Coastal Carolina-Alabama A&M Matchup Preview

Alabama A&M (1-2) at Coastal Carolina (4-0)

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway

TV: None

Online: www.bigsouthsports.com/live/11297

Radio: WSEA-FM 100.3

Weather Forecast: 78 degrees and windy with a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms

Series History: First meeting

Chanticleers Breakdown

The biggest obstacle for the Coastal Carolina offense Saturday might well be the wind and rain.

While the coaches and players don’t feel the unit has reached its full potential yet, the Chants have a great chance to do so against a porous Alabama A&M defense if the weather doesn’t wreak its own havoc on the game.

Coastal Carolina enters the weekend ranked 21st in the FCS in total offense at 436.8 yards per game and 16th in scoring at 36 points per contest.

Defensively, meanwhile, the Chants will be looking for a steadier effort and come in ranked 83rd in total defense (435.8 yards per game allowed) and 34th in scoring defense (23.3 points per game allowed).

Coastal Carolina is looking to move to 5-0 for the third straight season.

Bulldogs Breakdown

Alabama A&M picked up its first win of the season last weekend with a 28-9 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff after opening with a pair of lopsided losses.

FBS foe Cincinnati and Prairie View A&M each scored more than 50 points against the Bulldogs, who as a result rank 118th out of 123 FCS teams in total defense (519.7 yards per game allowed).

The Bulldogs are capable of moving the ball, though. They actually outgained Prairie View A&M 571 yards to 522 in that loss and for the season rank 16th in total offense – seven spots ahead of Coastal Carolina – at 454 yards per game.

Alabama A&M is coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons.

Key Matchup

Alabama A&M passing attack against Coastal Carolina’s secondary: The Bulldogs are averaging 292.3 passing yards per game and have a bevy of big-play threats with four receivers averaging at least 17.8 yards per catch, including O’Darius Williams (27 yards per catch on seven receptions) and DeVon Johnson (30.4 yards per catch on five receptions). The Chants, meanwhile, ranked 111th in the FCS in pass defense, giving up an average of 302.3 yards per game through the air. They’ll need to tighten up Saturday.

Spotlight Players

Coastal Carolina quarterback Alex Ross: He was impressively efficient last week while completing 19-of-24 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown and should have a big game Saturday.

Coastal Carolina running back De’Angelo Henderson: “Hop” is one of the most exciting players in the entire FCS and comes into the game ranked second nationally with 532 rushing yards.

Coastal Carolina wide receiver/punt returner Chris Jones: The sophomore has been a breakout playmaker this season and will have an expanded role in the offense with senior John Israel ailing. Jones leads all Chants receivers with 153 receiving yards.

Alabama A&M quarterback De’Angelo Ballard: The junior is averaging 264 passing yards per game and has thrown for seven touchdowns with only one interception. He’s also second on the team with 140 rushing yards.

Alabama A&M wide receiver Tevin McKenzie: The 5-foot-10 junior hauled in three touchdown catches last week and leads the Bulldogs with 14 receptions for 249 yards overall.

Alabama A&M defensive back Dexter Reese: The sophomore has two interceptions through three games and will be key for the Bulldogs against the Chants’ prolific passing attack.

Scouting Reports

CCU offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude: “Whether or not you’re playing a top-five defense or a bottom-five defense [doesn’t matter]. Don’t forget, they played against Cincinnati, which is really good on offense, Prairie View had a really good plan and a lot of really good playmakers, so they’ve played some really good offenses. And we just go out and do our deal. Hopefully we’ll be balanced, Alex will be slinging it around, being efficient like he was last week, Hop will be running the ball, guys will be catching the ball. It’s the same every week.”

CCU defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin: “They’ve got a very good quarterback who is dynamic. He can make plays and extends plays. He can throw well and he can run around. We better keep him pinned in or we’ll be chasing him all over the place. He reminds me of the kid at [North Carolina] A&T last year. We ran all over the place chasing him down. He reminds me of him. So he’s very good. I think the receivers are very skilled and very talented and they’re huge up front.”

Notes

Coastal Carolina is expected to be without senior defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst (shoulder) for a second straight game and also senior wide receiver John Israel (turf toe).

Freshman punter Evan Rabon, who missed the game last week with a non-football injury, is available Saturday, but speaking earlier in the week head coach Joe Moglia was not sure whether Rabon or sophomore Masamitsu Ishibashi would start.

“[Rabon] probably will start. That hasn’t been decided yet,” Moglia said Wednesday. “Evan was coming along, doing a good job, Masa had a great game the other day. They were really very close in the beginning.”

...

The game was moved up four hours to 2 p.m. due to the weather.

The Homecoming events will still take place during the game, however the postgame fireworks show has been postponed to a later date.

Fans are also reminded that umbrellas are not allowed inside Brooks Stadium.

By The Numbers

6 | Chris Jones ranks sixth in the FCS in punt returns, averaging 19.4 yards per return.

9-18 | Alabama A&M’s record since the start of the 2013 season.

11 | Alex Ross completed his final 11 passes last week against Bryant and will have a shot to break Zach MacDowall’s program record of 16 consecutive completions set in 2010.

17 | Coastal Carolina has won 17 straight regular-season non-conference FCS games.

18 | With touchdowns in 18 straight games, running back De’Angelo Henderson is nearing the FCS record of 20 straight games scoring a touchdown.

100 | Coastal Carolina needs one more win to reach 100 in program history. The Chants are 99-49 all-time.

Prediction

Coastal Carolina, 42-20: It’s hard to predict what effect the weather is going to have on the game, but expect the Chants to pile up the yards and points against a vulnerable Alabama A&M defense.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina-Alabama A&M Matchup Preview."