Everything you need to know for Coastal Carolina vs. Georgia State

Last meeting

This is the teams’ first meeting

Coastal Carolina

Strengths: Running back depth

Weakness: Turnover prone

Georgia State

Strengths: Offensive versatility

Weakness: Inexperience

Key matchup

Coastal Carolina’s defensive line vs. Georgia State offensive line: While CCU’s first three Football Bowl Subdivision opponents this season have had a size advantage on the Chanticleers defensive line, that’s not the case this week. Georgia State’s offensive line, which includes a redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore on the left side, averages less than 285 pounds in addition to 235-pound starting tight end Ari Werts. “Up front a lot of their guys are a little bit younger than we’re used to and they’re also a little bit smaller than we’re used to,” CCU junior defensive tackle Ja’ree Tolbert said. “We feel if as a defensive line, if we dominate and keep the young guys coming in and rolling in with us and we all stay fresh, we’ll be fine on Saturday.”

Players to watch

Coastal Carolina

Senior quarterback Tyler Keane: Keane broke out last week with 329 yards, four touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversion tosses, shattering his previous career high of 149 passing yards set against Charleston Southern last season.

Junior receiver Malcolm Williams: He set a CCU single-game record last week at Louisiana-Monroe with 266 receiving yards, including an 86-yard touchdown reception.

Redshirt freshman safety Amir Howard: The Ocala, Fla., product recorded 10 tackles last week, including eight solo, and now has 22 on the season.

Georgia State

Senior safety Bryan Williams: In his sixth season in the program, Williams tied a school single-game team record with two interceptions two weeks ago against Charlotte, both coming in the end zone to prevent scores.

Sophomore receiver Penny Hart: With 11 receptions for 141 yards and a TD against Charlotte, Hart now leads the Sun Belt with 7.7 receptions per game and is fourth with 77.7 receiving yards per game.

Junior running back Taz Bateman: He is second in the Sun Belt with 120 all-purpose yards per game, which includes 63.5 yards rushing and 46.5 yards receiving per contest.

He said it

“In this offense there are a lot of opportunities for big plays. Opportunities may come rarely, but when the opportunities come you have to be ready to make a play. … We’re a very talented group from the first people in to the last people in.” – CCU junior receiver Malcolm Williams

“We’ve got a lot of people who love Coastal Carolina that are coming back this weekend, so it’s a big weekend regardless. They want to see what type of program we have. Obviously they want us to win, but more so it’s how are we playing, are we representing them in the right way, do we have the same standard of BAM (Be A Man), that’s what we’re focused on.” – CCU interim head coach Jamey Chadwell

“I think our guys are turning the corner as far as the effort, the attitude the mindset it takes to be successful each week. Georgia State’s a solid team coming in. It’s a team we feel like we can compete with, that we match up with in a lot of areas.” – Chadwell

Scouting report

In a season that will be full of firsts for the Coastal Carolina football team, the Chanticleers can accomplish at least a couple of them Saturday at Brooks Stadium. The game against Georgia State will be the first Sun Belt Conference home game in school history, and the Chants hope to make it the team’s first Sun Belt win as well.

“You get one opportunity ever to be a part of something for the first time,” Chadwell said. “You got your first FBS win, now we’re searching for our first Sun Belt win but also our first Sun Belt home game, so our guys have a chance not only to get a win, but really it’s a history book win.”

Coastal is also trying to avoid a four-game losing streak, which would match the longest in program history. The Chants lost four straight following a 2-0 start in head coach Joe Moglia’s first season in 2012 before running off six straight wins, and is 45-10 in the regular season since that program-high losing skid. The Chants have lost three straight for the sixth time.

Georgia State is 1-2 with losses to Tennessee State in its opener and No. 4 Penn State, and is coming off a bye week that followed a 28-0 win at Charlotte for the program’s first-ever shutout. It was the team’s second bye and it wasn’t planned. Georgia State had its scheduled game against Memphis last week canceled by Memphis and the American Athletic Conference, and Memphis played a nationally-televised game against Central Florida in a game that had been rescheduled from Sept. 8 because of Hurricane Irma.

“You just do what you’re dealt,” Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said. “We had no control over that. We learned of the Memphis game a couple weeks ago and it’s no big deal. You just go out and practice and go about your business. You can’t let something like this frustrate you. I mean, there are much bigger issues in the world than having a game canceled and to be worried about it.”

Notes

▪ CCU had forced a turnover in 15 consecutive games with a total of 33 turnovers in that span through the second game of the season, but it hasn’t forced a turnover in the past two games.

▪ The game is part of Family Weekend at CCU, and three of the program’s six largest crowds prior to this season came on Family Weekend

▪ While CCU is new to the FBS this season, Georgia State is still a program in its infancy, having played its first football game in 2010

▪ Georgia State leads FBS in fewest penalties per game with 3.3 and penalty yards per game with 27.

Line

Pick ‘em

Prediction

Coastal Carolina 37, Georgia State 34: In a game the oddsmakers have as a toss up, Coastal Carolina earns its first Sun Belt Conference victory.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Everything you need to know for Coastal Carolina vs. Georgia State."