Football Continues Big South Action At Liberty
11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Heading On the Road In League Play: The Coastal Carolina football squad will play two of its final three games on the road, starting today at Liberty. The Chants return home to host Gardner-Webb next weeked before wrapping up the season at Charleston Southern, Nov. 17.
The Coaches:Coastal Carolina Head Coach David Bennett (Presbyterian, '84) is in his fifth season at Coastal with a 37-16 record at CCU and 100-33 overall in his 12th year as a head coach. At Catawba, he led the Indians to three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs, including a run into the national semifinal round in 2001. Bennett is 3-1 versus Liberty. Liberty Head Coach Danny Rocco (Wake Forest, '84) is in his second season as head coach of the Flames, with an 11-8 record at Liberty and as a head coach overall. Rocco lost his only game against CCU last season. History with Liberty: This will be the fifth time that Coastal and Liberty will meet on the gridiron. Coastal holds a 3-1 advantage, having won the last three meetings. Last year’s meeting was full of drama, as Coastal escaped with a thrilling 28-26 victory at Brooks Stadium. On the road in Lynchburg, Coastal holds a 1-1 mark, having lost during the inaugural meeting in 2003, but getting another nailbiter, a triple overtime 27-21 win in 2005. Date Game/Location Result *11/15/2003 at Liberty L, 21-38 *10/23/2004 LIBERTY W, 33-6 *10/22/2005 at Liberty W-3ot, 27-21 *10/28/2006 LIBERTY W, 28-26 Back-To-Back-To-Back: The Chanticleers were the first Big South school to capture three league titles in the brief history of the conference. Gardner-Webb won the first two championships, while Coastal won the 2004 crown, shared the 2005 title with Charleston Southern and won the 2006 title outright with a 4-0 mark. The Chants bring a five-game Big South Conference winning streak into today’s contest and have won 13 of their last 14 league games. Bennett Hits The Century Mark: Head Coach David Bennett isn’t one to keep an eye on his stats, but he just reached a major coaching milestone. With the 42-35 win against VMI, Bennett picked up his membership in the illustrious career 100-win club. For his 12-year career, he is now 100-33 (.752) as a head coach. Coastal Picked to Finish Second in Big South: The three-time defending champion Chanticleers were picked to finish second at the Big South's Annual Football Media Day in Concord, N.C., as voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. Liberty was picked to win their first Big South title, with Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern and VMI following CCU in the poll. The Streak Continues: In its brief history of 53 games, the Chanticleers have yet to be shutout on the scoreboard, the longest current streak in the Big South Conference. In fact, CCU’s lowest single game point total was in 2005 at Appalachian State, with just a lone field goal.
When Its Natural: Coastal has played 46 of its 53 games in its history on natural grass. CCU is 35-11 (.761) on natural grass, with its only games on artificial turf at Liberty in 2003 in a tough loss, the 2004 season opening win at Morehead State, an early 2005 season loss at Appalachian State, last year's playoff loss to the Mountaineers, the triple-overtime win at Liberty in 2005 and the last loss at James Madison, Sept. 22. That makes Coastal just 2-5 on the fake stuff.
Winning at Halftime: CCU is impressive when leading at the half with a 28-4 (.875) mark. Coastal is now 17-1 at home when taking a lead into the intermission, while posting a 11-3 mark when leading at the half on the road. The only losses have occurred in 2003 at Liberty, 2005’s double-overtime thriller at Charleston Southern, this season's losses at Furman and in overtime to Presbyterian.
