CCU Football Notebook: Coaches considering changes on defense

Four days after his Coastal Carolina football team took its first loss of the season, Chanticleers head coach Joe Moglia reiterated his frustration with the defense’s struggles and indicated that the coaching staff won’t hesitate to mix up personnel if necessary.

The Chants gave up 313 yards before halftime last Saturday on the way to a 33-25 loss at Charleston Southern and the defense allowed the Buccaneers to convert on all eight of their third-down attempts in the first half while digging a hole the formerly No. 1-ranked team in the FCS couldn’t overcome.

Moglia said no final decisions have been made yet with regard to the depth chart, but the evaluation is ongoing as the No. 8 Chants prepare to host Gardner-Webb on Saturday at Brooks Stadium.

“One of the things the defensive coaches are trying to make it very, very clear for everybody involved is we have guys that are good, guys that are working hard, but if we have the same guys that are having too many breakdowns, they’re not supposed to play,” Moglia said. “... I think that the defensive staff is making that pretty clear, ‘Guys, if you’re struggling in practice, if you’re having breakdowns in practice, if you’re having breakdowns in the game, you have to recognize we have to give somebody [else] an opportunity to play.’

“So if my job is in jeopardy, I would like to think I’m going to work my [butt] off to do everything I possibly can to make sure I’m going to keep it, or if I lose it, to win it back.”

If there were any hints to be gleaned from Moglia’s comments or the projected depth chart the team releases each week in its game notes, it would seem cornerback is a chief area of focus and competition after the Chants allowed Bucs quarterback Austin Brown to pass for a season-high 252 yards and two touchdowns.

Moglia emphasized that Charleston Southern did not surprise the Chants with any of those passing plays, simply stating there were too many individual breakdowns.

“I think the defense made some good adjustments and did a better job in the second half, but we can’t have that type of first half from our defense,” he said.

Coastal Carolina (7-1, 2-1) ranks last among Big South teams in pass defense, giving up 253.2 yards per game through the air, and last in total defense (415.4 yards per game).

Redshirt-freshman Anthony Chesley, who has come off the bench in five games this season and drawn one start (against Presbyterian), was listed as an either-or-potential starter with sophomore Dontay Hears at one cornerback spot opposite junior starter Kamron Summers.

“Those are not final decisions yet, but we told our guys we will not hesitate to make changes,” Moglia said. “... Those decisions will probably get made Thursday, Friday.”

The Chants are preparing for a Gardner-Webb team (3-5, 2-2) that has been tough to read this season, posting an impressive 34-20 win over Liberty while also being shutout twice. Overall, the Runnin’ Bulldogs rank last in the conference in passing offense (81.1 yards per game through the air) and sixth out of seven teams in total offense (232.6 yards per game).

So no matter who is on the field, the Chants will be a looking for a much better performance defensively in a more favorable matchup.

For what it’s worth, senior defensive tackle Leroy Cummings also indicated that he expects some changes within the defense this week.

“We did a couple changes in positions, but nothing’s guaranteed right now,” he said. “But other than that, we’re going to let these guys get more work that deserve to get that chance and see how things go from there.”

Health report

Moglia reiterated that he expects senior quarterback Alex Ross (ankle) to be fully ready to go Saturday.

Ross aggravated the same ankle that has given him trouble much of the fall when he was tackled low late in the third quarter Saturday night. He was down on the field for a couple minutes and had to leave the game for the rest of that series before returning to play the fourth quarter.

“He looked pretty good [Tuesday] in practice. Not 100 percent, but he’s certainly going to be ready to go, I would think,” Moglia said.

Junior left tackle Voghens Larrieux said he couldn’t tell much difference in Ross after the injury. The quarterback finished the game 28-of-46 passing for 274 yards and rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown.

“He seemed like the same person. I know he was in pain, but he did his best out there,” Larrieux said. “He still made his throws and got away from the pressures when he had to. I thought he played well.”

Meanwhile, starting senior receivers John Israel and Tyrell Blanks are both questionable to play this week after sitting out last Saturday. Israel (knee) was a game-time decision before being held out at Charleston Southern while Blanks (concussion) did not make the trip.

“Unless [Blanks] is ready to go real soon, my guess is he’s not going to be able to play. John will be probably more of a Thursday, Friday decision,” Moglia said.

Moglia says ranking is fair

The Chants’ loss last weekend dropped them from No. 1 in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the STATS FCS media poll to No. 8 in both rankings this week.

That’s about where Moglia expected to end up after the loss, he said.

“I don’t pay too much attention to that, but when I was looking at the scores on Sunday, I kind of said, ‘Ehh, we could wind up 8, 9, 10, somewhere around there.’ I thought that was fair,” he said.

National attention

Moglia and the Coastal Carolina football program were featured in a segment on 60 Minutes Sports on Showtime on Tuesday night.

The 60 Minutes Sports crew made two visits to campus this fall, including for the Chants’ 31-17 win over Bryant on Sept. 26.

“You always get a little self-conscious. I thought I looked on the fat side, which really [ticked] me off a little bit,” Moglia joked. “But I thought if you are a parent of a student-athlete and you think about the way we run this program – they didn’t emphasize our success as much, but everybody knows, it’s easy to find out how successful we’ve been – ... I think I would feel proud as a parent to send my son to this school to play for us.

“So I felt good about that. By the time I woke up this morning, I had probably gotten 400 contacts from people who either know me or know of me ... across the country saying how impressed they were with what they saw.”

Moglia was also a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio each of the last two days.

“I think I’m probably a little different from the typical person they wind up talking to,” he said of the consecutive appearances. “But they were fair in their questions after they told me I had to make them short[er]. It was fair. You guys could ask me the same thing.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 6:19 PM with the headline "CCU Football Notebook: Coaches considering changes on defense."