Perfection blocked: CCU’s hopes of undefeated season spoiled by Liberty in thrilling bowl
Coastal Carolina played an epic game to end an epic season.
The FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl, the first bowl game in CCU history, will go down as one of the greatest bowl games ever played. And it completes the greatest season in CCU football history.
But it does not complete an undefeated season.
The Chanticleers (11-1) fought back from continuous deficits Saturday night at Camping World Stadium to tie the game with 3 minutes remaining with a touchdown and two-point conversion, and got a miracle turnover at its goal line with 41 seconds remaining to force overtime.
But Liberty (10-1) pulled out a 37-34 win with a 44-yard Alex Barbir field goal in overtime and block of a Massimo Biscardi 42-yard field goal attempt that would have forced a second overtime and kept CCU’s chances for a perfect season alive.
“Even though I’m disappointed I am extremely proud of the way we fought to the end, and obviously the season we had,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “We wanted to be the Cure Bowl champions, that was our goal, and it’s the first time all year long we’ve had this feeling and it’s not good.
“. . . It’s disappointing and we can mope about it, we can complain about it, or we can use it as motivation moving forward.”
The Chants, who are ranked ninth in the AP Top 25 Poll and 12th in the College Football Playoff rankings, appeared to be all but helpless when they called their final timeout after Liberty reached the Coastal 3 on a 15-yard Joshua Mack reception with 1:31 to play.
Coastal was going to let the Flames score a touchdown in order to get the ball back, but Liberty did not attempt to score on first down, as Mack took a knee at the 5. On second down, Mack creeped toward the goal line and was being piled on by CCU players – some pushing him forward to try to force him into the end zone – while simultaneously being pulled back by tight end Jerome Jackson, who had both arms around his running back from behind.
CCU defensive lineman C.J. Brewer was credited with knocking the ball free just shy of the goal line, and safety Alex Spillum won a wrestling match for it to force overtime.
“We were supposed to drag him in the end zone, that was our plan,” Chadwell said. “We were trying to drag him in the end zone and I think he was trying not to go in the end zone and it looks like he just dropped the ball. It was a big play for us and gave us a chance to win in overtime and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Liberty coach Hugh Freeze said Mack was supposed to get closer to the goal line but not score. “We wanted to run one more play and go down around the 2 or the 1,” Freeze said. “I’ve got my two timeouts, and we’d use all of the clock and either decide to run it on third down and score with either no time or around 10 seconds left, then kick the field goal if you need to. We’ve got to take care of the ball.”
The CCU defense held Liberty without a first down on the first possession of overtime, and Coastal threw three incomplete passes on its ensuing possession. Biscardi’s field goal attempt was blocked by Elijah James in the interior of the line, setting off a jubilant celebration on the field by the Flames next to the stunned Chanticleers.
“I’d say it definitely motivates us, finishing like this,” CCU quarterback Grayson McCall said. “Now we know what it takes. We know what it takes to get here and now we know what it takes to have to come here and play a great team and finish. It’s definitely going to motivate us, and we’ll have a great offseason.”
Coastal tied the game with 3 minutes remaining with a 72-yard drive in seven plays capped by a 5-yard Greg Latushko touchdown reception and two-point conversion run by McCall over the left side of the line.
Liberty quarterback Malik Willis, the bowl’s MVP, then led the Flames on a 74-yard drive that should have ended the game, completing all three of his pass attempts for 40 yards and breaking free for a 26-yard run.
Willis was a problem the entire game for CCU. He rushed for 137 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries and completed 19 of 29 passes for 220 yards with two interceptions.
“He was the difference in the game,” Chadwell said. “We couldn’t do anything with [Willis]. You see why he’s a five-star kid. He just hurt us a bunch defensively and we couldn’t get him off the field.”
Saturday’s game had a lot of the elements of Coastal’s miraculous season, including a scintillating finish against a ranked opponent and stellar play by McCall.
The redshirt freshman completed 21 of 32 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns with an interception and gained 96 yards on 15 carries with a TD. CCU’s Jaivon Heiligh set a Cure Bowl receiving record with 13 catches for 178 yards, tight end Isaiah Likely had five receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown, and Latushko scored touchdowns on both of his receptions.
Willis and McCall now share the six-year Cure Bowl’s record for most touchdowns accounted for with four each.
All of Willis’ scores either gave Liberty the lead or extended it, and all of McCall’s allowed the Chants to remain within striking distance and eventually catch the Flames.
