Chants look to bounce back against Gardner-Webb

The standard that the Coastal Carolina football program has established over the last several seasons makes it all the more significant on the rare occasions when the outcome doesn’t go the Chanticleers’ way.

So it has been an interesting week for the No. 8-ranked Chants coming off their first setback of the season last weekend at Charleston Southern.

The coaching staff has considered making personnel changes within the defensive depth chart, fans and supporters of the program are feeling heightened doubts as to whether the Chants can fix their flaws enough to make a run at a national championship and suddenly each remaining game feels like a must-win situation.

But as the Chants (7-1, 2-1 Big South) host Gardner-Webb (3-5, 2-2) on Saturday at Brooks Stadium, all of those lofty goals for the season are still very much in their control.

“Everything happens for a reason. That kind of opened our eyes as a team,” redshirt-freshman cornerback Anthony Chesley said of the loss. “… We needed that to wake us up. It’s about how you bounce back. It’s not about how you fall, it’s about how you get up.”

That is precisely what the Coastal Carolina coaches – and fans – are eager to see this weekend.

And it would appear to be a good matchup for the Chants to bounce back in a big way.

Coastal Carolina is 10-2 all time against Gardner-Webb, and since coach Joe Moglia took over the program the Chants have won all three meetings by an average margin of 27 points.

This Gardner-Webb team comes in with a uneven resume that is highlighted by a 34-20 win over Liberty but also features two shutout losses.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs rank among the worst passing offenses in the country, averaging just 81.1 yards per game through the air, and rely on the rushing abilities of sophomore quarterback Tyrell Maxwell (team-high 602 rushing yards). Overall, they rank sixth in the Big South in scoring at 13.0 points per game.

But they do boast a respectable defense, ranking third in the league in holding opponents to 307 yards and 19.4 points per game.

Moglia touted the strength of Gardner-Webb’s front seven and said senior nose guard O.J. Mau is “probably the best defensive player period in the entire league.”

“They’ve had their ups and downs. They’ve had some great games, they’ve had some tough games, they’ve had a lot of close games,” Moglia said. “We know there’s no question they’re going to come in here ready to play tough against us.”

Again, though, the bigger emphasis this week for the Chants is what they do on their end and how they respond to their first defeat of the season.

After giving up 313 yards in the first half and allowing Charleston Southern to go 8-for-8 on third downs before halftime on the way to handing the Chants a 33-25 loss last week, the coaching staff delivered the message to the defensive players that they won’t hesitate to make changes.

Facing a sluggish Gardner-Webb offense should help start a turnaround, but the Chants have very real flaws defensively that have to be fixed if they want to make a deep postseason push.

Offensively, Coastal Carolina played well last weekend while piling up more yards (426) against Charleston Southern than any other team this season.

Senior quarterback Alex Ross aggravated an ankle injury that has lingered most of the season, but he is not expected to be limited Saturday.

He could be down one or two primary targets again as senior slot receiver Tyrell Blanks (concussion) was considered doubtful and senior wide receiver (John Israel) was expected to be a game-time decision again.

But the Chants have more than enough weapons offensively to succeed.

And, especially now, plenty of motivation.

“When you build a winning tradition, that loss … is just more on you because you’re so used to winning,” junior left tackle Voghens Larrieux said. “It’s just something you’re not used to and honestly you’re going to feel it more, it just hurts more. As an athlete you always want to win, but when you’re used to a winning tradition losing is hard to deal with.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 10:09 PM with the headline "Chants look to bounce back against Gardner-Webb."