Coastal Carolina at #11/12 Richmond
Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010
1:00 pm - Robins Stadium
Coastal Carolina's Football Notes vs. Richmond in PDF Format 
Series Information This will be the first meeting between Coastal Carolina and Richmond.
Jolly Honored by Big South Coastal Carolina senior Tarvorris Jolly was been named Big South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his 94-yard touchdown in the Chanticleers' 34-14 win over Delaware State. With Delaware State attempting a chip-shot field goal, junior Josh Norman came off the left edge to record his third career blocked kick. Jolly scooped the ball on the six, broke one tackle and sprinted to the endzone for his first career touchdown as well as the first blocked kick returned for a TD in school history. The score put Coastal Carolina up 28-0 midway through the second quarter and nearly helped the Chanticleers pitch a shutout before Delaware State scored twice inside the final two minutes. This marks the first weekly honor for Jolly and the first by a Chanticleer this season.
Tough Way to Open; Home Slate No Picnic Coastal Carolina opens the season playing six of its first nine on the road. For the first time in program history, the Chanticleers opened the season 0-3, including games at FBS then-#24 West Virginia and now #16 Georgia Southern. Now Coastal returns to the road to face #11 Richmond. After Richmond, Coastal will have a bye week, go to Presbyterian, host Stony Brook and play at Gardner-Webb and VMI.. The good news is Coastal will close the season playing its final two games at home. However, of Coastal's remaining home game in 2010, two of those games will be with 2009 co-Big South champions Stony Brook and Liberty along with rival Charleston Southern.
Homecoming and Reunion Coastal Carolina defensive end Jamel Davis will be returning home this weekend. The sophomore only played one snap in the season opener at West Virginia before dislocating his thumb. Missing the next two contests, Davis returned to the lineup last week versus Delaware State. Davis was a First Team AAA All-State selection at Hermitage HS, while being tabbed the Richmond Times-Dispatch Regional Player of the Year. In addition to his ties to Richmond, Davis also grew up in Charlottesville. Coastal Carolina tight end David Duran and Richmond punter Nick Hicks will reunite this weekend. Both are from Kell HS in Marietta, Ga.
The Zach Attack; CCU Record Falls, Big South Records Upcoming Zach MacDowall broke his own school record in the Georgia Southern loss, completing 27 passes and bettering his previous mark of 25 set last season versus Gardner-Webb. MacDowall was 27-of-41 for 314 and three scores with two interceptions. MacDowall, with three touchdown passes versus Georgia Southern and one versus Delaware State, has 30 for his career, becoming the sixth player in Big South history with at least 30. In addition, his next 300-plus passing game will give him five for his career, tying Tyler Thigpen for the CCU record and ranking second on the Big South all-time list. The current league leader is Collin Drafts with six 300-plus yard passing games.
Andrae is Giant; Big South Leader and Nationally Top 35 With just 25 tackles in his freshman season and playing with preseason All-Big South linebackers Desmond Steward and Chris Walls, Andrae Jacobs was not the odds-on favorite to be the team leader in tackles through four games. However, the 5-11, 245-pound linebacker is doing just that, as well as ranking second in teh Big South and tying for 25th nationally, with an average of 10.75 stops per game. Jacobs came through with 11 tackles in each of his first two games before coming up with 13 versus Georgia Southern. Jacobs' total suffered in the Delaware State win, getting just six. Although he had just six stops versus the Hornets, Jacobs had two TFLs moving him to the top of the Big South list in the category and 34th (tied) nationally with an average of 11.38 per game. He had 1.5 tackles for loss facing Heisman candidate Noel Devine at West Virginia and added two -- including his first sack of the season -- versus Georgia Southern.
Taken Aback; Jacobs, Harper & Thomas Among FCS Leaders Despite facing Heisman Trophy candidate and an explosive offense at West Virginia, Coastal Carolina's defense dropped the Mountaineers behind the line of scrimmage nine times for minus 27 yards. Leading the way were sophomores Andrae Jacobs and Chris Thomas, each with 1.5. Coastal's nine TFLs at West Virginia tied for 12th-best in the FCS after week one. However, that stat should not surprise the Chanticleer faithful as Coastal has ranked first or second in the Big South in tackles for loss in each of the last five seasons. Coastal added six TFL at Towson, seven versus Georgia Southern and 11 versus Delaware State. With an average of 8.25 TFL/game, Coastal leads in the Big South and ranks 10th nationally in tackles for losses. Helping the Coastal cause in TFL are Andrae Jacobs, Kent Harper and Chris Thomas as the three rank among the league's top six in TFLs. Jacobs, with 2.0 TFLs in each of his last two games, leads the Big South, while Harper is second and Thomas sixth.
