Chanticleers nearly flawless in bounce-back win over GWU

If the Coastal Carolina football team could have scripted an ideal bounce-back performance coming off its first loss, it would have looked very similar to what actually transpired Saturday.

The defense, getting a boost from some personnel shuffling, posted its second shutout of the season. The offense scored touchdowns on four of its first six possessions to build a sizable early lead.

And the No. 8-ranked Chanticleers simply never let up while cruising comfortably to a 46-0 win over Gardner-Webb before an announced crowd of 8,422 at Brooks Stadium.

“I needed a game like this otherwise I was going to go home and have a lot of Scotch tonight,” Chants head coach Joe Moglia joked afterward. “I think our guys needed a good game like this, but I think across the board for everybody to play well I was proud of them."

The Chants (8-1, 3-1 Big South) received what at least one player called a “wake-up call” last week in a 33-25 loss at Charleston Southern, and they certainly responded as a team highly motivated to reassert itself as an FCS national championship contender.

Coastal Carolina outgained the Runnin’ Bulldogs (3-6, 2-3) 485 yards to 272 in the one-sided win, posted its first-ever shutout over a Big South opponent and finished off two shutouts in the same season for the first time in program history.

Of course, this is the kind of game a team that was ranked No. 1 in the FCS just a week ago is supposed to be able to hyave against a Gardner-Webb squad that had already been shutout twice earlier this fall. And the type of game the Chants have often played in such situations.

Since Moglia took over the program, Coastal Carolina has now won its last four meetings against the Runnin’ Bulldogs by an average margin of 31.8 points.

Nonetheless, the Chants needed this.

“It was very important for everybody to regain their confidence,” junior running back De’Angelo Henderson said. “Overall, from special teams, defense, offense, just for everybody to regain their confidence and just get that feeling that we’re still one of the elite teams in the country.”

Henderson rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns in just 11 carries and sophomore backup Osharmar Abercrombie added 46 yards and two touchdowns in 10 attempts as the Chants totaled 226 yards on the ground.

They were just as effective and efficient through the air, as senior quarterback Alex Ross completed 14-of-16 passes for 209 yards, two touchdowns and a deflected interception. Junior Bruce Mapp (5 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown), senior tight end Craig Weick (4-63-1) and sophomore Chris Jones (4-41) were his top targets with senior starters John Israel (knee) and Tyrell Blanks (concussion) missing a second straight game.

But the bigger story was the defense, which pulled off a 180-degree turnaround after a miserable first half last week in that loss at Charleston Southern.

The coaches followed through on their promise to shake up the defensive personnel, with the most pronounced change coming at safety where junior Austin Murillo and true freshman Michael Billings (from Georgetown High School) made their first starts.

Billings ended up tallying five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in a breakout performance after playing just one defensive snap last week.

“It was a blessing, but you’ve got to stay humble,” he said afterward.

His teammates were more than willing to trumpet his efforts, meanwhile.

“He balled out and had a great game,” senior defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst said of Billings.

“Phenomenal,” Henderson added.

The defense utilized its depth at a number of positions, for that matter, while working different players into the mix. A week after giving up 313 first-half yards to Charleston Southern, the Chants held Gardner-Webb to just 89 yards before halftime Saturday.

“We got a little of our swagger back this weekend,” Hollenhorst said. “We came out a little flat last week and no one was happy with our performance. So we made an effort this week to really play confident and play fast, and I think we came out and did that today.”

All while the Coastal Carolina offense was busy building a 29-0 halftime lead.

Abercrombie rushed for a 14-yard touchdown and two-point conversion on the Chants’ second series for a quick 8-0 advantage. And on their next possession, they needed only four plays and 1:32 to find the end zone again. Ross was targeting junior Devin Brown on a deep pass to the end zone, it appeared to be batted away by Gardner-Webb, but Weick caught it on the deflection and finished off a 39-yard touchdown reception.

Ross threw his lone interception – on a deflection off of Jones – on the next Coastal Carolina drive, but the defense forced a quick three-and-out and the offense again struck quick with a four-play, 70-yard touchdown drive this time.

Henderson used a nifty spin move at the 15-yard line on the way to a 27-yard touchdown. That made it 22-0 early in the second quarter and extended his FCS record streak to 23 straight games with touchdowns.

Henderson added a 14-yard touchdown run later in the second quarter to make it 29-0.

“Their front seven is supposed to be really, truly very good. They looked very good when we looked at them on film. Of the top six tacklers in the conference, Gardner-Webb has four of them,” Moglia said, putting the performance in perspective. “I think the way our offensive attacked them, moved the ball, protected Alex, the way we were able to run the ball inside and outside, the way we were able to throw the ball, hit the seam routes, some of the stuff over the middle, stuff on the perimeter, I thought that was excellent, excellent effort on the offense’s part.”

The story remained the same in the second half as well.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs got in range for a 25-yard field goal early in the third quarter, but they missed and that would be their only red zone opportunity all game.

The Chants, meanwhile, tacked on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Ross to Mapp and then capitalized on a Gardner-Webb fumble (forced by Billings and recovered by sophomore Marcus Williamson at the visitors’ 17) to set up an eventual 2-yard Abercrombie touchdown run as the lead swelled 43-0 late in the third quarter.

Sophomore Caleb Kelly capped the scoring with a late 19-yard field goal.

The 46 points and 485 yards are the most Gardner-Webb has allowed all season, and Coastal Carolina’s two defensive shutouts this season now account for half of the shutouts posted in program history.

“When the game started, coach was saying, ‘All gas,’” Weick said. “So that was our thing – ‘All gas, no breaks. We know what we’ve got to do so let’s do it.’”

COASTAL CAROLINA 46, GARDNER-WEBB 0

First Quarter

CCar—Abercrombie 14 run (Abercrombie run), 6:03.

CCar—Weick 39 pass from A.Ross (Granger kick), 1:37.

Second Quarter

CCar—Henderson 27 run (Granger kick), 11:24.

CCar—Henderson 14 run (Granger kick), 4:14.

Third Quarter

CCar—Mapp 55 pass from A.Ross (Granger kick), 4:51.

CCar—Abercrombie 2 run (Granger kick), 2:55.

Fourth Quarter

CCar—FG Kelly 19, :42.

A—8,422.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Gardner-Webb, Maxwell 18-50, Rollins 7-33, Perry 7-17, Bernard 8-15, Blackmon 4-14, Clark 2-9, Jackson IV 1-8. Coastal Carolina, Henderson 11-114, Abercrombie 10-46, Daniels 6-27, A.Ross 7-20, Bradshaw 1-15, M.Church 2-4.

PASSING—Gardner-Webb, Maxwell 4-13-0-90, Rollins 4-7-0-36. Coastal Carolina, A.Ross 14-16-1-209, M.Church 2-3-0-50.

RECEIVING—Gardner-Webb, Estes 2-54, Henderson 2-46, Brice 2-9, Perry 1-10, Lee 1-7. Coastal Carolina, Mapp 5-91, Weick 4-63, C.Jones 4-41, Bagley 1-38, Sattinger 1-14, Richardson 1-12.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Chanticleers nearly flawless in bounce-back win over GWU."