Everything you need to know for Georgia Southern at No. 24 Coastal Carolina on Saturday

Saturday’s game

Who: Georgia Southern (3-1, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) at No. 24/25 Coastal Carolina (4-0, 2-0)

When: Noon

Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC

TV: ESPNU

Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM

Online audio: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/coastal/

Live stats: Through www.Coastal.statbroadcast.com and GameTracker

Last meeting

Georgia Southern 30-27 (3OT) on Oct. 19, 2019 in Statesboro, Ga.

Coastal Carolina

Strengths: Defensive front seven, quarterback

Weakness: Secondary

Georgia Southern

Strength: Running game

Weakness: Secondary

Key matchup

Coastal Carolina’s defensive front seven vs. Georgia Southern senior quarterback Shai Werts: The Chanticleers’ front seven has been perhaps their most effective this season rushing the passer, but they will be tasked with being disciplined while trying to contain the Eagles’ four-year starting QB, who at this point runs the triple option offense nearly flawlessly. Werts has surpassed 2,600 yards both rushing and passing in his career. He is one of three short and dangerous seniors in the backfield, as he, J.D. KIng and speedster Wesley Kennedy III are all 5-foot-11 or shorter and are between 180-220 pounds, and they are averaging between 5.9 and 7.4 yards per carry this season with a combined eight of the team’s nine rushing touchdowns.

One benefit both defenses will have is they are familiar with the opposing offenses because they see their own offenses run a similar scheme in practice. “We’re a little familiar with some of the pitch things and option things they do, so it’s a matter of reading your keys, doing the right thing, doing your assignment,” CCU senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer said.

Players to watch

Coastal Carolina

Redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall (6-3, 200): He has completed 59 of 87 passes (68 percent) for 930 yards and 11 touchdowns with one interception, and is second on the team in rushing with 184 yards and three scores on 42 carries.

Senior running back C.J. Marable (5-10, 200): He has eclipsed 3,000 yards rushing in his college career and 2,000 at Coastal. This season he has gained 263 yards and scored four TDs on 64 carries, and has 10 receptions for 66 yards and two TDs.

Senior defensive end Tarron Jackson (6-2, 260): The First Team All-Sun Belt selection has a team-leading 5.5 tackles for loss among his 14 tackles after recording two against Arkansas State and 1.5 against Louisiana on Wednesday.

Georgia Southern

Senior quarterback Shai Werts (5-11, 205): The elusive four-year starter has 297 yards rushing on 44 carries for a 6.8-yard average per run, and has completed 33 of 56 passes for 464 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.

Senior running back J.D. King (5-11, 220): He has 423 yards rushing and three TDS on 72 carries for a 5.9-yard average, including a career-high 196 yards against Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 3.

Senior defensive end Raymond Johnson III (6-3, 270): The Eagles’ primary pass rusher has team-highs with 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries.

He said it

“Some of my friends and family are texting me saying congratulations on being ranked and stuff. Like I always tell everybody, ‘Thank you. That was not our goal to get ranked.’ Our goal was to win the Sun Belt championship. That’s just one of the things that’s coming with it, so we’re still trying to reach our main goal.” – CCU’s Brewer

““I like our team. I told them we didn’t need to be ranked to feel like we were one of the better teams in the country. . . . We’ve been telling our team how good they are truthfully since spring, thinking we could be a good program. So I think our guys believe that and I think we’re playing at a high level. I’m also realistic to know that the teams in this league are good every week and if we don’t come to play we can get smacked in the face by anybody we’ve got left. So it’s a great honor for us, but not something that we’re going to dwell on, at least within our program.” – CCU coach Jamey Chadwell

“They don’t beat themselves. They’ve been very explosive on offense and very sound on defense. I think the discipline piece is what’s really [impressive] when you look at it. They play a good game for four quarters, a very disciplined game. I think the quarterback is really good, I think he definitely makes that offense go and there are several guys on that offense with the running backs, a really good tight end [Isaiah Likely] at receiver, [C.J. Marable] at running back, those guys really make plays for them. Defensively they’re really sound and play very, very hard. That defensive front is pretty impressive and solid linebackers and solid defensive secondary. It’s kind of hard to find a weakness on them right now, and obviously their play and their record shows that.” – Georgia Southern coach Chad Lunsford on CCU

Scouting report

Georgia Southern is a last-second, 53-yard Louisiana field goal away from being 4-0. The Eagles could also easily be 1-3 based on the scintillating finishes of their first three games.

