Coastal’s title dreams denied

Alex Ross managed few words in Coastal Carolina’s postgame news conference Saturday night, wearing the pain of the Chanticleers’ season-ending loss on his face while trying to put the blame for the defeat squarely on his own shoulders.

Fellow senior Calvin Hollenhorst patted his teammate on the back in solidarity as Ross tried to take responsibility.

“We let one slip tonight. That’s on me. I had a pick-six, I had a fumble when we needed something,” Ross said.

The reality, though, is it just wasn’t the Chanticleers’ night … or, as it turns out, their season. Hoping to win an FCS national championship in their final year of eligibility before transitioning to the FBS level, their latest postseason push ended at the starting line for a multitude of reasons.

The Citadel and its triple-option attack rushed for 556 yards – the most ever allowed by Coastal Carolina –and the No. 18-ranked Bulldogs got a game-winning 43-yard field goal from Eric Goins in the final seconds to edge the No. 9/10 Chants, 41-38, in the teams’ FCS playoff opener at Brooks Stadium.

In terms of big plays and drama, it was a terrific playoff clash from start to finish and both sides were well represented within the crowd of 6,751.

The Citadel (9-3) had built a 38-28 lead early in the fourth quarter after it pressured Ross into a bad throw that Shy Phillips intercepted and returned 32 yards for a touchdown.

But Ross and the Chants (9-3) came right back with two quick scoring drives that each took less than three minutes. A 26-yard field goal by junior Ryan Granger and a 16-yard touchdown run by sophomore Osharmar Abercrombie, who plowed through several defenders on his way to the end zone, tied the game at 38-38 with 5:38 remaining.

The Bulldogs then had a shot to go ahead on a 47-yard field goal try, but sophomore Marcus Williamson blocked Goins’ kick with 1:28 remaining.

The Chants then would try to drive for the game winner, but on third-and-7 from their own 47, Ross was pressured again and The Citadel’s Mitchell Jeter managed to knock the ball from his grasp and recover the fumble at the Coastal Carolina 41.

The Bulldogs went 15 yards before calling timeout with 2 seconds on the clock to give Goins another chance, and this time he delivered it right through the uprights.

With that, The Citadel – making its first playoff appearance since 1992 but riding the momentum of an upset win over South Carolina last week – advanced to a second-round matchup with Charleston Southern next week.

While the Chants were left to process the premature and very sudden end to such a promising season.

For the first time during its four straight playoff appearances under head coach Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina did not advance past the first round. And with Ross – the most accomplished offensive player in Chants history and the steady leader of that program-elevating run – along with the rest of the seniors reaching the end Saturday night, the emotions were understandably raw.

“Clearly it’s tough,” senior defensive end Aaron McFarland said. “You get to the playoffs and you’re expecting to win, and you go out there and play your hearts out and you see seniors like Alex here and myself, [we] just played our hearts out. To come up short, it’s definitely tough. … Like Alex said, we let one slip away.”

While Ross’ two interceptions and that late fumble were most on his mind afterward, he was nonetheless a huge reason the Chants had been able to answer The Citadel and erase three separate deficits leading up to that frenetic finish.

He set program records with 415 passing yards and 454 yards of total offense and passed for three touchdowns, including a Big South-record 91-yard scoring strike to junior Bruce Mapp in the first quarter. And he finished his collegiate career with 91 combined passing and rushing touchdowns to pass former Charleston Southern quarterback Collin Drafts for yet another conference record.

Junior running back De’Angelo Henderson, meanwhile, finished with 101 rushing yards, 60 receiving yards and two total touchdowns, Mapp had three catches for 120 yards and that long touchdown and senior Tyrell Blanks added five catches for 92 yards.

And it still wasn’t enough.

The Citadel, which entered the day ranked second in the FCS in rushing and coming off an upset win at South Carolina, had four players run for more than 90 yards. Quarterback Dominique Allen led the way with 174 rushing yards and two touchdowns, followed by Tyler Renew (129 rushing yards, TD), Cam Jackson (113, TD) and Vinny Miller (93).

“They just keep coming at you every play. That’s a relentless team,” Hollenhorst said, himself short on words in the aftermath of the loss.

Moglia, meanwhile, was composed as usual. He lamented the team’s four total turnovers and those defensive struggles against the triple-option.

But he also offered some perspective as well, noting the Chants’ 41-13 record over the last four years, the three Big South championships in that stretch and being one of only six teams to reach the FCS playoffs each of those four seasons.

“I wanted our guys to know that when you take a look at what we’ve been able to do, what we’ve been able to accomplish, 95 percent of the country would love to have had that as part of what their career had been,” Moglia said. “I reminded the guys of that tonight at the end, and I told them how proud I was.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Coastal’s title dreams denied."