Chants await FCS playoff fate after loss at Liberty

For the second year in a row, the Coastal Carolina football team closed the regular-season with a dramatic loss to rival Liberty and now must wait with a bit of suspense to learn its postseason fate.

At 9-2 and having been ranked in the top-5 of the FCS national polls for all but one week this fall, the Chanticleers aren’t sweating their inclusion in the 24-team FCS playoff field.

But the where, when and against whom questions are still very much unknown for the team.

With a win Thursday night at Liberty, the Chants likely would have secured a coveted top-8 seed and first-round bye and maybe even a top-4 seed to ensure further home-field advantage. Instead, the Flames converted a fourth-and-8 and got a 40-yard touchdown pass from Josh Woodrum to B.J. Farrow for a game-winning drive in the final minutes to deal Coastal Carolina a 24-21 loss.

And now a range of possibilities exist for the Chants – though neither head coach Joe Moglia nor the players were in a position to ponder any of it while reacting to the loss Thursday night.

“Well I certainly would expect us to be in the playoffs, so the issue was all along where are we going to be seeded?” Moglia said, standing outside the locker room at Williams Stadium. “I think now it’s going to be difficult for us to get a top-8 seed, but the committee will do what they believe they need to do and we will live with that.”

The players weren’t in the guessing mood either.

“We really can’t pay attention to stuff like that,” junior running back De’Angelo Henderson said. “We’ll let the selection board do what they’ve got to do and put us where they put us. We can control whatever we can control and that’s preparing for whoever we play. Whoever it is, we’ll prepare good for them.”

The Chants, who were ranked No. 1 in the FCS Coaches Poll for eight weeks this season, came into the game Thursday night ranked No. 4 in both the coaches and media polls.

They are now part of a pack of two-loss teams that includes the reigning four-time national champion in No. 3/2-ranked North Dakota State (vs. Missouri State on Saturday), No. 5 South Dakota State (at Western Illinois), No. 6 Illinois State (vs. South Dakota), No. 7 William & Mary (at Richmond), No. 9/8 Chattanooga (at Florida State), No. 10/12 James Madison (vs. Villanova) and No. 11 Portland State (at Eastern Washington), who all entered the week 8-2 and ranked in the top-12 of both polls. Fordham finished the regular season 9-2 and was ranked No. 13/14 this week.

It’s fair to note that one of Illinois State’s losses came to Big Ten foe Iowa.

Meanwhile, No. 1-ranked Jacksonville State (9-1, vs. Murray State on Saturday), No. 2/3 McNeese State (9-0, at Lamar), No. 8/9 Charleston Southern (9-1, at Alabama) and No. 13/16 North Carolina A&T (9-1) enter the week with one or fewer loss and ranked in the top-15 of at least one of the polls.

Jacksonville State’s lone loss came to SEC foe Auburn, Charleston Southern’s lone loss so far came against FBS opponent Troy and North Carolina A&T’s only defeat came against ACC opponent North Carolina.

No. 12/10 Sam Houston State (7-3, at Central Arkansas) is the highest-ranked team with more than two losses, one of which game to Big 12 foe Texas Tech.

Until those teams play this weekend, it’s purely guesswork to try to forecast where Coastal Carolina might be seeded.

“We can’t worry about that,” senior quarterback Alex Ross said. “We’re going to find out on Sunday what happens to us as far as the seeding and the playoffs goes.”

Indeed, it’s merely a waiting game now for the Chants until the playoff field is unveiled Sunday at 11 a.m. during a live NCAA selection show on ESPNU.

Jones breaking out

With senior John Israel missing yet another game with his lingering knee injury, sophomore Chris Jones again took full advantage of an extended opportunity.

Jones finished with six catches for 168 yards and a touchdown for the third-highest single-game receiving total in program history. His big game was highlighted by an impressive 24-yard touchdown grab in tight coverage and an 83-yard catch late in the fourth quarter to set up a touchdown as the Chants briefly took the lead.

“[I need to] just keep doing what I do, just keep making plays and don’t let outsiders dictate what I do,” Jones said of his performance.

Jones had six catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns last week at Kennesaw State and he now ranks second on the team with 537 yards and four touchdowns receiving. His 17.9 yards per catch is the best among Coastal Carolina regulars.

“I trust him like I trust Bruce [Mapp] and I trust all those guys,” Ross said. “He’s a great wide receiver, he does a great job of getting open and I’m going to continue throwing the ball to him.”

Hop Highlights

Henderson extended his FCS-record streak to 25 straight games with a touchdown, finishing with 89 rushing yards and two scores in the loss.

One of those was a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as he took a sweep around the right side and picked up key blocks from junior right guard Sam Ekwonike and freshman center Jamarion McBride before taking off down the sideline. The big play was the fourth-longest touchdown run in program history.

“They did a phenomenal job,” Henderson said of his blockers. “They made my job easy.”

Etc.

▪ With 325 passing yards and 14 rushing yards Thursday night, Ross recorded his 15th career 300-yard game to tie the Big South record previously set by former Liberty quarterback Mike Brown.

▪ The Chants were just 1-of-9 on third-down conversions and 0-for-1 on fourth down in the loss. Liberty, meanwhile, was 8-for-19 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down.

▪ Henderson’s 71 yard touchdown run accounted for the bulk of the Chants’ rushing yards Thursday. Aside from that run, Coastal Carolina managed just 32 rushing yards in 18 attempts.

▪ Senior linebacker Devon Brant and junior wide receiver Devin Brown both left the game with ankle injuries Thursday night. Afterward, Moglia said Brown had a high ankle sprain. He did not provide an update on Brant.

▪ Liberty announced at halftime that it will soon begin construction on an indoor football practice facility adjacent to Williams Stadium. The facility will have a 70-foot ceiling.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Chants await FCS playoff fate after loss at Liberty."