GSU scored 21 consecutive second-half points and survived a late two-point conversion attempt and three attempts at an onside kick in the final seconds to defeat FCS program Campbell 27-26 in its opener. The Eagles played the game with more than 30 players out, including several starters, due to coronavirus protocols, injuries and other factors.

The Eagles lost 20-18 to Louisiana on a 53-yard Nate Snyder field goal on the last play of the game. They took the lead with 54 seconds to play on a 28-yard Werts TD pass and two-point conversion.

In a 35-30 win over Louisiana-Monroe, linebacker Rashad Byrd tackled ULM quarterback Colby Suits inside the 1-yard line in the final seconds to preserve the win, and the play had to be reviewed to confirm Suits didn’t break the plane of the end zone.

GSU finally got a breather last weekend when it added Massachusetts to the schedule late and cruised to a 41-0 win, which kept it from going 20 days between games since its game scheduled for Oct. 14 with Appalachian State was postponed to Dec. 12 because the Mountaineers were dealing with coronavirus issues.

GSU is the first team with a chance to count a win over the Chants as a victory over a ranked team. It was GSU that kept then No. 20 Appalachian State from an undefeated regular season and possible berth in a New Year’s Six Bowl last year with a 24-21 win in Boone, N.C., on Halloween.

“Anybody who’s ranked knows you’re a target,” Brewer said. “Everybody wants to knock you off. But we’re not worried about that. Our goal is to just work and just grind and each week come out 1-0 with a victory.”

Turnovers and time of possession will likely play a large role in the outcome. GSU leads the nation in time of possession at 35:12 this season and CCU is sixth at 33:54. CCU has forced seven turnovers while committing just three, while GSU has forced just three but is annually one of the nation’s top teams at ball protection and control.

“I think time of possession will be really key in this game.,” Lunsford said. “They’re pretty balanced on offense and they try to establish drives, and if they’re able to do that and keep our offense off the field that doesn’t bode well for us because we’re a clock-control ground team. We like to be able to grind it out, we like to be able to possess the ball longer than our opponent and minimize their opportunities on offense.”

GSU has allowed just 19 points per game, which is 12th in the nation, and averages 30.3 points, which is 40th. CCU is 22nd in the country at 23.5 points allowed per game and is 11th in scoring at 40.8.

The Eagles returned the bulk of their defensive front seven from last year’s 7-6 team but have youth and relative inexperience in the defensive backfield including a pair of starting freshmen. Junior free safety Kenderick Duncan Jr. was expected to be the leader of the secondary, but while he’s on the depth chart he has yet to play this season.

Chadwell said he expects the Chants to be nearly full strength with limited injury and coronavirus issues, and GSU has also gotten its COVID-19 issues under control recently.

“We have been really awesome the last few weeks and really have not had any issues,” Lunsford said. “I think our guys are doing a really good job of making sure they’re adhering to protocols and that type of stuff, and I think our staff is doing a really good job. But we know that even when you do a really good job things can happen.”

Notes

▪With a limit of just 5,000 inside the stadium, including about 4,000 spectators, Brooks Stadium is sold out for the game.

▪In last year’s 30-27 win over CCU in triple overtime, which was GSU’s sixth game, the Eagles’ first two touchdown passes of the season came in the overtime periods.

▪The game is being broadcast on ESPNU. All of CCU’s games this year have been nationally broadcast on either FoxSports1, ESPN, ESPNU or ESPNews.

▪Coastal can match its highest season win total since moving into the Sun Belt Conference in 2017. The Chants have gone 5-7 in each of the past two years after going 3-9 in 2017. A third Sun Belt victory in a season would be a new program high.

Line

CCU -5.5

Prediction

Coastal Carolina 34, Georgia Southern 23: This is the first time this season Coastal is favored against an FBS opponent. How will the Chants handle the newfound national attention and affection?

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Everything you need to know for Georgia Southern at No. 24 Coastal Carolina on Saturday."