CCU Football Week in Review

Bestowed with the No. 1 national ranking in the FCS Coaches poll last week, the Coastal Carolina football responded with a thoroughly encouraging performance Saturday night in a 41-14 win at South Carolina State.

The Chanticleers dominated the first half, scored the game’s first 41 points and showed significant improvement on defense and in areas of the special teams.

Here are the highlights, key takeaways and breakdown as the Chants moved to 2-0 for the season.

Game balls

1. Defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin and his players: Coastal Carolina’s biggest concern after the first game was the performance and state of the defense. That was assuaged in a big way as the Chants looked exceptionally sharp in holding South Carolina State to just 69 first-half yards and 234 yards total Saturday night.

2. De’Angelo Henderson: Henderson is only a junior with almost two full seasons left to play, but he is already Coastal Carolina’s career rushing leader now with 2,364 career yards, passing Aundres Perkins’ long-standing record of 2,343.

3. John Israel: The senior wide receiver is off to a great start this fall. He hauled in six receptions for 87 yards and touchdown catches of 32 and 33 yards Saturday night.

Ranking the top plays from the game

1. The Coastal Carolina defense set the tone immediately as safety Kerron Johnson jarred the ball from South Carolina State running back Jalen Simmons on the Bulldogs’ first offensive play and safety Kelvin Deveaux recovered for the Chants at the hosts’ 34.

2. And the offense followed suit two plays later when wide receiver John Israel made a nice double-move to shed his defender and Alex Ross led him with a perfect pass down the right sideline for a 32-yard touchdown and a quick lead.

3. The defense delivered throughout the first half and picked up another turnover early in the second quarter when defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst recovered Bulldogs quarterback Caleb York’s fumble at the South Carolina State 27. The Chants got a 27-yard Ryan Granger field goal out of it to push their lead to 25-0 at the time.

4. Going back to the first quarter, Ross and Israel flashed their chemistry and connection again later in the opening period on a 33-yard touchdown strike over the middle.

5. Osharmar Abercrombie doesn’t get a lot of opportunities behind star running back De’Angelo Henderson, but he made the most of them Saturday night, highlighted by a 58-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to make it 32-0.

6. It wasn’t significant to the outcome, but it was historical. Henderson pushed and pulled a pile of defenders forward for a 7-yard gain to close the first half and pass Aundres’ Perkins for the program’s career rushing record.

7. South Carolina State started the second half with yet another setback when a bad snap on a punt attempt led to a safety and a 34-0 Coastal Carolina lead.

8. Ross followed with a 15-yard touchdown run on the ensuing Chants’ possession to peak the lead at 41-0 and cap the scoring for Coastal Carolina.

9. Despite the high-scoring win, Ross was not pleased that the Chants struggled on a few red zone opportunities. That included an interception by Dayshawn Taylor in the first quarter on Ross’ third-and-goal pass from the South Carolina State 11. It looked like he was hit while throwing, but really, it didn’t impact the game.

10. South Carolina State snapped the shutout bid on a 7-yard touchdown pass from York to former North Myrtle Beach High School standout Temmarick Hemingway with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

What it means

After winning its season opener 38-35 at Furman, Coastal Carolina played more like the No. 1-ranked team in the FCS on Saturday night while dominating in all phases.

Clearly, the most encouraging sign was the play of the defense, which bounced back from giving up 525 yard at Furman to holding South Carolina State to 234 yards (with many of those coming late in the game against the backups).

Looking ahead

The Chants host Western Illinois next Saturday night at Brooks Stadium for their home opener and the first game on their new teal turf.

Coastal Carolina and Western Illinois met once before, in the 2010 FCS playoffs. The Leathernecks won that game 17-10.

This season, Western Illinois is off to a 1-1 start, opening with a very encouraging 33-5 win over Eastern Illinois before losing 44-0 on the road at FBS foe Illinois.

By the numbers

9 | Coastal Carolina committed nine penalties Saturday night, showing an uncharacteristic lack of discipline.

12-0 | Coastal Carolina had a 12-0 edge in first downs in the first quarter against South Carolina State.

41 | The Chants scored 41 straight points to open the game Saturday night.

55 | Alex Ross became Coastal Carolina’s record-holder with 54 career touchdown passes, passing Tyler Thigpen.

69 | South Carolina State managed only 69 offensive yards in the first half.

234 | The Chants held the Bulldogs to 234 offensive yards, the lowest total for any opponent since holding North Carolina A&T to 194 yards in 2011.

892 | Ross also passed Thigpen for the program record for career passing attempts.

2,364 | De’Angelo Henderson’s new career rushing record ... and counting.

They said it

De’Angelo Henderson on setting career rushing record:

“My goal coming in – and we’ve had some phenomenal players in this university and I’m blessed to be here – but my goal was to be the best running back to ever come here.”

Linebacker Alex Scearce on defensive improvement:

“Like Coach Carlin said, most teams take the biggest jump from their first to second game [and] get the little things right. I think we really focused this week on our little things that we missed last week ... and it made a huge difference this game.”

Defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst on the defense:

“We had a good rotation going this time around. People knew their assignments, we brushed up on what we messed up on last week and I really think this is what we’re capable of every week.”

Quarterback Alex Ross on the offense:

“As far as the offense goes, we played alright. I don’t feel very good about what we did, but we definitely have a lot of room for improvement.”

Head coach Joe Moglia on needing more poise:

“You’ve got to be disciplined, be poised. ... If we’re the No. 1 team in the country, we’ve got to play like the No. 1 team in the country and there’s no way a No. 1 team in the country is not going to play with discipline and poise. Period.”

Ross on the team’s 2-0 start:

“I feel pretty good with where we’re at week two. We’ve definitely got to clean some things up, but I see us doing that.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 6:24 PM with the headline "CCU Football Week in Review."