Over in a minute: Coastal Carolina overpowers UMass to remain perfect on the season
It was a short day of work for Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall and the Chanticleers’ other starters Saturday at Brooks Stadium.
The Chants took care of business in the first half against an overwhelmed Massachusetts, allowing McCall to watch the entire second half of a 53-3 win from the sideline.
He completed 10 of 14 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns and rushed twice for 9 yards and a TD in two quarters of work as No. 17 CCU improved to 4-0.
Jaivon Heiligh had five receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown to go over 100 yards receiving for the fifth time in his past six games and tight end Isaiah Likely added three catches for 76 yards and a TD.
Coastal scored on its first eight possessions before taking a knee inside the 5-yard line at the end of the game. The Chants had 558 yards of offense including 312 rushing.
“We challenged them to play with enthusiasm,” Chadwell said. “. . . I just wanted to play the game the way we’re capable of so I was pleased that we did that. We came out and did not stumble through the first quarter.”
The CCU defense cured a lot of ills against the inept Minutemen, holding UMass to 88 yards of offense in the first half and 158 for the game.
“There was never a moment there where you felt like, ‘Hey, these guys are going to make some plays on us,’ ” Chadwell said. “That was good and gives us good confidence going into this big week that’s coming up for us.”
The Chants had an announced crowd of 15,261 for their “Teal Out” promotion.
Mobley makes an impact
The CCU coaching staff would like to get more production from receivers not named Heiligh and Likely, and has talked about getting sophomore receiver Tyson Mobley of Longwood, Florida, more involved in the offense. He was a factor Saturday.
The 6-foot, 170-pound speedster scored his first two collegiate touchdowns on a 32-yard end-around run in the second quarter and 9-yard reception on an underneath route from Bryce Carpenter in the third quarter.
“There are guys that we have that have earned more playing time and I’ve got to do and our coaches have to do a better job of getting them in there at any time, and Ty Mobley is one that we need to get in more, and you saw what he was capable of doing today.” Chadwell said.
Mobley entered the game with no rushing attempts and one reception for 15 yards. He is the first Chant to both run for and catch a touchdown this season.
“It feels amazing to get back in the end zone, especially celebrating with my teammates,” he said. “The coaches put me in a great opportunity to take advantage of it.”
CCU’s kicking conundrum
Senior kicker Massimo Biscardi missed his second consecutive game with a lower body injury, and the Chants have to decide who will be their kicker moving forward if he misses more time.
Freshman Liam Gray missed a 22-yard field goal attempt last week, and missed the extra point attempt after CCU’s first touchdown Saturday.
Redshirt sophomore Kieran Colahan of Australia then kicked the next two extra points and a fourth-quarter PAT, and Gray kicked the three in between, Colahan got the call for a fourth-quarter field goal attempt and nailed a 38-yarder.
“We’re hoping he’s back next week,” Chadwell said of Biscardi. “It’s been two weeks and that was the plan to give him a couple weeks and see how he feels and see how the injury is. Can he go out there and still do it and do it at a good level to where he’s comfortable and confident. That really is going to come down to him, to be honest with you. Can he handle any type of pain and go out and kick. It’s all up to him. It’s not up to us and not up to our trainers.”
Chadwell said he’s been impressed by Gray’s ability in practice, but he has missed two short kicks in two weeks.
“If Massimo is out I would say based off some of the performances we’ve had in the last couple weeks it would be Kieran that we probably trot out there first,” Chadwell said. “We really feel strongly about Liam and what he can do but he’s not obviously doing that in a game situation. But he’s young. He’s still growing and he’s got to grow through that a little bit and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and Kieran has improved tremendously. So I feel if Massimo is not there we’ll be fine.”
Isn’t that special
UMass punter George Georgopoulos had difficulty fielding snaps in the first half, and the Chants were credited with some big special teams plays as a result.
Redshirt freshman Mason Shelton blocked a Georgopoulos punt after a snap sailed over his head and he attempted to kick it in the face of defenders after tracking it down inside the 10-yard line. Shelton returned the block a few yards to the Minutemen 4.
Georgopoulos was later unable to handle a low snap in the end zone and CCU was awarded a safety when the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone.
“I think we’re getting better providing that winning edge [on special teams],” Chadwell said. “That was our big challenge in the offseason, can we up our special teams to where they’re one of the tops in our conference, and so far we’re doing well.”
Sitting it out
In addition to Biscardi, two other contributors also sat out Saturday’s game because of injuries.
Senior running back Shermari Jones, who said he aggravated a turf toe injury while gaining 145 yards against Buffalo last week, missed the game, as did junior tight end Xavier Gravette, who has three receptions for 72 yards and a score on the season. Chadwell said Jones could return next week or might need another week of rest.
CCU also lost freshman defensive end Josaiah Stewart, who had a team-record 3 1/2 sacks against Kansas, to a targeting penalty early in the game on a special teams tackle.
CCU senior linebacker Silas Kelly believes the NCAA should look at the rule that targeting penalties are an automatic ejection and suspension for the first half of the next game if it occurs in the second half.
“I think it definitely needs to be reviewed,” Kelly said. “Like Josaiah is just trying to run down there and make a play, and a lot of times the plays are bang-bang. If it’s a penalty it’s a penalty. But to me it doesn’t feel good to have a guy kicked out for the rest of the game that had family travel to the game from wherever. I think it should just be a 15-yard penalty.”
The long and short of it
Coastal Carolina’s first two scoring drives were separated by 95 yards.
The Chants scored on a 4-yard drive 4 minutes into the game after a blocked punt. McCall scored on a 3-yard run.
The Chants then drove 99 yards after a punt was downed at their 1. Reese White spun out of a tackle attempt on a 12-yard scoring run to cap a nine-play drive that included a 35-yard Isaiah Likely completion to the 12. Likely out-leaped a defender and bobbled the ball before securing the catch as he was landing on the ground.
Poll implications
CCU dropped a spot to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll last week after its narrow 28-25 win over Buffalo, and moved up a spot to 17 in the USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll.
The Chants didn’t hurt themselves in the polls with an easy win, but they are unlikely to move up much considering the competition.
Up next
Coastal begins Sun Belt Conference play against Louisiana-Monroe at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday at Brooks Stadium.
The Warhawks were scheduled to play Troy on Saturday night and entered the weekend 1-1 with a 45-10 loss to Kentucky and 12-7 win over the FCS Deion Sanders-led Jackson State.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 4:13 PM.