Newcomers Counted On: Of the 42 players on Coastal’s offensive and defensive two-deep for today’s game against Liberty, 10 of them are sophomores and 11 freshman in terms of athletic eligibility, including six true freshmen. Winning When Scoring First: Coastal has been a stellar team when scoring first, holding a 25-3 mark in four-plus seasons of play. Back-To-Back-To-Back: The Chanticleers were the first Big South school to capture three league titles in the brief history of the conference. Gardner-Webb won the first two championships, while Coastal won the 2004 crown, shared the 2005 title with Charleston Southern and won the 2006 title outright with a 4-0 mark. Daytime Can Be the Right Time: Coastal is 18-7 in day games, and the numbers are good on the road, as CCU is 9-6 in day games away from Conway. On The Road: The Chanticleers have been a very competitive team on the road, posting a 15-10 mark in their short history. However this season, CCU has yet to record a road victory in three tries (at Delaware State, Furman and James Madison). Coastal Football On TV:Coastal Carolina's football team will make three appearances on television this year. CCU had its only televised home game Sept. 15 when it hosted Georgia Southern, while road games at Liberty (Nov. 3) and at Charleston Southern (Nov. 10) are also slated for the tube. In its brief history, CCU is a stellar 12-4 in television appearances all-time, including last year's dramatic win over then No. 3 Furman and Big South Championship win over Charleston Southern. Not Prone to Slides: And we aren't talking about a playground either. Coastal Carolina lost three consecutive games for just the first time in school history after the squad lost at Furman, but snapped that streak with the 51-0 win over Chowan, Oct. 13. Leading the Nation: After the first eight games of the season, Coastal Carolina leads all of Division I-FCS in pass defense, giving up just 132.88 yards per game. CCU also ranks in the top 40 in seven other categories -- sacks (10th, 3.00 spg), turnover margin (15th, +1.13), kickoff returns (19th, 23.71 ypr), rushing offense (24th, 201.88 ypg), tackles for loss (28th, 7.13 tpg), punt returns (31st, 10.83 ypr) and scoring offense (38th, 29.25 ppg). Additionally, defensive back Marrio Norman is tied for 11th interceptions (0.57 int/g) and is 43rd in punt returns at 9.10 ypr. Kicker Justin Durham is tied for 26th in field goals (1.25 pg), Arthur Sitton is tied for 11th on kickoff returns (29.29 ypr), while Eric O'Neal ranks 39th (24.91 ypr). Defensive end Ro-Derick Middleton is tied for 49th in sacks at 0.57 sacks per game. Making A Career Mark in FCS: Three players are among the top-20 active career national rankings for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Wide receiver Jerome Simpson is the current career leader in touchdown receptions with 39, while also ranking fourth in receiving yards per catch (17.1), ninth in yards (2,491) and 18th in receptions (146), as well as ninth in touchdowns overall and 16th in total points (234). Defensive back Marrio Norman is 14th in interceptions per game (0.4) and 17th in total interceptions (9). Arthur Sitton ranks fifth in kickoff return average (25.5 ypr) and 13th in touchdowns (1).
Third Down Conversions Are Always Key: And look at the success Coastal has had on third down to see why the Chanticleers were 9-3 last season. For the year, CCU converted on 49 percent (75-for-153) of its third down opportunities, while limiting opponents to just 39 percent (60-for-153) of their chances.
However, the Chants were just 1-for-16 in the season opening loss at Delaware State, but improved greatly in the win over Winston-Salem State, going 7-for-16, including converting a 3rd-and-30 for a 36-yard gain from quarterback William Richardson to wide receiver Trent Usher. For the season, Coastal has converted on just 32 percent (38-for-120) of its third-down opportunities, while opponents have capitalized on 36 percent (37-for-104) of their third-down chances.
Three Chants Garner Big South Weekly Awards: Coastal Carolina fullback Mike Tolbert and Chanticleer safety Brandon Autry have been named the Big South football Choice Hotels Offensive Player of the Week and New Balance Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for games played during Week 9 (Oct. 27) of the 2007 season, it was announced today by the Conference office. In addition, Coastal Carolina kick returner Arthur Sitton was selected as Special Teams Player of the Week.
