Coastal Carolina football faced a big test against Buffalo. Here’s how the Chants won
Coastal Carolina was tested Saturday afternoon at Buffalo. The Chanticleers passed the test, but their grade was downgraded late in the game.
A rare Grayson McCall interception — just his fourth in his two years as a starter — in the end zone kept Coastal from adding to an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, gave Buffalo hope and forced the Chants to sweat out the final few minutes.
The Bulls drove 92 yards on 16 plays to score on a 7-yard run by Kevin Marks with 2:41 remaining, but they used more than 7 minutes on the drive to give the Chants an opportunity to run out the clock with just two first downs after eschewing an onside kick.
The Chants (3-0), ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, achieved those with a 22-yard run by Braydon Bennett and 13-yard run by Reese White to secure a 28-25 win.
The game was tied at the half, as the physical Bulls outgained CCU 249-215 through the first two quarters, including 189 yards rushing.
Coastal’s offensive line asserted itself in the second half to help CCU take control. CCU rushed the ball 12 times in the third quarter for 112 yards — a 9.3-yard per-carry average — and Shermari Jones scored on a 1-yard run to start the fourth quarter, giving the Chants a 28-17 lead.
CCU had 154 yards rushing in the second half after just 74 yards on the ground in the first half.
The Chants threatened to break the game open in the fourth after McCall hit Kameron Brown for a 58-yard gain and Bennett for 18 yards on successive plays to the 7, but Buffalo cornerback Logic Hudgens dropped into double coverage on tight end Isaiah Likely to record an interception with less than 10 minutes to play.
McCall, who entered the game leading the nation in completion percentage (82.5 percent) and passing efficiency, completed 13 of 19 passes for 232 yards, three touchdowns and the interception. Jones gained 149 yards on 16 carries, as CCU outgained Buffalo 460-406, including 245-157 in the second half.
“We didn’t play our best overall. . . . But we found a way to win, and any time you go on the road it’s tough, especially when you’re getting everybody’s best shot,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “So I’m pleased with how we got the victory. I’m pleased that we grinded it out there at the end and had to run the clock out and found a way to do that. So we’ll take it.”
Buffalo (1-2) was looking for just its second ever victory over a team ranked in the top 25. In 2008, the Bulls defeated No. 12 and undefeated Ball State in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
CCU had been 0-3 against MAC opponents, the most recent game a 30-23 loss to Eastern Michigan in 2019.
Miscues nearly cost the Chants
The absence of senior placekicker Massimo Biscardi due to injury hurt the Chants as freshman Liam Gray hit the upright on a 22-yard field goal attempt from the right hash late in the first half with a chance to give CCU a lead.
Seldom used redshirt junior wide receiver Tyler Roberts, a transfer from N.C. Wesleyan, dropped what would have been a big gain and potential touchdown reception when McCall hit him on a seam route over the middle, and CCU eventually came up empty on the drive with the missed short field goal attempt.
Jaivon Heiligh was unable to make an over-the-shoulder catch down the left sideline late in the first half that could have gone for a TD or set the Chants up in field goal position.
“We had some dropped passes that were huge, too, in our opinion two touchdowns that were dropped that could have really just blown the game open,” Chadwell said.
McCall’s first interception of the season kept CCU from opening up a three-score lead in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah we won, but I feel like the Chants can be better. We didn’t play our best football game today,” Jones said.
Jones takes leading role
Jones rushed for 100 yards for the second time this season, setting CCU career highs in carries and yards. He had five more carries than McCall and eight more than any other running back.
A 50-yard run to start the second half was the longest of his career and he also had a highlight run when he ran through safety Cory Gross Jr. on a big gain.
“We needed to be able to run the ball against them and [Jones] did a fantastic job. I thought we ran the ball pretty well for the most part all day long. . . . Him being able to run the ball and get big plays and he’s physical. We’re going to have to have that if we’re going to continue to be better.”
Jones is a senior who was a junior college transfer before the 2020 season.
“He has bided his time,” Chadwell said. “He was a junior college transfer last year that didn’t learn the playbook as he needed early enough, so he started with spot roles and he had a spot role in a lot of different things. And now he’s one of the key guys.”
Injury concerns
Coastal will have some injuries to assess this week.
Biscardi did not travel with the team to Buffalo because of an injury, and he is expected to miss more games if not the rest of the season, which would be a blow, as Biscardi has been recognized as an all-conference performer in multiple seasons.
Chadwell said he has a lower body injury. “We’re hoping to find out more next week,” he said. “Our anticipation is he will not be available next week, he might not be available the rest of the year. I think it’s a week-to-week basis there. Hopefully we get him back, he’s an important part of what we’re doing. As of right now we’re anticipating him being out a little longer.”