“[McCall] made some plays there that were just amazing,” Chadwell said. “Obviously we made some mistakes as well but he kept fighting, he kept believing, and I thought he did a really good job of staying in there and taking some of the shots and trying to make some plays out of the pocket. . . . He just kept playing and made some plays to get us back in that game.”
Coastal got the game’s first possession and turned the ball over on downs when Reese White was stacked up at the line of scrimmage at the Liberty 36.
A pair of Liberty fourth-down conversions helped the Flames score on their first two possessions.
Liberty converted a fourth-and-2 short of midfield with a 4-yard run by Willis. A 27-yard pass over the middle to Demario Douglas on third-and-10 moved the ball to the CCU 15 and set up a 5-yard Willis option touchdown run 8 minutes into the game.
Liberty converted a fourth-and-2 at the CCU 22 on a 5-yard Willis run en route to his second touchdown a 6-yard run through a couple attempted tackles for a 14-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.
The largest previous deficit Coastal faced this season was eight points, 17-9 to Appalachian State on Nov. 21. CCU was shut out in the first quarter for the first time this season and possessed the ball for less than 5 minutes in the opening stanza.
“It’s definitely a tough way to end the season,” McCall said. “We just came out a little slow and didn’t get things going until late.”
Safety Brayden Matts stemmed Liberty’s momentum when he cut in front of intended receiver Johnny Huntley to intercept a pass by Willis, who was scrambling to his right and threw deep over the middle.
Coastal had a 28-yard pass to Likely to the 4-yard line negated by a penalty for an ineligible receiver downfield, but the Chants got back inside the 5 on a 20-yard C.J. Marable run on an option pitch from McCall on fourth-and-2. CCU settled for a 21-yard Biscardi field goal, however, to get on the board. Heiligh had a 19-yard catch in the 12-play, 66-yard scoring drive.
A holding penalty on Liberty negated a return deep into CCU territory on the ensuing kickoff and Coastal forced a punt after three plays, and an unsportsmanlike conduct on Liberty after the punt gave CCU possession at the Flames 47 to set up the Chants’ first touchdown.
McCall rushed for 16 yards and completed all three pass attempts in a four-play drive, including a 25-yarder to Likely for a touchdown off play-action.
Liberty answered with a 37-yard Barbir field goal with 42 seconds left in the half to take a 17-10 lead. McCall led the Chants on a quick seven-play, 55-yard drive to pull within 17-13 on a 33-yard Biscardi field goal, completing three passes to Heiligh for 39 yards and gaining 16 yards on a run.
Spillum made a tremendous interception in the end zone on the opening drive of the second half. The Flames drove 78 yards in eight plays to the CCU 5 and Willis threw an out to Douglas near the right sideline with Spillum on Douglas’ hip, and he wrestled the ball away from the receiver as they were going to the ground.
Liberty’s Javon Scruggs returned the favor for Liberty, intercepting an errant throw over the middle by McCall and returning it 59 yards to the CCU 10, and Willis scored on a run on the next play to give Liberty a 24-13 lead.
McCall rebounded by dropping in a beautiful 43-yard touchdown pass to Latushko just before he was knocked out of bounds while scrambling to his left and turning to throw against his body. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful and the Chants trailed 24-19.
Liberty again extended its lead early in the fourth quarter with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that Willis finished with his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, this time from 3 yards.
“[Willis] was just so good,” Chadwell said. “Basically what he was doing in the second half, they were calling pass plays and he wasn’t trying to throw it, he was just going to run around and take off running, and that’s what he did. Anytime we got close to him we just couldn’t get him down at all. He was breaking tackles left and right. We could not tackle him when we needed to.”
Chadwell said CCU used several defensive schemes to try to slow Willis, including a spy. “We had some calls where we had a spy on him, but he’s a great athlete, so sometimes that spy was successful and sometimes he got to the edge,” said CCU linebacker Silas Kelly, who had eight tackles, two shy of team leader Enock Mackonzo.
Marable scored on a 1-yard run to pull the Chants within five points with 10:30 left to play, completing a drive that included an over-the-shoulder 45-yard catch by Heiligh and 24-yard catch by Likely to the Liberty 2.
A sack by Tarron Jackson and Spillum kept the Flames out of the end zone after a first-and-goal from the 7, and a 32-yard field goal by Barbir gave Liberty a 34-26 lead with 5 minutes to play, setting up the eventful finish to the game and CCU’s season.
“This season has been incredible,” Kelly said. “It’s been fun, the most fun I’ve ever had playing football. We had a lot of success and that’s what you can do if you buy in and play for each other. It’s heartbreaking the way we ended it.”
This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 11:47 PM.
