CONWAY, S.C. - No. 17 Coastal Carolina scored touchdowns on six straight possessions en route to a dominating 66-6 Homecoming victory over visiting Savannah State, Nov. 4. With their sixth consecutive win, the Chanticleers moved to 7-2 on the year while the Tigers dropped to 1-8.
Coastal got on the board on Savannah State's second drive. CCU backed up the Tigers to their own eight-yard line and forced a punt. Braden Cannon rushed up the middle and blocked the fourth punt of his career, which defensive back Quinton Teal jumped on for a touchdown. Kicker Josh Hoke's extra point made it 7-0 Chanticleers.
CCU extended the lead, as quarterback Tyler Thigpen hit receiver Jerome Simpson in the right corner of the end zone from 10 yards out for the score and a 14-0 lead.
On the following possession, the Chants moved the ball down the field again, this time going 65 yards for the score in just four plays. Again, Thigpen found one of his receiver Anthony Franklin for his first career touchdown reception and the margin was pushed to 21-0 early in the second quarter.
Coastal continued the momentum after a bad snap on a Savannah State punt, getting the ball at the SSU 28. Three plays later, Thigpen connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rodney Burgess to make it 28-0 with 11:43 to go in the half.
After the CCU defense forced the Tigers to go three-and-out, the Chants drove the 51 yards in eight plays. This time, Thigpen wrapped up his play in the game by finding his fourth different receiver in the end zone, this time Tim Carson, for his first career touchdown and a 35-0 lead.
William Richardson took over at quarterback on the next possession and led CCU 41 yards in six plays. Running back Aundres Perkins walked in from one yard out to make it 42-0 at the intermission
On the first drive of the second half, Richardson scored his first collegiate rushing touchdown of his career, going in from eight yards on the opening drive of the second half. The run capped off an eight-play, 62-yard drive over 3:07 and the PAT made it 49-0 Coastal.
Savannah State got on the scoreboard on its next possession. Garrett Williams first connected with Anthony Huntley for a 30-yard pass to the Coastal 15 and then hit Marcus Harris for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed and CCU had a 49-6 lead with 10:34 to go in the third.
On the next drive, Richardson then hit Jamar Anderson on a wide receiver screen and he avoided three tackles en route to a 58-yard touchdown. It was Anderson's first collegiate touchdown and the margin was extended back out to 56-6.
Coastal converted on its next two drives for scores. Hoke hit a 20-yard field goal to cap off Richardson's last drive of the game. Trent Usher then came in at quarterback and moved the team 81 yards on 13 plays over 6:07, finishing off the drive with his first collegiate touchdown on a three-yard run and CCU was up 66-6 with 9:24 to play. That capped off the scoring, as the remainder of game was played with a running clock under mutual agreement from the teams.
Coastal amassed 495 yards of total offense in the game, with 283 through the air and 212 on the ground. Savannah State was limited to 146 yards of total offense on 45 plays.
Thigpen totaled 193 yards of total offense in his quarter and a half of play, 164 of it through the air on 9-for-14 passing with a Big South record-tying four touchdowns and one interception. He ran his season total to 2,781 yards ot total offense, breaking the Big South's single-season total offense record of 2,773, previous held by Nick Roberts of Gardner-Webb. Richardson was also good through the air, going 5-for-8 for 119 yards and one score. Nine different players had receptions on the day, with five of them making touchdown catches.
Savannah State was led by Williams, going 7-for-9 for 111 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Javaares Taylor, who started the game at quarterback, was the leading rusher for SSU with 49 yards on 11 carries.
Coastal returns to Big South Conference action next week, traveling to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on Gardner-Webb, Nov. 11, at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised on SportSouth as part of the Big South's television package and will be televised locally on HTC.
