Coastal’s title hopes dashed after Georgia State deals Chants a crushing blow in Conway
A failed two-point conversion attempt spoiled Coastal Carolina’s homecoming Saturday at Brooks Stadium.
A 17-yard touchdown pass by Bryce Carpenter to tight end Isaiah Likely pulled Coastal within two points of Georgia State with 1:09 to play, but a run up the middle by Shermari Jones on the two-point attempt was stopped by nose tackle Thomas Gore and linebacker Jontrey Hunter to give Georgia State a 42-40 win.
Carpenter was playing in place of Grayson McCall, the nation’s leader in passing efficiency and yards per pass attempt who missed his second consecutive game Saturday due to a shoulder injury.
No. 21/22 Coastal (8-2) falls to 4-2 in the Sun Belt Conference and loses hope for an East Division title and spot in the conference championship game, while the Panthers (5-5) tie the Chants in the standings at 4-2. Appalachian State (8-2, 5-1) leads the East Division and has beaten both CCU and the Panthers.
Coastal had won 12 straight home games and came up one win shy of the longest home winning streak in school history with its first loss at Brooks Stadium since Nov. 7, 2019.
“There’s nothing right now that anyone can say to anyone on this team that’s going to make it all okay,” Carpenter said. “. . . It stinks right now, but I know this group of men and I know we’re going to come together and move forward. It stinks right now, it stings, but we just have to move forward.”
The two-point attempt came after Likely was interfered with on a pass attempt to move the ball to the 1-yard line.
Coastal had a chance to recover an onside kick after it bounced off a Georgia State player and there was a scrum for the ball but it was recovered by the Panthers.
Georgia State scored twice in the final five minutes, as Terrance Dixon scored on a 2-yard reception with 4:53 to play and a 4-yard Gregg Tucker run gave the Panthers a 42-34 lead with 2:36 remaining after Jamil Muhammad sacked Carpenter and forced a fumble that was recovered by Hunter.
The Chants began their final drive at their 25-yard line., and Carpenter completed five of six pass attempts for 74 yards on the scoring drive.
Coastal erased a 28-16 first-half deficit by scoring 18 consecutive points on a pair of Jones rushing touchdowns and 24-yard field goal by Massimo Biscardi, while the CCU defense held the Panthers to 7 yards of offense in the third quarter. Jones’ third rushing touchdown of the game — he gained 65 yards on 16 carries — from 8 yards and a two-point conversion gave CCU a 34-28 lead with 9:15 to play.
Carpenter completed 17 of 29 passes for 233 yards with a TD and interception in the first quarter that was returned to the CCU 1-yard line and led to a touchdown.
“I thought he did a fantastic job of competing and he gave us a chance, you know he drove us down there. We just didn’t do it enough consistently when we needed to, to either get a big lead or make some plays, some momentum-type plays when we needed to get some,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said.
On his interception, there appeared to be a miscommunication between Carpenter and receiver Jaivon Heiligh, who continued running down field while Carpenter threw behind him and right to cornerback Quavian White.
Carpenter benefited from a pair of one-handed catches over the middle on deep balls, as Heiligh caught a 39-yarder in the first quarter and Likely added a 28-yard one-handed grab in the fourth.
“Bryce is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had on any team that I’ve ever been on,” CCU super senior linebacker Silas Kelly said. “He’s a selfless guy, a total warrior on the field who is willing to play through anything. . . . He’s willing to give his all for his teammates day in and day out. Whether he’s the starter, whether he’s the backup he’s going to give you everything he has. So we’re blessed to have him on our team.”
Coastal was the fourth ranked opponent the Panthers have faced this season. They lost close games to Auburn and Louisiana and were blown out in the second game of the season by North Carolina.
Will McCall return next week?
Chadwell said McCall has made progress in his recovery from a shoulder injury incurred two weeks ago against Troy.
“He got better from two weeks ago to this point,” Chadwell said. “We’ll do everything we can for him to play. Again, it’s going to come down to a pain tolerance. If there is pain how much is it and how can he tolerate it? Does it affect him?
“If there’s some pain you try to compensate for that, so when you compensate for something that can hurt you worse, so we want to make sure it doesn’t hurt him worse from a long-term standpoint.”
There’s a chance McCall returns next week against Texas State. “I feel confident if he makes the strides he did this week he should play,” Chadwell said.
Conway’s Grainger has homecoming
While CCU celebrated Homecoming and Hall of Fame Weekend on Saturday, Georgia State quarterback Darren Grainger had a homecoming of his own.
