How No. 15 Coastal Carolina remained unbeaten and held South Alabama out of the end zone

It wasn’t No. 15 Coastal Carolina’s typical clean performance this season.

The Chanticleers did not win the turnover battle with a pair of fumbles, had a time of possession deficit, were just 3 of 11 on third down, and settled for more field goals than touchdowns against South Alabama on Saturday night at Brooks Stadium.

Yet the Chants did not surrender a touchdown and still won somewhat handily, 23-6, to remain undefeated and retain a spot in the top 25, likely the top 15.

“Sometimes you have to win games that are ugly. Maybe you don’t play your best in certain situations,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “You’re not going to play your best every Saturday, but when you don’t you have to find a way to win and our guys did.”

A week after recording the Sun Belt Conference’s highest ranking in the AP poll at No. 15, the Chants matched last year’s Appalachian State’s team for the best ever start by a Sun Belt team at 7-0.

Grayson McCall completed 17 of 24 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards, the Chants registered 445 yards of offense to outgain the Jaguars by more than 100 yards, including 236-93 yards on the ground, and the defense recorded five sacks and eight tackles for loss while holding its second straight opponent without a touchdown.

The Chants haven’t allowed a TD in more than 10 quarters, going back to the first half against Georgia Southern on Oct. 24. Defensive end Tarron Jackson had 10 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble, linebacker Silas Kelly had a team-high 12 tackles, and the defense held the Jaguars to 2 of 14 on third down and 3 of 7 on fourth down.

“Our front four can get some pressure,” Chadwell said. “If you noticed tonight any time they tried to go long for the most part they didn’t have the time to do that. I think they caught maybe one there in the fourth quarter where they got a long pass. Besides that they had to go short. Every time they tried to go long we were in there and we affected them.”

Coastal, which is now 5-0 in the Sun Belt, was coming off a 51-0 win over Georgia State last week. South Alabama (3-4) fell to 2-2 in the conference.

The Chants entered Saturday’s game with an 11-6 advantage in turnover margin to rank 21st in the nation, a nearly 10-minute per game advantage in time of possession to rank ninth in the country, and 56.6 third-down conversion percentage to rank sixth. South Alabama held the ball for 30:15 – it held a 10-minute advantage through three quarters – and both teams committed two turnovers.

“It wasn’t pretty in a lot of ways, but in this league when you get a win we’ll take it, because they’re hard to come by,” Chadwell said.

Coastal got first-half touchdowns from Shermari Jones and C.J. Marable, and Massimo Biscardi kicked field goals of 26, 30 and 27 yards, the latter two accounting for the only scoring in the second half.

“Where maybe in our past where we’re struggling offensively, or maybe one game we’re struggling defensively, we’ve been playing pretty well together,” Chadwell said. “When you do that it gives you a lot of confidence that maybe if you’re not your best on one side of the ball you can find a way to win. Our defense the last three weeks has been pretty good.”

South Alabama nearly got into the end zone in the third quarter when they converted three fourth downs on a 17-play drive, but the biggest fourth down from the CCU 1 was stopped by the Chants, as receiver Kawaan Baker took the shotgun snap and rushed up the middle but was turned away at the goal line by nose tackle Jerrod Clark and linebacker Silas Kelly.

“I was completely grateful for Jerrod,” Jackson said. “They got a little bit too many conversions on those fourth downs and we definitely should have stopped them. Going into that last one Jerrod bowed up. . . . It might not have happened when we wanted it to but we got the stop, so I’m grateful for that.”

Coastal never trailed.

The Chants struck first on their first possession, driving 72 yards in seven plays for a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down by Jones. A key play in the drive was a 46-yard run by Reese White, who led CCU with 81 yards rushing on nine carries.

DeWayne Betts Jr. dropped an interception in the end zone on a pass by Fred Payton, who replaced McCall for one play after McCall’s helmet came off on a run, and CCU made the Jaguars pay two plays later.

South Alabama answered with an 11-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard Diego Guajardo field goal.

A 9-yard Marable TD reception on a short inside end-around pitch gave CCU a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter. Jaivon Heiligh had a pair of key receptions in the drive, a 7-yarder on a third-and-5 at the CCU 30 and a 42-yarder that featured a few cuts to evade defenders after receiving a pass over the middle. He paced CCU with five catches for 95 yards.

A pair of sacks by Clark – one solo and one assisted – helped CCU get the ball back early in the second quarter and punter Charles Ouverson of Murrells Inlet pinned the Jaguars at the 1 with a 39-yard punt.

They drove 74 yards in 13 plays before a third-down sack by Jeffrey Gunter and C.J. Brewer stalled the drive and forced the Jaguars to settle for a 43-yard Guajardo field goal.

CCU safety Brayden Matts tackled Jaguars tight end Trent Tyre a yard shy of a first down on a fourth-and-3 at the CCU 30 with 2:30 left in the half, leading to Biscardi’s first field goal and a 17-6 lead going into halftime.

The teams exchanged possessions three times in five plays early in the second half.

South Alabama stopped White for no gain on a fourth-and-1 at its 46, Jackson forced a fumble with a sack of Jaguars’ QB Desmond Trotter that was recovered by Brewer, and Jaguars defensive end Charles Coleman III forced a McCall fumble on a sack that was recovered by linebacker Nick Mobley at the USA 31.

The Jaguars then embarked on their long drive that ended inside the CCU 1.

The Chants moved off the goal line but a Marable fumble on a hit by Betts was recovered by linebacker Riley Cole at the CCU 43 with a minute left in the third quarter. The Chants forced a turnover on downs at the CCU 41 when Gunter hit Trotter on fourth-and-8 to force an errant throw.

Runs of 20 yards by Jones and 13 yards by McCall got CCU in position for a Biscardi field goal and 20-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

CCU linebacker Enock Makonzo forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Teddy Gallagher by chasing down wide receiver Jalen Tolbert at the CCU 19, and Coastal all but secured the win with a 72-yard drive that ended with Biscardi’s final field goal with six minutes to play.

“We didn’t play that great of a game, but we just say next play, move on to the next play,” White said. “If somebody doesn’t do their job one play, we’ll put it behind us and move onto the next play. We know we’re capable of doing good things, we’ve just got to keep holding ourselves to that standard.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 11:13 PM.