Defense Loses Davis at DE; Gets Back Davis at DE, Harper Shines Coastal Carolina's defense took a hit, losing sophomore Quinton Davis with an ankle injury suffered in the Georgia Southern game. Quinton was a preseason All-Big South pick at defensive end and was tied for sixth on the team with 12 tackles. However, Coastal got back Jamel Davis (no relation to Quinton) for the Delaware State game. Jamel, a 6-4 defensive end from Richmond, injured his thumb on his first snap on the field at the season opener at West Virginia. In Quinton's absence, Kent Harper -- a former walkon -- got his first start versus Delaware State. The senior came through with a TFL on the first series of the game and finished with 2.0 TFS -- both sacks -- for minus 19 yards in the win. Harper only has 17 tackles in 2010, but five have been behind the line of scrimmage. Also, for his career, Harper only has 41 tackles, including nine for losses (one ever 4.5 tackles).
Get Off the Field Much like the offense, the Chanticleer defense has seen steady improvement in one key category. While Coastal ranks seventh in the Big South and 8r nationally in third down conversion defense (42.6%; 26-of-61), the unit has made marked improvement since. • West Virginia converted 9-of-17 third downs, or 52.9% • Towson converted 9-of-19 third downs, or 47.4% • Georgia Southern converted just 3-of-11 third downs, or 27.3% • Delaware State converted just 5-of-14, or 37.5%
Streak Alive for Defense in Red Zone While Coastal Carolina's defense ranks fifth in the Big South and 61st nationally, the unit has come up big in each of the first four games, keeping its opponents off the scoreboard at least once inside the red zone. • West Virginia: Josh Norman forced a fumble on the CCU two to keep the game close at the time • Towson: was held on downs to close the first half, keeping CCU in the lead at the break • Georgia Southern: was about to score and put the game out of reach, but a fumble recovered by Desmond Steward allowed CCU to eventually trim its deficit to three in the fourth quarter • Delaware State: had an 18-yard field goal blocked by Josh Norman that was returned 94 yards by Tarvorris Jolly for a TD and 28-0 CCU lead.
Also a Good Trend, CCU Near Perfect in "Teal" Zone While Coastal Carolina was shutout at West Virginia, the Chanticleers scored on each of their next 12 opportunities when getting inside the opponent's 20 ... or the Teal Zone as Coastal like to refer to it. Coastal was a perfect 6-of-6 at Towson, 2-of-2 versus Georgia Southern and converted its first four Teal Zone appearances versus Delaware State. The streak was snapped when Justin Durham missed a 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter. Coastal has scored seven times on the ground three via the air and made one field goal when getting inside its opponent's 20.
O-Line Provides Protection; Leads Big South in Fewest Sacks After allowing 25 sacks in 2009, Coastal Carolina's offensive line did not allow the highly-touted West Virginia defense to record a sack in the season opener. Coastal Carolina was one of 25 FCS schools that did not allow a sack in the season opener. Of those 25, three played FBS schools -- two of which were Coastal and Towson. Zach MacDowall was sacked once at Towson in 33 pass attempts, just once in 43 attempts versus Georgia Southern and once in 22 pass attempts versus Delaware State. With an average of just 0.75 sacks allowed per game, CCU ranks FIRST the Big South and ranks 11th nationally.
O'Neal Finding Stride Eric O'Neal has put together three impressive games. The senior has carried the ball 41 times for 211 yards (5.1 per attempt and 70.3 yards per game. At Towson. O'Neal scored three times, rushed a team-best 18 times for 68 yards and caught a team-high six passes for 107 all-purpose yards. Versus Georgia Southern and Delaware State, O'Neal carried the ball 11 times each, getting 65 yards versus the Eagles (5.9 per carry) and 77 versus the Hornets (7.0 per carry).
