What to watch for with the Coastal Carolina football team this year

As the Coastal Carolina football team enters its first game week in preparation for its season opener Saturday night at Furman, here’s a primer of what to expect and what to keep an eye on during the Chanticleers’ pursuit of an FCS national championship.

The bigger names are plenty familiar to fans by now, but the Chants’ season may be determined just as much by the players who haven’t had their turn in the spotlight yet.

This covers both ends of the spectrum and reiterates the lingering questions and unknowns as the team kicks off its season.

Senior QB Alex Ross | Last season Ross finished seventh in the voting for the prestigious Walter Payton Award – the FCS level’s version of the Heisman Trophy – and he has acknowledged he’d like to win it this year. He already owns Coastal Carolina program records for career pass completions (529), passing yards (6,909), pass efficiency (150.2), passing yards per game (197.4), total offensive yards (8,264), total touchdowns (67) and total offensive yards per game (236.1).

Junior RB De’Angelo Henderson | Henderson finished ninth in the FCS last season with 1,534 rushing yards while scoring 20 touchdowns and averaging 6.6 yards per carry. He also caught 33 passes for 289 yards and a score and will look to top all of those numbers this fall.

Junior WR Bruce Mapp | Mapp has said he wants to be the best receiver in the country and he has as much ability and upside as any receiver in the FCS. After catching a program-record 71 passes last season while totaling 959 receiving yards (third best in the Chanticleer record book) and six touchdowns, he will try to raise the bar even higher this year.

Junior LT Voghens Larrieux | After starting last season at right tackle, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Larrieux moves to the left side this year while taking over for FCS All-American Chad Hamilton. He’ll be counted on now to lead a revamped offensive line that has high standards to maintain.

Junior CB Kamron Summers | Summers finished strong last fall while totaling three interceptions – including one in the playoff win over Richmond – and matching the team lead with 10 pass break-ups. With Denzel Rice moving on, the Chants need Summers to continue his development and take over as their top cornerback.

Senior WR John Israel | There were times last season when Israel didn’t always seem in sync with quarterback Alex Ross and he was held to less than 30 receiving yards in five games. Yet he still put up 46 catches for 798 yards and six touchdowns overall and it’s clear he has the potential for even bigger things this fall if he makes the most of his opportunities.

Junior PK Ryan Granger | Granger takes over for veteran kicker Alex Catron and has shown promise in limited opportunities the last two years, making 5-of-6 field goals and all eight of his extra point attempts. Now he gets the chance to show what he can do over the course of a full season.

Senior DEs Roderick Holder and Calvin Hollenhorst | The Chants did a better job of putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks last season and with their entire defensive line back intact, the expectations will be even higher. Holder and Hollenhorst combined for 9.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss in 2014.

Senior LB Devon Brant | The Chants lost both of their starting linebackers from last year – including three-time Big South Defensive Player of the Year Quinn Backus – but they ended up with a nice find in Brant, an offseason transfer who made 13 career starts at Western Michigan. He’ll step right into a starting role for Coastal Carolina and could emerge as a leader for the retooled defense.

Is the offensive line ready? | Not only did the Chants lose three starters on the offensive line, they lost three guys who had started a combined 122 games over the past few years. The protection and push up front has been a key factor in Coastal Carolina becoming one of the FCS’ steadiest offenses the last couple seasons and the onus is now on the revamped line to give the team’s playmakers every chance to keep that going. The new starters are senior UAB transfer Daniel Anousheh (left guard), junior Dom DiGalbo (center) and junior Chase Tidwell (right tackle).

Defense without Quinn Backus? | As impressive as the numbers were for the three-time Big South Defensive Player of the Year, they don’t even capture Backus’ full value to the Chants these last few seasons. He was usually the guy who delivered the big play at just the right moment and the unquestioned leader of the defense. That doesn’t mean one player has to fill that void, but the defense still must prove collectively that it can build on its 2014 progress without its biggest playmaker.

Retooled secondary up to challenge? | In addition to replacing both linebackers, the Chants lost two starting safeties and their top cornerback. It’s hard to know how the back of the defense will perform as sophomore cornerback Dontay Hears, senior safety Kelvin Deveaux and sophomore safety Kerron Johnson haven’t had significant opportunities yet. But they will this fall.

This story was originally published August 30, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "What to watch for with the Coastal Carolina football team this year."