The disrespect that is fueling Coastal Carolina’s run through the Sun Belt Conference
It’s now clear that Coastal Carolina is not the worst team in the Sun Belt Conference.
And the Chanticleers are using the slight of being picked to finish dead last by the league’s coaches in a preseason poll as continued motivation going into each conference game.
“Everybody picking us last, it was crazy to see in the beginning,” junior wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh said following Saturday’s 51-0 win over Georgia State at Center Parc Stadium in downtown Atlanta. “They just didn’t realize. Hopefully they realize now, and we’re not done.”
Aside from a three-point win over then No. 21 Louisiana on Oct. 14, the Chants (6-0, 4-0 Sun Belt) have defeated their three other conference opponents by a combined 94 points.
Coastal received just 13 points in the preseason poll, which was seven fewer than the next two teams in the 10-team league, Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe.
“We just use that as fuel to the fire,” senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer said. “We keep that in the back of our head, our underdog mentality. We just want to keep working and just prove people wrong.”
There was reason to doubt the Chants based on prior results. They finished 2-6 in each of their three seasons in the league for a combined 6-18 record entering this season.
The disrespect felt and being utilized even goes down to individual position groups, as junior cornerback D’Jordan Strong made note that the rebuilt CCU secondary was regarded as the 10th-best secondary in the 10-team league.
Georgia State, the highest-scoring offense in the league entering Saturday’s game at 42 points per game, was held 200 yards under its passing average with 30 yards and an interception on 12 pass attempts.
“We play with a chip on our shoulder,” Strong said. “Earlier this year they ranked us the 10th-best DBs in the Sun Belt so we’re just playing with a chip on our shoulder. . . But without that defensive line we wouldn’t be in the position to make the plays we make.”
Attention seekers
Coastal Carolina coaches may have been concerned about – or at least curious to see – how their team would handle all of the media attention it has received over the past two weeks.
The attention was brought to campus when an ESPN film crew spent time on campus this past week to film a feature for ESPN College GameDay.
The Chants seem to thrive under the spotlight.
“We had our best week of practice. We had arguably the best Friday meeting we’ve had all year long,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “I was like, ‘We’re ready to go or we’re getting ready to walk into a trap because we were so full of ourself.’ But we had a great week in all three phases and then Friday night they were locked in.”
Chadwell attributes the maturity and leadership of the team’s many starting upperclassmen, particularly on defense, for their consistent preparation and favorable reaction to the attention.
“I think that tells you about the leaders we have on this team,” Chadwell said. “We have a lot of guys that have been here a long time that went through a lot of downs. And we’re in some ups, and you know what? They don’t want to go back down. They’ve kept our young people focused. They remember some of those close games when we had chances. That’s helped us well. We’re getting a lot more attention than I thought we would, but they’ve embraced it. It’s been a fun team to coach and be around. I’m thankful we’re 6-0 right now.”
Attention to details
The No. 24 has become more than a mantra this year, it has become a lifestyle.
The Chants are living it, and it has allowed them to blow out four opponents and pull out a pair of games that were tied in the second half.
The Chants are wearing wristbands with the number 24 on them to remind the players that they lost five games in 2019 by a combined 24 points, and the coaching staff believes the elimination of mistakes could have added up to five wins to the Chants’ 5-7 record last year.
“That’s been our whole focus,” Chadwell said. “Our 24 wrist bands we wear, overcoming those 24 points, that was beating ourselves. We beat ourselves a lot of the time last year by having foolish penalties, but turning the ball over, by not doing the little things, and that was our whole offseason focus. And up to this point we’ve done a really good job with that.”
Coastal was whistled for just one penalty Saturday, a holding call on the offensive line.
The Chants are averaging less than 35 yards in penalties per game, which is down from 49 yards per game last year.
Coastal forced two turnovers Saturday with a fumble and interception, while losing a late fumble to win the turnover battle over the Panthers 2-1, and has now forced 11 turnovers on the season while committing six. CCU matched its opponents in 2019 with 17 turnovers apiece. Saturday’s fumble was the first CCU second-half turnover this season.
By going 7 of 11 on third-down conversions and 2-for-2 on fourth down on Saturday, CCU is now converting 57 percent of its third downs, which is in the top 10 in the country, and is 6 of 7 on fourth downs to continue drives and contribute to a time of possession advantage of nearly 10 minutes per game over its opponents, which is up from a 6:40 advantage last year.
Coastal is holding its opponents to 37 percent on third down and 45 percent on fourth down (5 of 11).
Coastal has also allowed just five sacks while amassing 20 this year.
“Our guys have been disciplined as far as penalties . . . and we’ve done a good job of being smart with the ball and protecting it, and our defense has tried to create [turnovers] and done a good job of doing that, and that’s why we are [undefeated], and the only way we’re going to remain and have a chance to win games is we’ve got to continue to do those things,” Chadwell said.
“It’s not if you do this one game you’re going to win, we have to do it every week,” Chadwell continued. “That’s got to be who we are at Coastal Carolina. The 24 is that mentality but it’s got to be part of our culture, what we do. This is how we we win games here and our whole team has to be bought into that, and they are.”
Chadwell believes the increased attention to details is evidence that the players are buying into the culture he and his coaches have been attempting to create, and the team’s upperclassmen have expedited the commitment.
“There’s a different feel to this team this year, they believe in each other,” said Chadwell, in his fourth season in the program and second as head coach. “Not everybody buys into that right away. It’s a trust factor. . . . And typically the first year that’s a struggle and going into the second year it’s better but it’s still not completely there. I think from the way our team has rallied around, that trust of the coaches, that trust of the players, that accountability happened faster than maybe I even thought it would. So once that happens, once they started trusting and believing each other, then the other part’s coming.
“Then when you are selling about, ‘hey details matter, discipline matters,’ when guys believe in and trust it then they make it important. . . . I think that’s why we’re having a lot of success from that standpoint because they do trust each other, they trust us and what’s going on, and they play for each other. That’s the difference in our team. It’s that buy-in they’ve had that really helped us get to this point.”
Short yardage
Coastal’s defense posted six three-and-outs by Georgia State and limited the Panthers to negative yards on four of their 11 offensive series . . .
Coastal had a 30 to 5 advantage in first downs and a 41:04 to 18:56 edge in time of possession for the game. The Chants ran 76 plays compared to Georgia State’s 40. . . .
Coastal has won seven straight games and five consecutive Sun Belt contests dating back to last year’s season finale against Texas State. . . .
The shutout is CCU’s first as an FBS member and first since a 46-0 win over Gardner-Webb on Nov. 7, 2015.
This story was originally published November 1, 2020 at 8:53 AM.
