CCU Football Notebook: The reason Coastal Carolina and App State broke COVID-19 protocol
Coastal Carolina’s players and coaches ran and bounced onto the Brooks Stadium teal field as time ran out in Saturday’s 34-23 win over Appalachian State to begin a jubilant celebration.
It was the team’s first win over the Mountaineers, gave it control of the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division, and was a get-over-the-hump moment for a program that hasn’t recorded a wining season as an FBS program yet is 8-0 and ranked in the top 15 of the AP Top 25 Poll. So there was much to rejoice.
But the festiveness was quickly tempered.
In this time of coronavirus in college football, teams are encouraged to avoid unnecessarily mingling with opponents after games.
Yet the CCU celebration quickly fizzled out as Appalachian State players filtered into the CCU throng to offer pats, daps and handshakes of congratulations, and the two teams lingered on the field for several minutes to display and share a mutual respect for one another. Coastal had finally earned App State’s respect after previously going 0-6 against them.
“We respect those guys. You’ve got to, they’ve been at the top the past three or four years now since they’ve been in the Sun Belt,” CCU senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer said. “So it’s the utmost respect for those guys, coaches and everything. And I feel this year we earned their respect, coming out and still fighting each and every play.
“There was a lot of bickering going on in the game. That’s me, I love to talk during the game. It gets me going, gets the guys going. After the game everybody was smiling at each other, ‘Hey, good game. I love the way you compete.’ I know I talked to the quarterback and the offensive line. . . . I felt we earned it this year. We came in and earned it and did what we had to do.”
There was some animosity expressed between the teams in the leadup to the game, App State appeared to celebrate an injury to CCU linebacker Teddy Gallagher early in the game, and there was typical talk on the field between opponents.
“We know they’re the best of this league on this side and you have to go through them so there’s a natural animosity there,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “. . . But at the end of the day we respect their program and what they’ve done, our players do. And I think they respected how we played.
“If you have a hard-fought battle in this game you should win with class and lose with class, and I think we’ve tried to exemplify that and obviously they did it today.”
What could have been
Brooks Stadium was as raucous as it could be Saturday with its limitation of approximately 4,000 spectators because of COVID-19.
The crowd was vocal and noticeable throughout the thrilling game that contained a number of momentum shifts. It would have probably been the stadium’s first sellout had it been played under normal non-pandemic circumstances, especially the way App State fans travel. They likely outnumbered CCU supporters at Brooks Stadium two years ago.
“It felt like a big-time college football game, and that’s the whole reason we decided to go to FBS is to have days like this,” Chadwell said. “If we wouldn’t be in the pandemic there would have been 20,000 strong in there and it would have been a heck of an environment. It was a heck of an environment. It was loud. They were into it.”
In the polls
Coastal dropped one spot to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday and moved up a spot to No. 17 in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll.
The Chants entered the AP poll at No. 25 on Oct. 18, and moved up to Nos. 20 and 15 over the past three weeks.
The mothership
ESPN shuffled its television schedule after the Clemson-Florida State game was canceled on Saturday morning, resulting in the CCU-App State matchup being moved from ESPN2 to ESPN, which surely attracted more viewers.
“What an awesome opportunity to be on ESPN and a national television game, to showcase this game and showcase the Sun Belt. What a game it was,” Chadwell said.
The will to win
CCU acknowledges each win in the locker room after the game with a themed celebration specific to each opponent, an Saturday’s was centered around will and involved boxing and at least one person in costume.
App State grad and wide receivers coach Tony Washington came up with the concept, and App State grad and outside linebackers coach Josh Miller led the fight song.
“It was will week,” Brewer said. “We had a pair of boxing gloves. In boxing it’s a 12-round fight. This was a four-quarter fight. It felt like a 12-round fight the whole game. You never knew how it was going to go.”
A larger role
Junior tight end Isaiah Likely was a big part of the CCU offense early in the season, but he has been hampered by a lower body injury of late that forced him to miss the Louisiana game on Oct. 17 and has affected his production. He also just hasn’t been targeted much in recent games.
In the three games prior to Saturday, Likely had three catches for 17 yards.
But he was a focus Saturday. The big and fast 6-foot-4, 245-pounder was targeted on CCU’s first offensive play despite having two Mountaineers in coverage and was hit by Grayson McCall for a 75-yard TD. He finished with three catches for 118 yards and had a drop that would have been a big gain.
“Whether I’m getting involved or not I love seeing my team celebrate, seeing my team in the end zone, blowing teams out and staying undefeated,” Likely said. “So it happened today where we knew what they were going to do with the linebackers and safety, giving me the ball and letting me go do what they recruited, it was a just a fantastic opportunity.”
Likely now has 13 receptions for 350 yards and four TDs this season for an average of nearly 27 yards per catch.
Chasing points
One missed extra point on CCU’s first touchdown essentially ended up costing the Chants four points and nearly the game.
Massimo Biscardi, who made his only field goal attempt Saturday from 51 yards, missed his third PAT of the season in 35 attempts, leading Coastal to unsuccessfully go for two points following its next three touchdowns when it trailed 17-15, led 21-20 and led 27-23.
After eschewing two extra point attempts for two-point attempts, the Chants trailed by two inside the final three minutes, 23-21, before pulling out the win with two late scores. “Chasing points like an idiot,” Chadwell critiqued.
A letdown?
Coastal has handled the national spotlight well, not allowing a top 25 ranking and attention from numerous national media outlets to impact the team’s focus, preparation and performances.
Now it must avoid the human tendency of a letdown following the accomplishment of something you have so much emotionally invested in.
The Chants have a road game Saturday at Texas State, which is 2-9 but is coming off a 47-45 win over Arkansas State. What are the chances the Chants overlook the Bobcats prior to a meeting on Dec. 5 with Liberty, which is 8-1 and has been ranked in the top 25 this season?
“We’re not worried about that,” Brewer said. “Tomorrow either me or Silas [Kelly] or one of the other leaders will send a text, ‘Hey, great team win. That ball game is over, it’s in the past, we don’t care about that no more. We’re on to Texas State now.’ We’ll be fine.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 4:22 PM.
