Coastal Carolina beats Georgia State, wins bowl game eligibility for fifth season in a row
Coastal Carolina’s goal was simple when its game against Georgia State began in Atlanta on Saturday. If CCU wanted bowl eligibility for the fifth straight season since joining the FBS, it needed one more win.
CCU’s season was filled with injuries, inconsistent play and frustrating losses that stalled the momentum it had garnered with an early 3-0 start. Despite this, Coastal achieved its objective.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-6) beat the Georgia State Panthers (3-9) 48-27 at a mostly empty Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta. Head coach Tim Beck said after the game that the Thanksgiving break helped re-energize CCU after momentum-sapping losses to Marshall and Georgia Southern.
“It’s been an up-and-down season, and it’s been a trying week in terms of, didn’t have a great game a week ago,” he said. “We played hard. We continue to play hard today.”
After being benched briefly late in the loss to Georgia Southern at Brooks Stadium in Conway, quarterback Ethan Vasko played well, finishing the game with 13-of-17 passing for 200 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. CCU’s offensive performance mirrored the output early in 2024, which generated hope for CCU fans.
Vasko’s running ability proved an accessory to his ability to extend plays and find open receivers. However, this once bit him when he tried to throw a ball to Kyre Duplessis, and Georgia State’s Jyron Gilmore caught it instead. Besides this, Vasko once again flashed the ability that earned him the starting job to start the season. When he looked downfield to Senika McKie and Kendall Karr, they caught his throws, unlike in previous weeks when drops contributed to Coastal losses. McKie caught two touchdowns from Vasko in redemption for a dropped potential touchdown in the end zone in Coastal’s loss to Marshall.
Vasko said after the game that he stayed confident in McKie and his receivers.
“He’s always coming down with them in practice since fall camp. So just believing in him and giving (McKie) opportunities, and he’s going to come down with more than he doesn’t,” Vasko said.
CCU controlled the line of scrimmage as it had during the first three games, as now-fired offensive coordinator Travis Trickett wanted before the season began. Coastal’s 275 running yards were the third most on the season, the offensive line giving CCU running backs and Vasko lots of room to work with downfield.
Even when primary running back Braydon Bennett left the game with a limp, CCU’s rushing attack continued. Christian Washington led the effort with 124 yards rushing — a shift from when the former New Mexico running back was suspended midway through the season. The offense seemed smoother than the inconsistent unit that had shown flashes of explosiveness and periods of stagnation this season.
Beck said CCU’s previous problems involved playing conservatively. Compounded by tension, Beck added this sometimes affects the way the game is called.
“I think this game, we didn’t do that. We came out to be aggressive,” he said.
Previously, this tension affected CCU’s offense by allowing turnovers or stalling out in the red zone. Entering the game, Coastal was in the bottom half of the Sun Belt Conference in red zone scoring percentage. Against Georgia State, Coastal Carolina scored 31 points in the red zone, converting on five of six trips.
Part of this involved taking advantage of an 11th-ranked Georgia State defense in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference, something the Chants struggled to do against teams like Georgia Southern.
While the win against Georgia State doesn’t change the close games Coastal lost this season, becoming bowl eligible does allow the Chants to shift the narrative on a frustrating year. If CCU wins, it will mark Coastal’s third bowl game victory in program history.
CCU previously won the 2021 Cure Bowl and the 2023 Hawai’i Bowl. Beck said the win and gaining an opportunity for postseason play will help the Chants reclaim the narrative.
“I’m just proud of those guys, and certainly, we got one more game to play, and we’re looking forward to that,” Beck added.
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 5:28 PM.
