‘I don’t talk to losers!’ How CCU vs. App State has quickly become a spirited rivalry
Coastal Carolina senior linebacker Teddy Gallagher had a message for Appalachian State fans following the Chanticleers’ 34-23 win last November at Brooks Stadium.
In the first half, as Gallagher was down on the field with an injury, he heard applause coming from a Mountaineers section of the stadium — and maybe even some App State players.
“Nothing but respect for that team in Boone! That’s a top 25 football team,” Gallagher posted on Twitter. “Haha just kidding. Forgot they cheered when I got hurt! Have a safe drive back to Stinky Smelly Cold Boone you bums.”
And he had a follow-up once he received some hateful messages in response from App State supporters. “Someone tell App fans to stop DMing me hate and tweeting at me. ... I don’t talk to losers!”
Gallagher’s Twitter exchange is but one example of the animosity that has developed between the Chanticleers and Mountaineers and the teams’ fan bases in Coastal’s five years in the Sun Belt Conference.
A rivalry forming between the programs seems natural considering App State is the program the Chants have been trying to emulate. They both had great success at the FCS level — the Mountaineers winning three national titles (2005–2007) and the Chants holding the No. 1 ranking for numerous weeks in two different seasons. App State then carried it over to FBS.
It has six straight bowl wins (2015-20), has won four Sun Belt titles since joining the conference in 2014, has gone 48-10 in conference play and has been ranked in each of the past three years (2018-20).
“App has been the big dog in the Sun Belt and our goal is to come in and take over,” CCU super senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer said. “We respect them. ... but we’re going to go in and try to take over. Play ball and most importantly just have fun and do what we love to do.”
Though there had been some words between the programs, Coastal was 0-6 against the Mountaineers prior to last year’s win that featured two CCU touchdowns in the final 2:30 for a late comeback that allowed the Chants to capture the Sun Belt’s East Division. That also allowed the chatter to simmer.
“We were the whipping boy there for so long and then last year you win and you’re not the whipping boy anymore. Then I think you become sort of America’s darlings there a little bit and take a little bit of their thunder,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “And that’s not from their coaches or their team, that’s more their fan base. They’ve been the cream of the crop so long they got used to that perch. Then they got knocked out, and when you get knocked out you get a little upset. I think that’s natural.”
The Mountaineers aren’t the only team building a dislike for the Chants. CCU’s rise to the top of the Sun Belt over the past two years has also led to a quickly-establishing trash-talking rivalry with the conference’s other top team since 2019 — Louisiana — with whom CCU shared the conference title in 2020.
“Beating [App State] last year definitely contributed to it, and I think they’ve made it more of a rivalry than we have,” CCU senior receiver Jaivon Heiligh said. “They hate us. A lot of teams hate us and we like it. We want them all to hate us because we hate them, too.”
The Chants have invited resentment with weekly postgame locker room victory celebrations specific to each opponent and a weekly theme determined by the coaches. Some of those moments have been posted on social media, including wrestling and bull fighting parodies, and the beheading of a stuffed wolf with a mini-chainsaw following the team’s win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Oct. 7.
“They’ve got crazy antics over there, but whatever they need to get going,” said Mountaineers fifth-year senior defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor. “I don’t know what they’ve got planned for us but hopefully we get the win so it won’t happen and end up on ESPN or something like that, something crazy.”
Coastal’s theme this week is “Love,” which is perhaps a way to tone down the back-and-forth between the teams. And there has been more talk of mutual respect between the teams in the lead-up to the game this year. The sharing of respect began with App State eschewing coronavirus protocols and mingling on the field for several minutes following last year’s game to offer the Chants congratulatory handshakes and fist bumps.
“They’ve got my respect by all means,” Taylor said. “They beat us last year so it’s like, ‘What can you say?’ You can say this and that, but they beat us at the end of the day. They got the job done.”
Fueled by social media, the competition between the fan bases hasn’t diminished, however. A Coastal alumni group secured a pregame gathering at Ransom Pub, which is within walking distance of Kidd Brewer Stadium. They gathered there before the 2019 meeting between the teams, and between 75 and 100 CCU fans were expected to attend from 5-7 p.m.
But the pub owner contacted the CCU group a couple weeks ago and canceled, citing pressure from App State fans, largely online, to not host a Coastal group.
“I think they probably felt they had no choice given the circumstances,” said Diane Sanders, CCU’s interim vice president for advancement and alumni engagement and an organizer of the gathering.
Sanders said CCU President Michael T. Benson contacted App State Chancellor Sheri Everts to help find another location, and the group will now meet for a tailgate on the App State campus featuring the Pregamers mobile bar with TVs and restrooms that is owned by a CCU alum.
