Coastal Carolina Week in Review

On his way into the locker room Saturday evening, Coastal Carolina offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude proclaimed, “We’re back.”

He was talking about a Chanticleers offense that has scored 91 points over the last two games, but the same could be said for the defense ... and the Chants’ prospects as an FCS national championship contender in general.

Since losing at Charleston Southern two weekends ago, No. 4-ranked Coastal Carolina has responded with a 46-0 shutout of Gardner-Webb and a 45-13 win Saturday over Kennesaw State.

With one game to go, the Chants are in control of their postseason fate and playing their best football of the season.

Without further adieu ...

Game balls

CCU quarterback Alex Ross: The Chants’ senior leader was terrific Saturday while completing 20-of-27 passes for 262 yards and a career-best five touchdowns, which tied a program single-game record. He also became the Big South’s all-time leader in total offense, pushing his total to 10,689 yards.

CCU defensive tackle Jabarai Bothwell: The junior has had a breakout season and came up big again Saturday with eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a blocked extra point.

CCU wide receiver Chris Jones: The sophomore is going to be a big playmaker for years to come for the Chants and had six catches for a career best 131 yards and two touchdowns against Kennesaw State.

Ranking the top plays from the game

1. Like last week, there was no truly pivotal moment in the game, but Coastal Carolina took full control when Alex Ross found a wide-open Chris Jones down the middle of the field for a 41-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead early in the second quarter.

2. Ross and Jones were in sync all game and connected again in the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown strike to push the lead to 38-6. It was Ross’ fifth touchdown pass to tie a program single-game record.

3. While the offense was rolling, the Coastal Carolina defense made its impact felt as well. One of Kennesaw State’s most promising drives came near the end of the second quarter, but quarterback Jake McKenzie fumbled inside the Chants’ 20 after picking a 17-yard gain. Linebacker Rayshaud Shields knocked the ball loose and it landed right in the hands of safety Austin Murillo.

4. The defense repeated that routine early in the fourth quarter when cornerback Ray Lewis III forced another fumble from McKenzie inside the Chants’ 20 and defensive end Calvin Hollenhorst fell on the loose ball for another turnover.

5. This one wasn’t so important to the outcome as the game was already well in hand, but running back De’Angelo Henderson’s 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter extended his FCS record streak to 24 straight games with a touchdown. It made the score 45-13.

6. Not only did the defense force two fumbles, but the Chants also forced two turnover-on-downs with fourth-down stands (not counting the final series). The first came when the game was still relatively competitive as McKenzie threw incomplete on fourth-and-8 from the Coastal Carolina 38 early in the second quarter. The Chants scored three plays later on that 41-yard Jones touchdown.

7. The Chants punted on their first offensive series, but they scored on the next five to close the first half out strong. It started when Ross found Tyrell Blanks for a 10-yard touchdown and an early 7-0 lead.

8. Kennesaw State answered that score with one its own, scoring on a 9-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Chandler Burks (who was filling in for one play) to Justin Sumpter. But Jabarai Bothwell blocked the extra point, and the Owls never would catch the Chants on the scoreboard.

9. The Chants immediately regained some separation as Ross hit Bruce Mapp for a 16-yard touchdown a little more than three minutes later, pushing the lead to 13-6.

10. Ross’ other touchdown pass was a 15-yard connection with Blanks late in the second quarter to send the Chants into halftime with a 31-6 lead.

What it means

As much as Coastal Carolina needed a bounce-back performance last week against Gardner-Webb, the Chants needed just as much to replicate that impressive showing with another against Kennesaw State to start rebuilding momentum.

And that’s exactly what they did.

The Chants (9-1, 4-1 Big South) have now dismantled two straight opponents, seemingly take a leap forward on defense while playing to their full potential on offense.

This team has been rejuvenated and now just needs to take care of business one more time before the FCS playoffs.

Looking ahead

Coastal Carolina closes the regular season with a Thursday night game at rival Liberty (on ESPNEWS).

That means a quick turnaround and no days off this week as the Chants ready for what is always competitive game with the Flames.

Liberty (5-5, 2-3) has underwhelmed this fall and is coming off a 31-24 loss to Charleston Southern, but the Flames upended the Chants last November and are plenty capable of doing so again.

If Coastal Carolina can win, though, it would seemingly secure a top-eight seed in the FCS playoffs to earn a first-round bye and second-round home game. Even with a loss, the Chants should still be in the postseason field, but they don’t want to leave any doubt.

By the numbers

13 | The Coastal Carolina offense is now tied for 13th among all FCS teams in averaging 36.2 points per game.

14 | The Coastal Carolina defense now ranks 14th among all FCS teams in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 17.6 points per game.

19 | That Chants defense has allowed only 19 points over its last 10 quarters.

24 | De’Angelo Henderson has now scored a touchdown in 24 straight games, extending his own FCS record.

68 | Alex Ross’ 68 career touchdown passes are five shy of matching the Big South record of 73 held by former Charleston Southern standout Collin Drafts.

10,689 | Ross is now the Big South’s all-time leader in total offense with 10,689 combined passing and rushing yards, passing Drafts (10,571).

They said it

Defensive tackle Jabarai Bothwell on the rejuvenated Chants defense:

“Going back to Charleston Southern seeing [what happened] the first half and if you take even one of the touchdowns away, [it’s a different] game. So as a defense we felt that game was on us. We felt like for the rest of the season we won’t lose because of us.”

Wide receiver Chris Jones on the surging offense:

“The difference is just more tempo during practice. We know we took a loss to Charleston Southern, we didn’t make the plays that we needed to make and plays that we’re capable of making, so we just told ourselves that we’re going to go out there and give our best effort 100 percent of the time. And we’re getting good results right now. It’s better to click now with the playoffs coming up than [peaking] early.”

Quarterback Alex Ross on throwing five touchdowns passes:

“We came out with a lot of energy and those guys are a good team, but we’ve got athletes. I was just putting the ball up and giving them chances, and they were coming down with it and making me look good. Simple as that.”

Ross on setting Big South record for total offense:

“It was nice. A lot of the guys came up, tapped me on the shoulder and congratulated me for that. So it was nice to have those guys support me, but I’m going to say it again, it’s not something that I really care about right now. It’s going to be something that I can look back on and be proud about.”

Head coach Joe Moglia on the way his team is playing:

“I think kind of where we are now, in an ideal world I kind of hoped in games three, four or five we could have got there, but I’m delighted we’re getting there now. By the way, timing-wise, this might be a better time to get there than earlier in the season.”

Moglia on the play of the defense:

“I think there was at least a dozen times where I saw three or four or five or six guys in on a tackle. That type of physical play on the defense is a good solid thing.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina Week in Review."