CCU’s 2022 football schedule is complete. It includes new Sun Belt Conference members
Coastal Carolina’s 2022 football schedule is complete, and it includes games against all four of the Sun Belt Conference’s new members.
In conference games, the Chants will host Old Dominion on Oct. 15, travel to Marshall on Oct. 29, host Southern Miss on Nov. 12 and travel to James Madison in the regular season finale on Nov. 26. The Sun Belt Conference released its full schedule Tuesday.
Coastal has two midweek conference games, at Georgia State on Thursday, Sept. 22 and against Appalachian State at Brooks Stadium in a potential East Division showdown on Thursday, Nov. 3.
The Sun Belt expanded from 10 to 14 teams in the past few months with the addition of the four teams and was able to incorporate those schools into the schedule immediately.
Each Sun Belt program will play eight conference games — six against divisional opponents and two against opponents from the opposite division.
The Sun Belt East Division will include App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion. The Sun Belt West Division will consist of Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State and Troy.
CCU’s other conference games are Oct. 1 against Georgia Southern and Oct. 8 at ULM.
For the second straight season, the Chants won’t play defending conference champion Louisiana. The Ragin Cajuns were the only conference program the Chants did not play last season.
Prior to the start of conference play, the Chants open the season at home against Army on Sept. 3.
The rest of the non-conference schedule features home games against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 10 and Buffalo on Sept. 17, and a road trip to ACC foe Virginia on Nov. 19 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Without a doubt it’s going to be the hardest schedule we’ve ever played,” CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said. “It’s going to be challenging. We’ve got some short weeks in there and some different things. . . . We’re going to have to learn how to show up every week to win.”
Kickoff times and TV networks for all midweek games and weekend games in the first three weeks of the season will be selected in early June. All other games will fall into the traditional 12-day selection process.
Sun Belt at odds with C-USA
The Sun Belt’s inclusion of three departing schools from Conference USA in its 2022 alignment and schedules constitutes a showdown between the two conferences.
Conference USA released its conference football schedules in mid-February and they included Southern Miss, Marshall and Old Dominion in a 14-team alignment.
The three schools announced in October that they planned to join the Sun Belt in the summer of 2023, but recently announced plans to join the Sun Belt this upcoming July. C-USA believes the schools are contractually obligated to remain this upcoming football season.
“Conference USA intends to conduct the 2022-23 athletic year with the full 14 institution membership intact,” a C-USA statement reads. “The C-USA Board of Directors will exhaust all necessary legal actions to ensure all members meet their contractual obligations as defined by and agreed to in the Conference USA Bylaws.”
All three schools have received injunctions against C-USA in their respective courts. Marshall sued C-USA and its injunction temporarily allows the school to avoid arbitrating the case in Dallas, where C-USA is headquartered.
CCU’s 2022 Football Schedule
9/3 Army
9/10 Gardner-Webb
9/17 Buffalo
9/22 at Georgia State*
10/1 Georgia Southern*
10/8 at ULM*
10/15 Old Dominion*
10/29 at Marshall*
11/3 App State*
11/12 Southern Miss*
11/19 at Virginia
11/26 at James Madison*
* Denotes Sun Belt Conference game
McCall wins Blanchard-Rogers Trophy
CCU quarterback Grayson McCall will receive the 2021 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy, which is presented by the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame (SCFHOF) to the most outstanding college player in or from South Carolina.
Eligibility includes all college football players playing in the state and S.C. natives playing outside the state. McCall is the first CCU player to win the award.
The trophy is scheduled to be presented at the ninth annual Enshrinement Ceremony & Benefit on April 29 at the Hilton Greenville.
“There’s a lot of really, really good players in this state,” Chadwell said. “. . . I think people recognize the type of player he is. That’s great for him, that’s great for our program, and to represent the state, to have a Chanticleer as the player of the year in the state of South Carolina is a big deal. He’s obviously earned that.”
McCall will be honored along with the Hall of Fame Class of 2021 including Jeff Bostic (Clemson University), Peter Boulware (Columbia), Dwayne Harper (Orangeburg/S.C. State), Rick Sanford (Rock Hill/USC), and legacy inductee Chester McGlockton (Clemson Univ.).
McCall is recovering from right shoulder surgery, and Chadwell said Tuesday that doctors have told the coaching staff McCall should be ready for all football activities by early July. Chadwell said McCall’s surgery was performed to strengthen the shoulder after a couple years of throwing and taking hits.
McCall led the Chants to an 11-2 record including the program’s first bowl win at the Cure Bowl. He started in 11 games, completing 73 percent of his passes for 2,873 yards and 27 touchdowns with three interceptions. He also added 290 yards and four touchdowns rushing.
He broke the NCAA record for passing efficiency at 207.6, which eclipsed the record set by Alabama’s Mac Jones (203.1) in 2020 and LSU’s Joe Burrow (202.0) in 2019. Both were first-round NFL draft picks.
McCall was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season, was a semifinalist for both the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards, and was also a top-10 finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
Tickets to the April 29 event are available at www.scfootballhof.org/shop.
Two former Chants land on pro teams
Former CCU running back CJ Marable was selected in the United State Football League (USFL) Draft last week, while former CCU cornerback Mallory Claybourne signed a contract in the Canadian Football League.
Marable, who signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Chicago Bears of the NFL in the spring of 2021, was selected by the Birmingham Stallions in the 28th round of the USFL draft last Wednesday.
Claybourne signed with the B.C. Lions of the CFL.
A 2020 All-Sun Belt first-team pick at both running back and all-purpose specialist, Marable finished his career with a streak of 32 straight games with at least one reception and with 3,729 rushing yards combined over his collegiate career at both Coastal (2018-20) and Presbyterian (2017).
In his three years at CCU, he rushed for 2,691 yards, which is second in program history behind De’Angelo Henderson’s 4,635 yards, and he scored 41 total touchdowns. His 10 100-yard rushing games at CCU is second to Henderson’s 25.
In Claybourne’s three years at CCU, he totaled 85 tackles, including 57 solo stops, had one interception, six pass breakups and one fumble recovery.
Both former CCU tight end Isaiah Likely and outside linebacker Jeffrey Gunter are participating in this week’s NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as they look to embark on pro careers.
“It’s huge for them and their families to have the opportunity,” Chadwell said. “They’ve played in these [all-star] bowl bowl games and did well, now they’re up there in front of everybody to have a chance to go out and perform. And I have no doubt they will perform well on that stage.
“. . . It shows our players, it shows future players that you can achieve any goal you want. You can get a great degree, you can live in a great place, you can play a high level of football and still go to the highest level, so it’s a huge benefit for everybody.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 10:30 AM.
