Barbs and bad blood: CCU’s grandest aspirations on the line against Sun Belt ‘standard’
This is the week on the schedule that has been building all season, as both Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State have remained the only teams that are unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play.
Coastal (7-0, 5-0) has known all along that if it continued to win, it would have to beat four-time reigning Sun Belt champion Appalachian State (6-1, 4-0) on Saturday to entertain hopes of a Sun Belt championship – even playing in the title game since both teams are in the East Division.
Though the Chants have two more Sun Belt games remaining against Texas State and Troy, keeping the grandest of their aspirations alive comes down to defeating the Mountaineers for the first time. CCU is 0-6 against them, including losses of 56-37, 23-7 and 37-29 in CCU’s three years in the Sun Belt.
“It would put us in a great position because obviously we’ve never beaten them, and I don’t know if we’ve ever been close to beating them,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “They have been the standard of this league for a long time, so if you can handle that business that puts you in a great position. But at the end of the day that gets us one step closer. It’s not a championship game, it gets us one step closer to having a chance to go earn that championship.”
With a win, Coastal would have to lose its remaining two conference games to give the Mountaineers a chance to win the East and face Louisiana, which has already clinched the West Division, in the conference championship game on Dec. 19.
Having shared the conference title in 2016 and ’17, and won the championship game in 2018 and ’19, the Mountaineers are accustomed to playing in big games. They went 13-1 last season with wins over North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as in the New Orleans Bowl.
The Chants’ biggest games in recent years were to get them bowl eligible with a sixth win in each of the past two seasons, and they have lost them all. They lost four straight games to close out the 2018 season to finish 5-7, and lost three of their final four last year to again finish 5-7.
But this year’s team is clearly different and has performed under the national spotlight of a top 25 ranking and national media attention for a few weeks.
“We’re going to play an outstanding football team this weekend,” App. State coach Shawn Clark said. “You can turn the tape on and see why they’re undefeated right now. They have a lot of confidence and they’re playing to win every football game.”
The Chants play for a trophy of sorts each week that is specific to the opponent. It is selected each week by a different coach and is presented to the team in a post-game celebration in the locker room.
A couple of the celebrations this year have featured the crushing of a “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” stone with a sledgehammer following a win over Kansas, and a wrestling production following a win over Georgia Southern.
Chadwell hopes those weekly trophies keep his team’s level of preparation and anticipation for each game consistent.
“The thing they can rely on is they’ve been in championship-type games every year, and it’s nothing new for them. For us this is a new territory no doubt,” Chadwell said. “But part of the reason we try to make each game the way we do, and the theme we play for, the championship, is to try to have that same approach each week. People on the outside may think it’s silly, but you hope by doing those things it’s to prepare you for when you’re actually in a position to [win a big game].”
CCU’s 7-0 start matches the best start to a season by a Sun Belt team, which App. State accomplished last year, so the Chants now have a chance to set themselves apart in conference annuls with a win over the Mountaineers.
“We talk to our team all the time that we want to leave a legacy here in the FBS and build something that our team, fans, community and university can be proud of and can carry on, and that would be a good deal,” Chadwell said.
App. State is a program Coastal would like to emulate. Since moving up to the FBS level and the Sun Belt in 2014 after three national titles from 2005-07 in the FCS and Southern Conference, App. State has gone an amazing 45-7 in conference play and 5-0 in bowl games with the four conference titles and top 25 rankings in each of the past three years.
CCU isn’t letting the Mountaineers rest on their laurels, however, as the teams have shared some barbs of the past month.
While both Coastal and Louisiana were winning games to earn national rankings, the Mountaineers went nearly a month between games against Campbell on Sept. 26 and Arkansas State on Oct. 22, because of a coronavirus outbreak within the school and program.
Following a 45-17 win over Arkansas State upon their return to competition, defensive end Demetrius Taylor proclaimed to the Charlotte Observer: “We felt like we needed to show that we’re still the champs. They’re talking about Coastal and Lafayette. But ya know, they’ve still got to come through Boone.”
CCU senior linebacker Teddy Gallagher responded Wednesday to Taylor’s statement.
“It motivates us, because they’re not going to stop hearing about us anytime soon. That’s all I’ve got to pretty much say on that. . . . We don’t like these guy at all, they don’t like us and we really can’t wait to get out there Saturday.”
Gaining recognition
Coastal’s success has brought more attention to the program and led to the addition this week of three Chants to national award watch lists.
Chadwell has been named to the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year watch list, which consists of 24 coaches.
Redshirt freshman Grayson McCall has been added to the watch list for the 84th Maxwell Award, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding player through the Maxwell Football Club.
Senior defensive end Tarron Jackson is now on the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award watch list. On-field performance, leadership abilities, and contributions to school and community are some of the criteria used. College coaches, former players and coaches, media members, and pro football personnel professionals vote in the selection process.
McCall vs. Coastal?
App. State three-year starting quarterback Zac Thomas is questionable to play Saturday with an injury, and it could have been CCU quarterback Grayson McCall waiting to learn if he was filling in for Thomas had Clark gotten his way a couple years ago as an offensive assistant with the Mountaineers.
He recruited McCall out of Porter Ridge High in Indian Trail, N.C.
“I knew he was a great football player, I tried to get him here and things just didn’t work out. He went to Coastal and you can see he’s going to have a great career,” Clark said. “Knowing Grayson nothing phases him. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing, if he’s playing anyone, us, Alabama, he’s going to be the same Grayson McCall. He’s kind of a level-headed kid who knows how to win. He’s kind of a winner on and off the field and I have a lot of respect for that kid.”
Fall full of success
The football team isn’t the only Coastal program or alumnus having a big fall.
After ending the season with its 16th conference tournament championship, the CCU men’s soccer team (6-1-1) has achieved its highest ever ranking in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Poll at No. 5. The previous high was No. 8 at the end of the 2017 season.
After completing the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record, the No. 15 CCU volleyball team opens play in the Sun Belt tournament in Foley, Ala., at 6 p.m. Thursday against App. State in a match being broadcast online on ESPN+.
And alum Dustin Johnson closed out a dominant victory Sunday in the Masters for his second major and 24th PGA Tour win with a record score of 20-under 268.
Hoops nearing tipoff
The CCU men’s basketball team has finalized a 24-game schedule with the addition of six non-conference games beginning Nov. 28 against North Carolina Wesleyan, N.C. Central, Greensboro College, Wofford College, Delaware State and Alice Lloyd College. Five of the games are at the HTC Center.
The 18-game Sun Belt Conference slate begins Jan. 1 at home against Georgia State.
The CCU men were picked to finish third in the Sun Belt East Division in the conference’s preseason coaches poll behind Georgia State and South Alabama, and to finish sixth overall in the 12-team conference after finishing eighth last season. Little Rock of the West Division received nine of 12 first-place votes.
CCU returns three starters as well as guard Ebrima Dibba, who was injured in the sixth game and missed the rest of the season.
Saturday’s game
What: Appalachian State (6-1, 4-0 Sun Belt Conference) at No. 15 Coastal Carolina (7-0, 5-0 SBC)
When: Noon
Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM
Online: www.goccusports.com
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
