded to Kansas’ rally, driving 81 yards in nine plays, including a 17-yard run by McCall and receptions of 22 and 23 yards by Likely, to extend their lead to 35-17 on a 2-yard McCall run with about 10 minutes to play.
“They came back there in the second half and took it to us there a little bit and got the game down,” Chadwell said, “but we had a drive we needed. It was a big drive and I thought we finished the game well.”
A 5-yard touchdown reception by Kwamie Lassiter with 7 minutes remaining cut the CCU lead to 35-23.
The Jayhawks then appeared to recover an onside kick but they were ruled offside on the kickoff.
Coastal forced a turnover on downs late in the fourth quarter following a sack on third down by Gunter and quarterback pressure by Kendricks Gladney Jr., and Massimo Biscardi added a 27-yard field goal with 1:13 to play to close out the scoring.
McCall emerged this offseason as a challenger for the starting QB job with juniors Fred Payton and Bryce Carpenter, who combined to start 18 games over the past two seasons.
He was rated a three-star dual-threat quarterback recruit by 247Sports out of Porter Ridge High in Indian Land, N.C., after rushing for 3,000 yards and throwing for 3,863 yards and 34 touchdowns in three years as a starter, though he only completed 50 percent of his passes. McCall redshirted last season but played in two games, completing all four of his passes for 25 yards and a TD.
“We like who he is. We like his toughness. He’s got some moxie,” Chadwell told WRNN 99.5 FM. “. . . We think he has a chance to be a good quarterback for us. And obviously we have some good backups with Fred and Bryce.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Brooks Stadium on Sept. 26, but because Kansas was only allowed one non-conference game that had to be at home by the Big 12 as part of its plan to combat the coronavirus, the teams swapped home games. So the Jayhawks are scheduled to play in Conway next year.
Saturday’s game was broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
“I told our team how much I appreciate them, because they’ve had to go through a lot,” Chadwell said. “They’ve had to change habits. They’ve had to stop being friends with certain people. They had to do a lot of different things to try to make sure we are always negative on these [COVID-19] tests and all those things.
“And I’m proud of them, and to get a reward for that, even if it’s just one week. Just to be able to get that reward of being able to come out and play well on national television.”
The Chants capped a big day for the Sun Belt Conference, which went 3-0 against Big 12 competition. Louisiana upset AP No. 23 Iowa State 31-14 in Ames, Iowa, and Arkansas State won 35-31 on the road at Kansas State earlier Saturday.
“It’s a great win for our program,” Chadwell said. “We’re building what we’re trying to do in this Sun Belt. You saw today how good the Sun Belt is, and we didn’t want to let the Sun Belt down.”
| CCU | 14 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 38 |
| KU | 0 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 23 |
Scoring summary
Qtr Time Scoring Play V-H
1st
06:22 CCU - McCall, Grayson 12 yd run (Biscardi, Massimo kick), 10-62 5:17 7 - 0
02:37 CCU - Brewer, C.J. 2 yd pass from McCall, Grayson (Biscardi, Massimo kick), 6-26 2:58 14 - 0
2nd
10:57 CCU - Likely, Isaiah 2 yd pass from McCall, Grayson (Biscardi, Massimo kick), 7-89 3:07 21 - 0
00:55 CCU - Heiligh, Jaivon 25 yd pass from McCall, Grayson (Biscardi, Massimo kick), 4-36 1:15 28 - 0
00:00 KU - Borcila,Jacob 47 yd field goal, 7-29 0:49 28 - 3
3rd
02:29 KU - Andrew Parchment 14 yd pass from Kendrick,Miles (Kwamie Lassiter pass from Kendrick,Miles), 15-89 8:12 28 - 11
00:04 KU - Gardner,Velton 61 yd run (Kendrick,Miles pass failed), 3-72 1:09 28 - 17
4th
09:55 CCU - McCall, Grayson 2 yd run (Biscardi, Massimo kick), 9-81 5:05 35 - 17
07:00 KU - Kwamie Lassiter 5 yd pass from Kendrick,Miles (Kendrick,Miles pass failed), 9-78 2:47 35 - 23
01:13 CCU - Biscardi, Massimo 27 yd field goal, 7-4 3:16 38 - 23
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 2:12 AM.
