Coastal Carolina-Western Illinois Matchup Preview

Western Illinois (1-1) at No. 1/2 Coastal Carolina (2-0)

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway

TV: None

Online: www.bigsouthsports.com/live/11284

Radio: WSEA-FM 100.3

Weather Forecast: 81 degrees and partly cloudy with a 15 percent chance of rain

Series History: Western Illinois leads 1-0

Last Meeting

Coastal Carolina hosted Western Illinois for its first-ever home FCS playoff game in 2010. The unranked Chanticleers had snuck into the postseason with a strong finish to claim the Big South tiebreaker and automatic bid and welcomed the No. 21-ranked Leathernecks to Conway for the opening round.

Western Illinois scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and then intercepted Chants quarterback Zach MacDowall on the goal line to preserve a 17-10 win.

The Chants committed five turnovers in that loss.

Chanticleer Breakdown

Coastal Carolina maintained its No. 1 ranking in the FCS Coaches poll and moved up a spot to No. 2 in the STATS media poll after a dominant 41-14 win at South Carolina State last weekend.

The Chants scored the game’s first 41 points, looking thoroughly impressive in all phases. The defense, after struggling in the season opener at Furman, was stout against the Bulldogs, allowing only 69 yards in the first half and 234 for the game. The only negative was the team drawing nine penalties, which was a point of emphasis in practice this week.

This should be Coastal Carolina’s toughest challenge yet, but it’s also the Chants’ much anticipated home opener as they debut their new teal turf and play in front of what is expected to be a packed Brooks Stadium crowd.

Leathernecks Breakdown

Western Illinois is in its third season under head coach Bob Nielson, who has a track record of elevating programs wherever he’s been. He has a 180-75-1 career record and won a pair of Division II national championships at Minnesota-Duluth in 2008 and 2010.

As for the Leathernecks, they’re looking to take a step forward after going 4-8 and 5-7 in Nielson’s first two seasons. It’s hard to get a fair read on their potential at this point, though, as they opened with a lopsided 33-5 win over Eastern Illinois before being shutout in a 44-0 loss at FBS foe Illinois.

Overall, the team hasn’t topped 300 offensive yards in a game yet this fall, totaling 266 in the win over Eastern Illinois and just 141 in the loss to Illinois. Defensively, meanwhile, the program lost its top seven tacklers from 2014 and has plugged those holes mostly with freshmen and sophomores.

The Leathernecks were picked eighth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll and placed two players – junior wide receiver Lance Lenoir Jr. and junior right guard Matt Zobrist – on the preseason all-conference team.

Key Matchup

Western Illinois’ rushing attack vs. Coastal Carolina’s defensive front: Working on the assumption that the Chants are going to get their points as they pretty much always do, then the Leathernecks are going to have to keep pace. And they are best served not engaging in a fast-paced shootout against quarterback Alex Ross and his band of playmakers. So an effective rushing attack would serve a few purposes for the visitors.

However, Western Illinois has not had much success in that department this season, totaling just 77 rushing yards in 44 attempts against Eastern Illinois and 98 yards in 30 carries against Illinois. Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, mauled South Carolina State up front last week, allowing only 51 rushing yards for the game, and if the Chants can repeat that kind of performance it will be a long day for the Leathernecks.

Spotlight Players

Coastal Carolina quarterback Alex Ross: As expected, the senior quarterback is playing like an All-American candidate to start the season and comes into this game completing 71.9 percent of his passes for 523 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Coastal Carolina running back De’Angelo Henderson: As expected, the junior running back is playing like an All-American candidate to start the season – sound familiar? – while rushing for 231 yards and two touchdowns and leading the team with 12 receptions for 173 yards. He ranks second among all FCS players in all-purpose yards through two games.

Coastal Carolina linebacker Alex Scearce: The junior made the move from safety to linebacker last season and is off to a strong start in 2015 with a team-high 15 total tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass break-ups.

Western Illinois wide receiver Lance Lenoir Jr.: Named a second-team preseason FCS All-American by STATS, Lenoir set a Western Illinois record with 75 receptions last season, totaling 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns. And he opened this season with 280 all-purpose yards against Eastern Illinois, including 156 on kickoff and punt returns.

Western Illinois linebacker Brett Taylor: The sophomore had a game-high 16 total tackles against Illinois, forced a fumble and recovered two fumbles. He’s been a key to the Leathernecks’ rebuilt, young defense. Against Eastern Illinois, he returned an interception for a touchdown.

Western Illinois quarterback Trenton Norvell: The junior signal-caller is off to a shaky start in 2015, totaling just 217 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions through two games. He’s going to need to do more this week for the Leathernecks to have a chance to win.

In Their Words:

Coastal Carolina coach Joe Moglia: “They’ve been a playoff team in the past. They’re part of the Missouri Valley Conference, which has been for the last few years the toughest FCS conference in the country. They’re very, very competitive in that. It’s going to be our most competitive game to date. It’s tough to be able to really get a real sense of them on field because their first game against Eastern Illinois they handled Eastern Illinois, they won that game relatively easily, and then Illinois kind of controlled the second game. ... So it’s tough to get a real feel in terms of their bread and butter of what they’re really, really good at.”

Western Illinois coach Bob Nielson: “They’re very experienced, they have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football and a lot of guys who have have played a lot of football at a high level. Offensively, the skill players stand out. The quarterback is a guy you can just see by watching him, he runs the offense, directs the offense and makes good decisions. They obviously are very talented at the running back position, very talented [at] wide receiver. They have a lot of big play ability and we’re going to be challenged to minimize the number of those kinds of plays.”

Notes

With more than 3,000 students claiming tickets for the home opener this week, Coastal Carolina has had to find additional sections and standing-room-only areas for the overflow student crowd.

Assistant athletic director for ticket sales and revenue Michael Jacobs said in an email the “student excitement has been staggering” and noted that Brooks Stadium will be beyond capacity for the game.

As of Friday afternoon, there were about 250 seats remaining overall.

Meanwhile, the game next week against Bryant is already sold out of seats with about 300 standing-room-only tickets remaining.

...

Coastal Carolina will be debuting its teal “Surf Turf” Saturday, making the move to artificial turf after playing on natural grass for the program’s first 12 years.

The turf project cost the university $1,067,875 and was completed during the offseason.

The Chants are 14-20 all-time on artificial turf (10-5 under head coach Joe Moglia) and will play all 11 regular-season games on the turf this season.

By The Numbers

3: Times Western Illinois’ Bob Nielson has been named a national coach of the year, once at the Division III level (1998) and twice in Division II (2008, 2010).

9-3: Coastal Carolina’s all-time record in home openers, including a 3-0 mark under Joe Moglia.

11: The Leathernecks list 11 freshmen and sophomores as starters on offense and defense.

26-5: Coastal Carolina quarterback Alex Ross’ career record as a starter. The standout senior now owns every career passing record for the program.

73.2: Percent of senior John Israel’s 71 career catches that have gone for a first down or touchdown for the Chants.

97-49: The Chants’ all-time program record as they near win No. 100 in their 13th season of football.

280: Western Illinois wide receiver/kick returner Lance Lenoir Jr. totaled 280 all-purpose yards in the Leathernecks’ season-opener, including 156 in return yardage.

Prediction

Coastal Carolina, 27-14. It’s hard to get a gauge on Western Illinois after an impressive debut and a blowout loss to FBS foe Illinois, but the Leathernecks seem to be well coached and stout on defense. Offense looks to be their bigger concern, so expect the Chants to build on their strong defensive performance last week.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina-Western Illinois Matchup Preview."