CCU Football Notebook: Chants expect to build on progress

A few days after a rejuvenating performance on both sides of the ball, the questions were much different during the Coastal Carolina football team’s weekly media session Wednesday.

There were only positives last Saturday as the Chanticleers bulldozed Gardner-Webb on the way to a 46-0 win while bouncing back from their first loss of the season.

So instead of wondering when the offense was going to maxmize its full potential, the talk this week was about the breakthroughs the No. 4-ranked Chants made in that department. Instead of asking what’s wrong with the defense and can it be fixed, those talking points were replaced by another, albeit familiar question – can the improved play last Saturday now be sustained?

That’s the most important one of all, and even head coach Joe Moglia admitted Wednesday he doesn’t have the answer just yet, but he’s hopeful as his Chants (8-1, 3-1 Big South) look for another strong showing Saturday in their final regular-season home game against Kennesaw State (6-3, 2-2).

“We have been inconsistent on defense, but we were good the second half against Charleston Southern, we were very good across the board last week and we made some changes personnel wise – I think that actually helped us,” Moglia said. “I think that gives some of the guys who had been seeing more playing time, they’ve got to compete for their jobs, and the guys that earned those jobs they know they have to continue to be productive if indeed they’re going to keep them. So we’ve got a little bit more competition for jobs now and I think that helps us.

“And I want to believe we’re going to be consistent, I want to believe we’re going to hopefully build on that. I don’t know that because we’ve been inconsistent in the past, so we still have to prove that from a defensive perspective and I’m optimistic we’re going to do that.”

Defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin said the Chants will stick with their new pair of starting safeties in junior Austin Murillo and true freshman Michael Billings, of Georgetown.

Offensively, meanwhile, the 46-point breakout was mostly the realization of everything the coaching staff had been harping on this fall – an emphasis on red zone execution, no penalties and minimal mistakes in the receiving game.

But, offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said, there was another element to that offensive showcase as well.

“No. 1, the quarterback’s healthy, which makes a huge difference because you can run more of the quarterback run stuff, you can run option, he gets himself out of trouble better, he’s really more of a dual-threat guy than he’s been,” Patenaude said of senior quarterback Alex Ross. “Really last weekend was the first weekend that we’ve played with that level of confidence that he can run around and make plays running with the ball.

“Hopefully with the guys up front getting more and more experience under their belt now – they’ve almost played a full year – and the quarterback being healthy, hopefully we can start to hit our stride.”

Ross has played most of this season on varying degrees of an injured ankle, but he certainly looked good last week while completing 14-of-16 passes for 209 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 20 yards.

The whole unit looked good for that matter after having all of its nagging flaws contribute to that 33-25 loss at Charleston Southern two weekends ago.

As the players reiterated Wednesday, that game got their attention and they, at least, expect their play against Gardner-Webb to be the standard the rest of the season.

“Coach Patenaude came up to me and he asked me if I could describe the offense in one word, what would it be? And I said, ‘Motivated’ after that game,” Ross said. “... And I think it could be a blessing in disguise. That’s something that gave the offense an [extra] drive to go out there and to be better and do better so we’re not leaving those opportunities out on the field.”

Said junior wide receiver Bruce Mapp, “That mindset actually started that Monday [after] we played Charleston Southern. It was just unfortunate we lost, but you could tell there was a different mindset within the team. Everybody was more focused, more flying around, the competitive level rose just starting from that Monday and it’s been carrying over since.”

Moglia wasn’t ready to call that loss to Charleston Southern a blessing of any kind, but he is optimistic that the Chants received whatever message or lesson they needed heading into the final stretch of the season as they look to secure a fourth straight trip to the FCS playoffs.

“If it’s a blessing, it’s a disguised blessing. If it’s a wake-up call, there was no alarm clock involved,” Moglia quipped. “... I think a lot of times when things don’t go well, you learn more from your mistakes or from your problems than what you do when things are going relatively smoothly. I think that was the case for us.”

Injury Report

Senior slot receiver Tyrell Blanks is expected to return to action this weekend after missing two games following a concussion.

Senior wide receiver John Israel, meanwhile, is still recovering from a knee injury that has sidelined him the last two games and his status for Saturday is uncertain.

“John is getting better, progressing, maybe still a week away, but he’s moving around a lot better so there’s a chance he’ll play Saturday,” Patenaude said.

Also, Moglia finally announced that senior safety Richie Sampson (shoulder) will sit out the entire season and take a redshirt year with hopes of returning next fall.

“I think by now we’ve ruled him out for the season,” Moglia said. “So I think you’d assume for sure that Richie Sampson is going to be medically redshirted this year.”

Owls down a QB

Kennesaw State will be trying to overcome a significant personnel loss as junior quarterback Trey White will not play, according to a report Wednesday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Redshirt-freshman Jake McKenzie will start in his place.

White has keyed the Owls’ triple-option attack while rushing for a team-leading 809 yards and nine touchdowns and passing for 1,022 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

McKenzie is 16-of-23 passing for 229 yards and a touchdown this season and has rushed for 259 yards and four scores.

“Jake is very similar in his toughness and competitive nature. [He] probably has a little stronger arm than Trey. Obviously Jake’s a redshirt-freshman versus Trey being a junior, and I think those are probably the differences,” Owls coach Brian Bohannon said on the Big South coaches teleconference Tuesday when White was still listed as doubtful. “The good news is Jake has played a lot for us. We moved him to running back several weeks ago to let him play there, he’s played in several games at quarterback and gained some very meaningful experience. It’s going to be an opportunity for Jake, and I know he’s excited for it.”

Shakeup in the rankings

It didn’t take Coastal Carolina long to return to the top-5 of the national polls as the Chants moved to No. 4 in the FCS Coaches Poll and the STATS media poll one week after being dropped to No. 8.

While the Chants were busy finishing off that lopsided shutout win over Gardner-Webb, six other teams in the FCS top-10 lost last weekend.

The players say they are simply focused on what they need to do the rest of the way, though.

“I saw it after the game, [but] after we lost to Charleston Southern [the mindset was] ‘Don’t worry about it, just control what you can control, just get out there every day and control what Coastal Carolina does,’” Mapp said.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "CCU Football Notebook: Chants expect to build on progress."