McCall went under the medical tent following a hit that caused an apparent left arm or shoulder injury in the first half, but he returned to lead the same drive to a TD with a pair of passes to Heiligh totaling 53 yards.
Defensive back D’Jordan Strong, who was among the national leaders in interceptions last year with five, injured a shoulder on a first-half tackle and missed some time before returning to the field in the second half.
Likely appeared to see limited playing time and was seldom targeted, though he did catch a 6-yard TD reception on the first drive of the second half to give the Chants a 21-14 lead. McCall lofted a pass over a defender toward the back of the end zone and Likely leaped to bring it down.
Air Spillum strikes again
Fifth-year senior safety Alex Spillum provided a big play on special teams for the second consecutive week. Last week against Kansas, Spillum blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown and also had a blocked field goal attempt negated by a penalty.
On Saturday, although he’s not normally a punt returner, Spillum fielded a punt from Buffalo QB Kyle Vantrease, who punted from a shotgun snap formation on fourth-and-10 at the Bulls’ 26, and returned it 50 yards to the Buffalo 25 to set up a CCU touchdown.
“We practice Alex every week catching punts. Now he’s not a punt returner, but we practice him catching punts,” Chadwell said. “As soon as we saw that, As soon as we figured it out we told him, ‘Hey, if you see this, run back there.’ He made a great catch and the only thing I’m going to tell him is he got tackled by an offensive lineman. I mean come on, finish the play.
“But I think that shows his ability, I think that shows his talent level and he’s very skillful. That was a big play. That changed the whole momentum there going into the fourth quarter.”
CCU also got a 41-yard kickoff return by Manny Stokes Jr., and Chadwell credited Myrtle Beach High product Kenny Byrd for a special teams tackle deep in Buffalo territory.
“Our ‘it’ is ‘provide the winning edge’, and that’s what we want to do every week, provide the winning edge,” said Spillum, who wore an ‘Air Spillum’ T-shirt for a media interview on Wednesday, of the special teams units.
Difference of opinion
After McCall threw the fourth quarter interception, he expressed disappointment with the play call, voicing his opinion that a run play should have been called. ESPN2 cameras caught his objection and a direct exchange with Chadwell that followed.
“I think sometimes the coach might not make the best calls but it’s the quarterback’s job to make the best play out of it and be accountable for what you’re doing,” Chadwell said. “I think he was emotional because he made a bad decision, you know, I’m emotional because maybe it wasn’t the best call at the time. So we’re both competing with passion there. He had to understand the situation and to be smart. It’s a learning experience.
“. . . He’s played a total of 14 games so there are still things he sees that may be a little bit new, and he didn’t make the best decision there. Coach could have called another play too, there. So just calming each other down and taking accountability and ownership of what we did, and fixing that moving forward, which we did, and he’ll be better for it.”
Heiligh reaching new heights
Heiligh became the fourth player in CCU history to surpass 2,000 career receiving yards.
Heiligh had four receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown to join Jerome Simpson, Matt Hazel and Bruce Mapp in the 2,000-yard club. Simpson and Hazel both played in the NFL, and Hazel had pro opportunities as well.
“It’s crazy. You walk in as a freshman and you just think, ‘Do you have the potential to be one of the greatest to ever walk through here,’ ” Heiligh said. “The fact that I’ve had the opportunity to be in the conversations with them, because those are the greats that have walked through the school.”
Heiligh had 998 yards receiving last season, and entered Saturday’s game with four consecutive 100-yard receiving games, including 12 catches for 255 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games of the season.
“I would say me working with the coaches about being more focused on details is what has helped me more and more,” Heiligh said. “Because I learned the offense quickly and then all I needed to know was the details, how to run certain things, how to block certain ways. I’d say that’s why I’m more successful now than I was two years ago.”
Fourth and counting
Coastal has been among the nation’s leaders in fourth-down attempts and conversions under Chadwell, and he rolled the dice a couple of times on fourth down Saturday.
On CCU’s first drive, Greg Latushko converted a fourth-and-3 at the Buffalo 31 with a reception, leading to Aaron Bedgood’s first reception of the year that went for a 17-yard TD catch on an end-around inside flip pass from McCall.
The biggest gamble was a fourth-and-1 at the CCU 42 in the second quarter, and CCU converted with a 4-yard Reese White run up the middle. The drive came up empty with a missed field goal, however.
Poll implications
Will a close win cost CCU in the polls?
The Chants have moved up in the polls after big wins over Citadel and Kansas, going from 22nd in the AP preseason poll to 16th entering this week, and from 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll to 18th.
The Chants were favored by 14 points over Buffalo.
Up next
Coastal will again be a big favorite next Saturday when it hosts Massachusetts at 1 p.m. at Brooks Stadium.
This story was originally published September 18, 2021 at 3:34 PM.