Tolbert, a senior from Douglasville, Ga., was a standout for the Chanticleers in a dramatic, come-from-behind win in their Big South opener against VMI, posting a CCU record 244 rushing yards on just 13 carries for a Big South-record 18.8 yards per carry and two touchdowns. In the first quarter, he had a 39-yard scamper to set up Coastal’s first score, as well as a 29-yard run that set up the second CCU touchdown. He had a 57-yard run that put Coastal at VMI’s 5-yard line and set up his first score of the night that tied the game at 28. Then with 3:08 remaining and the game tied at 35, Tolbert busted three VMI tackles in the first five yards, picked up a key block at the VMI 25 and rumbled home with a Big South-record 86-yard touchdown run to lead the Chanticleers to the win. His 244 rushing yards missed the Conference single-game record by one yard, and his 266 all-purpose yards vs. the Keydets was four shy of the League record.
Autry, a redshirt-sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., recorded a career-best 12 tackles, including 10 solo shots, against VMI. Autry, who posted his second-straight game with 10-plus tackles, also had an interception, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and added one pass break-up. The interception sealed the win for the Chants, as VMI had moved to the CCU 37-yard line, but Autry picked off Kyle Hughes with less than a minute remaining to end the final threat.
Sitton, a junior from Greer, S.C., was a key piece in Coastal’s win over VMI. He had two kickoff returns for 132 yards (66.0 average), with his first return going for 47 yards in the second quarter. After VMI took a 35-28 lead with just under seven minutes left in the game, Sitton returned the ensuing kickoff a school-record 85 yards for a game-tying touchdown. It was the first-ever kickoff return for a touchdown in Coastal history and tied for the eighth-longest in Big South history.
Simpson Makes History: Senior wide receiver Jerome Simpson made history against Presbyterian, Oct. 20, becoming the Big South Conference’s all-time leading receiver at 2,491 yards, surpassing Maurice Price of Charleston Southern 2,429. The Big South’s career leader and current FCS active career leader with 39 touchdown receptions, Simpson also ranks fourth all-time in the Big South in receptions with 146.
Simpson Surpasses Another Milestone: WIth his touchdown catch at Delaware State, Sept. 1, senior wide receiver Jerome Simpson became just the fourth player in Big South history to surpass the 200-point scoring mark, now with 234. Of those three others, two were teammates of Simpson -- recently graudate kicker Josh Hoke (297) and running back Aundres Perkins (286).
Tolbert Makes It A Cool Grand: Senior fullback Mike Tolbert isn’t getting close on money but moved up the career rushing yard chart. Tolbert’s 26 yards in the win over Winston-Salem State put him over the 1,000-yard mark, a total that now stands at 1,428 career yards. He is just the fourth rusher in CCU history to reach the historic plateau.
Tolbert posted a career game in the home win over VMI, rushing for a school-record 244 yards on just 13 carries and scoring twice. He broke his own Big South record with the game-winning 86-yard touchdown run, while finishing just one yard off the league record for total rushing yards and four yards behind the all-purpose yards record of 270. He now has a career single-season best 506 yards of rushing to go with six touchdowns.
Some Records Fell In The Chowan Win: Against Chowan, Coastal had several team records fall. The Chanticleers rolled up a school-record 490 yards of total rushing offense. Seven different players scored touchdowns for CCU, four of them getting their first collegiate scores. On the defensive side, the squad posted school records for fewest rushing yards, as well as fewest total yards in a contest. The defense also tied a school record with six sacks, all coming in the first half and posted just the second shutout in school history.
Cunningham Named Big South Freshman of the Week: Coastal Carolina defensive back Keon Cunningham was named Big South Conference Freshman of the Week for games played during Week 8 (Oct. 20) of the 2007 season, it was announced today by the Conference office.
Cunningham, a freshman from Edgefield, S.C., had a stellar game in his second collegiate start, posting five tackles (all solo), including two tackles for loss (minus-15 yards) and one sack (minus-13), as well as his second career interception, which he returned 57 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter against Presbyterian. Cunningham also recorded a pass break-up and was part of a secondary that intercepted a Big South single-game record six passes versus the Blue Hose.
