CCU Football Week in Review

Each week, in addition to recapping all the news and notes from Coastal Carolina’s game, this space will be used to highlight the stars the week, the most notable stats and numbers and glance ahead to the following week.

Looking back on the No. 5-ranked Chanticleers’ 38-35 win at Furman on Saturday night, let’s start with some “game balls.”

Game balls

1. De’Angelo Henderson: “Hop” had 224 all-purpose yards for the second-best single-game total in program history, including a career-high seven catches for 129 yards and 15 rushes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

2. Alex Ross: No lingering injury concern here. Ross was vintage while completing 27-of-36 passes for 328 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to go with 34 rushing yards.

3. Devin Brown: Maybe the fastest player on the team, Brown got off to a quick start in the season opener with a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the first quarter. He now owns the Big South record with four career kickoff returns for touchdown.

Ranking the top plays from the game

1. Right after the Coastal Carolina defense opened the third quarter with a nice stand on third-and-one to force a Furman punt, De’Angelo Henderson took the next play 60 yards on a catch-and-run, darting down the left sideline before cutting all the way to the other side of the field. That set up an eventual 2-yard touchdown run by Osharmar Abercrombie as the Chants took a 28-21 lead and gained the first separation of the second half. They led the rest of the way. Had those two series gone the other way, it might have been an entirely different game.

2. Furman quarterback Reese Hannon’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Andrej Suttles early in the fourth quarter made it 28-27, but the Paladins fumbled the snap on the extra point and failed to tie the game. On one hand, it kept the game close and made it clear this one was going to be competitive until the end, but that mishap may have been a key momentum swing.

3. The Chants took advantage of that momentum and answered right back with a 9-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass from Alex Ross to Bruce Mapp to go up 35-27 as they continued to apply pressure and keep separation. Maintaining that control was key down the stretch.

4. Devin Brown’s 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the first quarter helped set the tone that the Chants were going to keep the pressure on all game.

5. Leroy Cummings’ interception midway through the fourth quarter put a major dent in Furman’s hopes for a comeback. The big defensive tackle corralled a carom off Paladins tight end Duncan Fletcher and gave the Chants possession at the Furman 25 with 7:21 remaining. Coastal Carolina got a 29-yard Ryan Granger field goal out of it, pushing its lead to 38-27, which would prove to be too much for the hosts to overcome.

6. Alex Scearce’s recovery of Furman’s final onside kick with a little more than a minute remaining sealed the win. It may seem simple, but given the Chants’ history with Furman, it would not been a surprise to see the Paladins recover that kick and tie the game.

7. Hannon’s final touchdown pass – a 9-yard strike to Jordan Snellings – capped a quick 81-yard drive. He then hit Snellings for the two-point conversion as well to make it a 38-35 game with 1:07 to play and set up that onside kick.

8. Kelvin Deveaux’s interception of Hannon on a third-and-13 play late in the third quarter – albeit on a bad loft toward the goal line – ended a once-promising Paladins drive and helped protect what was a 28-21 Chants lead at the time.

9. Hannon’s 57-yard completion to Logan McCarter late in the first half set up a game-tying score as Paladins tied it 21-21 just before halftime, showing they weren’t going to go easily in this one.

10. The Chants’ failed fourth-down fake from the Furman 6 to start fourth quarter could have been devastating if they had lost this game, but as they didn’t, it gets buried on the list here. Instead of kicking an easy field goal that would have put them up by two scores, the Chants tried to fool the Paladins with a funky alignment and then sent a direct snap to running back Andre Johnson, who bobbled the ball before being summarily tackled. That kept the Coastal Carolina lead at 28-21 at the time. (See notebook for further explanation).

What it means

Coastal Carolina has made it clear its goal this season is to climb to the peak of the FCS and win a national championship. Winning the opener was obviously important to keep the Chants high in the national rankings and in the hunt for a postseason seed.

And even if it wasn’t without flaws, it’s always an encouraging sign for a team with so many new starters and key personnel to show it can close out tight games.

Looking ahead

The Chants stay on the road in week two with a trip to South Carolina State in Orangeburg.

The Bulldogs opened their season Sunday in the SWAC/MEAC challenge with a 35-7 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Last season, Coastal Carolina rolled over South Carolina State for a 30-3 win at Brooks Stadium. Overall, the Chants are 4-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.

By The Numbers

2 | Overshadowed by the offensive exploits of his teammates Saturday night, wide receiver Bruce Mapp finished with seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns. The two scores put him one-third of the way to his 2014 total.

4.5 | Coastal Carolina is 6-1 all-time against Furman now, but the Chants’ average margin of victory in those six wins is a mere 4.5 points.

5 | The Chants have now won five consecutive season openers.

6 | Six true freshmen made their debuts for Coastal Carolina as linebacker/special teamer Fitz Wattley, safety/special teamer Michael Billings (from Georgetown), offensive linemen Jamarion McBride and Adam Lawhorn, punter Evan Rabon and long snapper Connor Kubala all saw action. It is believed that only two other players have played as true freshmen in Moglia’s four seasons – safeties Richie Sampson and Alex Scearce in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

6 | With wide receiver Matt Hazel (Miami Dolphins) and cornerback Denzel Rice (Philadelphia Eagles) making their respective rosters, six former Chants will open the season on NFL rosters.

8 | Coastal Carolina extended its Big South record with its eighth consecutive road win.

9 | Scearce led Coastal Carolina with nine total tackles in his first start since moving to linebacker (in addition to recovering Furman’s final onside kick).

13 | With his 13th game of 300 total offensive yards, quarterback Alex Ross is just two shy of the Big South record.

224 | It’s been mentioned several times, but De’Angelo Henderson’s 224 all-purpose yards Saturday night merit reiteration as the second-best such total in program history.

328 | Ross’ 328 passing yards marked the fifth-highest total of his career and the 11th-best single-game total in program history.

They said it

Devin Brown on his 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown:

“Before the play even started we all knew that it was that time to score. We all wanted to step up for our offense and for our team to get a score. Before we even went out there we knew all the blocks were going to be perfect, everything was going to be perfect and it was. As soon as I caught it, [I saw a] big hole just like how we planned, I saw the green and went down and scored.”

Defensive tackle Leroy Cummings on history of close games with Furman:

“They always play us hard for some reason, but we prevailed through – a lot of hard work, a lot of practice and we came out with the win.”

Quarterback Alex Ross on edging the Paladins again:

“Playing Furman, they’re a great team and we’ve got a great tradition and the rivalry against them is phenomenal. It always comes down to the wire and that’s what happened here tonight.”

Head coach Joe Moglia on recovering final onside kick to seal win:

“If you remember, my first season here [in 2012] in our second game, [it was] similar at the end and we didn’t get it – they were successful with their onside kick. So that was in the back of my mind, but I was confident with the group we had out there.”

Running back De’Angelo Henderson on the effects of his offseason diet:

“I felt like Superman. I just felt great. I had a lot of energy, didn’t get real tired, didn’t cramp. I just felt great. My diet, I love it now. Like I [said] before, I wish I did it earlier. I’m definitely going to continue that. I’ll probably push it even harder more now that I’ve seen the results of how I felt out there.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2015 at 9:55 PM with the headline "CCU Football Week in Review."