The former Conway High quarterback transferred from Furman and took over the Panthers’ starting job in the third week of the season.
He completed 18 of 24 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, and gained 29 yards on 12 carries Saturday. Grainger hit tight end Roger Carter for a 39-yard pass down the left sideline despite facing pressure from outside linebacker Jeffrey Gunter to set up his go-ahead 2-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Dixon on fourth down with 5 minutes to play.
“Our goal was to try to have him beat us from the pocket. . . . but today we didn’t get enough pressure on him,” Chadwell said. “We had a pick, he threw one up to us there in the fourth quarter and it went right through our safety’s hands, which would have been huge. But that was really the only pass we had a chance to get.
“I thought he did a good job. I’m sure he did Conway proud.”
On the season, the redshirt junior has completed 100 of 166 passes for 1,220 yards and 14 touchdowns with three interceptions while also rushing for 445 yards and a touchdown on 102 carries.
Bennett breaks free
Redshirt running back Braydon Bennett continues to provide explosive plays for the Chants.He recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career with 128 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries Saturday, and recorded the longest run of his career with a 75-yard touchdown scamper down the left sideline after taking an option pitch from Carpenter.
Bennett has played in all 10 games this season and has split time in the backfield with Jones and Reese White, who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury.
He has 473 yards and five touchdowns on 55 carries for a gaudy average of 8.6 yards per carry, and 17 receptions for 219 yards and a touchdown for a nearly 13-yard average per catch.
Likely also had a big day with seven catches for 101 yards and a TD.
Freshman phenom matches record
Freshman defensive end Josaiah Stewart’s sack of Grainger on the opening possession of the second quarter gave him 10 for the season to tie the school record set by Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Tarron Jackson in 2019.
“If he has the work ethic and the dedication that Tarron does then he’s going have a special, special career. He has the ability, no doubt, and he does love ball,” Chadwell said. “. . . He definitely has the ability, he has the mindset, he comes to practice every day to get better. So he does remind you in that aspect of Tarron. They’re built different a little bit. He has the mindset and a motor that he just wants to go out and play hard and he doesn’t quit. I’ve never seen him not smiling. I’ve never seen him have a day where he’s just not excited about being out here, so for a young person it’s pretty special so far.
“Hopefully that continues. Right now he’s just playing. When the expectations change on you, and you’re expected to do this every week, how do you hande that. I think that’s what we’ve got to wait to see. But I think he’ll have the right mindset going forward.”
Stewart, who is 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, is from Everett, Massachusetts and was previously committed to Boston College before a coaching change in that program. He has set the program record for the most sacks in a game twice this year with 3.5 sacks against Kansas and four sacks last week against Georgia Southern.
“He’s unreal. He’s a beast. He’s got a special talent and he works really hard day in and day out,” Kelly said. “Josaiah has just a natural gift. He’s extremely quick, he’s solid. He came in as a freshman and it was like one of those moments when you have to check somebody’s birth certificate. He looks the part for sure and he’s got that top-end speed and that bend around the corner.”
Kelly enters 300 club
Kelly tied a career high with a game-high 12 tackles, including six solo, and now has 307 career tackles to join Quinn Backus (441 tackles) and Jamar Leath (364) in CCU’s 300-tackle club.
“Silas is a great leader,” Stewart said. “Silas has taught me so much about this game, not even just football, first of all how to carry yourself and how to face adversity when it comes to things like this [loss].”
Poll implications
The Chants have been ranked for 22 straight releases of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll going back to last October, and entered Saturday’s game at No. 22/21.
They will surely fall from the rankings after the close loss to Georgia State.
Up Next
CCU hosts Texas State at 1 p.m. next Saturday. The Bobcats are 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the conference following a 38-30 loss at home to Georgia Southern on Saturday.
They defeated Louisiana-Monroe 27-19 at home last week and also defeated South Alabama in overtime in early October before dropping consecutive games against Troy, Georgia State and Louisiana. They opened the season with a 29-20 loss to Baylor.
“It’s going to be a challenge going forward because you wanted to finish 11-1 and give yourself a chance if App State slips up, and that’s not going to happen anymore,” Chadwell said. “So there’s no way you get to play in the championship game. So there’s a disappointment that’s going to happen. We can’t allow this setback to send us down a loop for the last two games. We’ve still got to come out and play and play hard, and there’s a lot to play for. Not what we wanted to hopefully, but there’s still a lot to play for.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 5:44 PM.
