Coastal QB Grayson McCall didn’t play Saturday and could miss more games. Here’s why
If Coastal Carolina is to remain in the race for the Sun Belt Conference East Division title today at Georgia Southern, it will have to do so without its star quarterback, who could be out for multiple weeks.
Redshirt sophomore Grayson McCall will not play today in Statesboro, Georgia, due to an upper body injury and is “out indefinitely,” according to CCU assistant athletic director for media relations Kevin Davis. Senior Bryce Carpenter started at quarterback Saturday.
“It is our interpretation that this is a long-term thing. Hopefully we get him back before the end of the season,” CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell told WRNN 99.5 FM. “. . . We don’t know exactly how long he’ll take to get back. It’s really unfortunate for him and unfortunate for our team.
“But we’ve been here before and Bryce Carpenter has played a lot of football for us.”
Carpenter has now started 10 games in his CCU career. He started two games as a freshman in 2018 and the final six games of the 2019 season.
“It’s next-man-up mentality. Bryce has that mindset and he’ll play well and help our football team play well,” Chadwell told WRNN. “Our guys and our players have confidence in him. He’s a great teammate.”
McCall leads the nation in passing efficiency and yards per attempt, and is third in completion percentage.
Chadwell said the injury was incurred in last Thursday in a win against Troy.
McCall was forced to leave the game for a few plays in the third quarter after taking a big hit on a run, but he returned for CCU’s next possession and played the remainder of the team’s offensive snaps.
McCall took a knee on his way to the sideline following his fourth consecutive run, then sat down and vomited a couple times while chugging water and speaking to members of the CCU training staff.
He entered the medical tent on the sideline and emerged, sans helmet, before jogging down the sideline to congratulate teammates after they completed a scoring drive.
“I just took a shot to the gut and with me throwing up and stuff, it was just precautionary stuff on the sideline making sure I was alright,” McCall said following the game.
Coastal (7-1), which is ranked 21st in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll, is 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Appalachian State (7-2) leads the East Division with a 4-1 record following its win over Arkansas State on Saturday, and has the tiebreaker over the Chants for the division crown based on its 30-27 win over Coastal on Oct. 20. Georgia Southern (2-6) is 1-4 in the conference.
With McCall out, CCU dropped from a 20-point favorite to a 15-point favorite.
Carpenter has played in seven games this season and has completed 11 of 19 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and has rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. For his career, he has completed 141 of 216 passes (65.3 %) for 1,556 yards with 15 TDs and four interceptions, and has gained 731 yards rushing on 190 carries (3.8 yards per rush).
This season, McCall has completed 116 of 158 passes (73.4 %) for 2,063 yards and 17 touchdowns with two interceptions, and has rushed for 138 yards and three TDs on 55 carries. For his career, McCall has completed 71 % of his passes and thrown 44 touchdowns and five interceptions.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