The respect, and disdain, should only grow in coming years.
“As far as a rivalry, we’ve got to play a bunch more times,” Taylor said. “We’ll see in the future where it goes.”
Which should bring interest and potentially prosperity to all involved, aside from some bad blood.
“It’s nice to have a rivalry,” Chadwell said. “When we first came in [the Sun Belt] we didn’t have a rivalry because we couldn’t beat nobody. So when you can beat some people it develops a rivalry, which is good. It’s good for our league, that’s great for our university and their university to have some rivals, and that’s healthy. That’s what makes college football special.”
The opponent: Appalachian State Mountaineers
App State entered a pair of midweek showdown games against Louisiana last Tuesday and CCU on Wednesday 4-1 with a two-point loss at Miami, but the Mountaineers were thoroughly outplayed and committed four turnovers in a 41-13 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns to fall to 1-1 in the conference.
The Mountaineers have never lost more than two conference games in their previous seven years in the Sun Belt, but have also won four conference titles with a conference loss. The Mountaineers would like an eventual rematch with Louisiana as the East Division representative in the Sun Belt Championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 4.
“All of our goals are in front of us,” ASU coach Shawn Clark said. “You know our goal is to win the Sun Belt championship, and in order to do that you have to win the east, and the east is here on Wednesday night. It’s going to be a great game versus two great programs. Coach Chadwell has done a fantastic job. They’re undefeated and ranked 14th in the country. What better way to evaluate your program than to play that type of competition.”
ASU has several weapons in an offense led by former Clemson and Duke quarterback Chase Brice that includes talented and experienced receivers Corey Sutton, Thomas Hennigan and Malik Williams, who have combined for 86 receptions for 1,185 yards, and the combination of power and speed in the backfield with Camerun Peoples and Nate Noel. The Mountaineers defense is 67th in the country, allowing 380 yards per game against a solid schedule.
Peoples, who has eight rushing touchdowns this season, is among Mountaineers nursing injuries and may be game-time decisions. Clark said he has practiced this week.
Coastal Carolina notes
Coastal has won 18 consecutive regular-season games, which is the most in the nation, and has also won 11 consecutive Sun Belt games and seven straight road games.
CCU’s offense has been rolling under quarterback Grayson McCall, ranking first in the nation in both points per game (48.8) and yards per play (8.8) and second in yards per game (554.2). McCall is ranked first in the nation in passing efficiency, completion percentage (79.8) and yards per pass attempt (13.56). His favorite receivers, Jaivon Heiligh and tight end Isaiah Likely, both average at least 19 yards per catch, and CCU is third in the nation in rushing with 263.5 yards per game.
CCU’s defense has held each of its past three opponents under 275 yards of total offense and ranks eighth in the country in points allowed per game (15) and third in passing yards allowed per game (151.5).
But the Chants are stepping up in competition. Four of their first five FBS opponents are ranked in the bottom 14 among 130 teams in total defense — three in the bottom six.
Coastal is coming off its off week so it hasn’t played since defeating Arkansas State 52-20 on Oct. 7. So the Chants were able to heal physically, get a mental break and work on correcting mistakes made during the first half of the season over the past 12 days.
“Just focusing more on ourselves and the details that we’ve messed up kind of during these past few weeks during the season .... and honing in on our craft more than worrying about another team,” Heiligh said.
Coastal vs. App State odds, betting line
The Chanticleers are trying to play the underdog role with their comments, but that is simply not the case. The Chants have been bet up to a 4-point favorite at Las Vegas casinos. The over/under is set at 59 1/2 points.
Score prediction
Coastal Carolina 37, App State 30: The Mountaineers certainly won’t play as poorly as they did last week against Louisiana, but can they overcome Coastal’s mojo.
CCU preview, kickoff, location, TV, radio, tickets
- Who: No. 14/16 Coastal Carolina (6-0, 2-0) vs Appalachian State (4-2, 1-1)
- When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
- Where: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, N.C.
- Occasion: The only FBS game being played Wednesday
- TV: ESPN2 (and stream on ESPN app or https://www.espn.com/watch/)
- TV talent: Anish Shroff (play by play), Tom Luginbill (analyst) and Tiffany Blackmon (sideline)
- Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM
- Satelite Radio: SiriusXM 137, XM 201, Online 981
- Tickets: Are available through Ticketmaster, at the stadium box office on game day, by calling 843-347-8499 (TIXX), or through the tickets@coastal.edu email
- Weather: Temperatures during the game are forecast to be between 55 and 48 degrees with mostly clear skies, winds less than 5 mph, and a negligible chance of rain
- Live stats: AppStateStats.com
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 8:01 AM.
