Coastal Carolina-Kennesaw State Matchup Preview

Kennesaw State (6-3, 2-2 Big South) at No. 4 Coastal Carolina (8-1, 3-1)

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway

TV: None

Radio: WSEA-FM 100.3

Weather Forecast: 58 degrees and sunny

Series History: None

Chanticleers Breakdown

Coastal Carolina shook off its first loss of the season just fine, bouncing back last week with a 46-0 win over Gardner-Webb.

Everything looked good for the Chants as they posted their first-ever shutout over a Big South opponent after making some personnel changes within the defense. Junior Austin Murillo and freshman Michael Billings will remain as the team’s new starting safeties after their performance last week.

And offensively, it was the kind of game the Chants have been waiting for most of the season as they capitalized on their red zone opportunities and operated with an efficiency and execution level that has at times escaped them.

All that said, Coastal Carolina simply needs to sustain the improvements it showed a week ago as it looks to close out its final two regular-season games and position itself for a favorable draw in the FCS playoffs.

Owls Breakdown

This is Kennesaw State’s first season of football and the Owls have been immediately competitive in most of their games this fall.

Their overall record has been boosted by a light non-conference schedule including several non-FCS programs, but they have two conference wins already, topping Gardner-Webb 12-7 and Monmouth 23-13, and they were respectable in a 28-14 loss at Charleston Southern last weekend while holding the Buccaneers to just 314 yards of offense.

Offensively, they can be a challenge for teams while employing a triple-option attack that averages 299.2 rushing yards per game. Head coach Brian Bohannon spent 17 seasons working under coach Paul Johnson at Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech perfecting that system.

But the Owls lost starting quarterback Trey White to injury last week. White was their leading rusher with 809 yards and nine touchdowns and had passed for 1,022 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.

In his place, redshirt-freshman Jake McKenzie (16-of-23 passing for 229 yards and one touchdown, 259 rushing yards and four scores) takes over this week.

Key Matchup

Kennesaw State’s triple-option attack vs. Coastal Carolina’s defensive front: Clearly, the key to beating the Owls is to be at least somewhat effective at containing their rushing attack. Kennesaw State ranks fourth among all FCS teams in averaging those 299.2 rushing yards per game, and this will be the first traditional triple-option team the Chants have faced since the 2014 season-opener at The Citadel (Charleston Southern is a hybrid triple-option operating out of a shotgun).

Spotlight Players

CCU quarterback Alex Ross: The senior could be playing his final home game at Brooks Stadium and he needs just 137 yards to break the Big South record for total offense in a career held by Charleston Southern’s Collin Drafts at 10,571 yards.

CCU safety Michael Billings: The true freshman from Georgetown made an immediate impact last week in his first collegiate start with five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. His playmaking ability could be a key for the Chants in this matchup.

CCU running back De’Angelo Henderson: “Hop” is up to 23 straight games with a touchdown to extend his FCS record and he enters this game ranked sixth in the FCS with 1,053 rushing yards. That’s on top of 300 receiving yards and overall he’s scored 12 touchdowns this fall.

Kennesaw State quarterback Jake McKenzie: The redshirt-freshman is making his first career start and will be taking on considerable responsibility running the triple-option. How quickly he acclimates to the job will be the biggest key for the Owls.

Kennesaw State running back Chaston Bennett: The 5-foot-10, 160-pound junior is one of several big-play threats for the Owls. He’s averaging 10.7 yards on 52 carries this fall.

Kennesaw State safety Taylor Henkle: The Owls’ top defensive player has a team-leading 51 tackles, four interceptions and four pass break-ups.

Scouting Reports

Coastal Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin: “They know what they’re doing. The head coach, that’s what he’s been doing forever. He’s been with Paul Johnson at Georgia Southern and Navy and Georgia Tech, so he knows what he’s doing. They’re well coached. If you can just somehow stay alive each play, just beat the cut block, you’ve got to shut it down inside-out and not give up the big pass play. They’re good.”

Coastal Carolina offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude: “They’re really athletic, they can run you down when you go side to side. [They’re] a little bit more athletic I think than a couple of the teams we’ve played the last few weeks on the back end, but they’re not as big as some of the teams we’ve played up front. So they’re a little bit different and more of a four-down team, not afraid to blitz you. I think they have some confidence in their back-end guys, so it’s a little bit more philosophically like what we saw against Monmouth than what we saw the last couple weeks.”

Notes

With this being the final regular-season home game, Coastal Carolina will honor its senior class.

That’s a group of 17 players, most of whom have contributed to at least a share of three Big South titles, three FCS playoff appearances and a 40-11 record over the past three seasons.

...

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

Senior wide receiver John Israel remained questionable this week while recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him the last two games.

By The Numbers

4 | By moving up to No. 4 in the two major FCS national polls this week, the Chants have now been slotted in the top-5 for 23 of the last 25 ranking periods.

5 | Junior defensive tackle Jabarai Bothwell has been named the Chants’ defensive MVP five times in nine games this season by the coaches.

9-3 | Coastal Carolina is 9-3 all-time on Senior Day.

33.2 | Kennesaw State ranks second in the Big South in scoring at 33.2 points per game (and second in yards at 438.2 per game).

35.2 | The Chants lead the Big South in scoring at 35.2 points per game (and also in yards at 444.8 per game).

297.2 | The Owls have given up the second-fewest yards among Big South teams, holding opponents to an average of 297.2 per game (and they rank third in the league in allowing 19.3 points per game).

299.2 | Kennesaw State’s 299.2 rushing yards per game is currently the second-best average in Big South history.

628 | Not only does he have back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons now, but De’Angelo Henderson has become the Big South’s all-time leader for receiving yards by a running back with 628.

Prediction

Coastal Carolina 37-17: The Chants seemed to find some answers last week and it would be surprising to see the offense not sustain that success, even against a decent Kennesaw State defense. Defensively, the Owls should be able to move the ball, but with a new starting quarterback in place they will likely not be at their peak. Coastal Carolina should handle this one convincingly.

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina-Kennesaw State Matchup Preview."