CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina football returns to action this Saturday, Sept. 21, as the Chanticleers will head north to face off with the University of Massachusetts Minutemen in non-conference action at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass. The Chants will be looking for their third-straight win overall this season and their third-straight victory over the Minutemen. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.
 
Familiar FBS Independent Foe
• Coastal Carolina and UMass will be meeting for the third-straight season on Saturday afternoon.
 
• It is the second-straight season in which the Chanticleers have traveled north to take on the Minutemen at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass.
 
Series Versus the Minutemen
• Coastal Carolina is 2-0 all-time versus the Massachusetts Minutemen on the gridiron.
 
• The Chanticleers defeated UMass 38-28 at home in Brooks Stadium on Sept. 2, 2017, Coastal' s first game as an FBS and Sun Belt Conference member.
 
• CCU upended the Minutemen 24-13 last season in McGuirk Alumni Stadium on Oct. 20, 2018.
 
Date                    Location                                    Result
9-2-17               at Conway, S.C.                    W, 38-28
10-20-18          at Amherst, Mass.               W, 24-13
 
Historical Link
• Coastal's first win over UMass back in the 2017 season opener at Brooks Stadium was the Chants' first victory as members of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Sun Belt Conference.
 
• The win was also CCU's first over an FBS program, going 0-7 in such games prior to the victory.
 
Chadwell's First Game
• First-year head coach Jamey Chadwell, who was the interim coach in 2017, coached his first game as a member of the Coastal Carolina staff against UMass (Sept. 2) in the 2017 season opener.
 
• His first game as the acting head coach would also be his first victory at the FBS level and against an FBS foe as the Chants defeated UMass 38-28.
 
First Year FBS Head Coaches
• Saturday's contest features a meeting between first-year FBS full-time head coaches in Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell and UMass' Walt Bell.
 
• CCU's Chadwell is in his first full-time year as the CCU head coach and is 2-1 this season but 5-10 overall at Coastal having served as the interim coach in 2017.
 
• In his 10th season as a head coach overall, Chadwell is 65-45 on the field.
 
• UMass' Bell is in his first season as a head coach at any level, starting the year off at 0-3 in 2019.
 
• Bell has worked at seven FBS programs before taking the head job at UMass with stints at Arkansas State, Florida State, North Carolina, Southern Miss, Oklahoma State, and Memphis.
 
Durkin Returns to Alma Mater
• Coastal Carolina's tight end and offensive tackles coach Bill Durkin returns to his alma mater for the second-straight season in 2019 on Saturday in Amherst, Mass.
 
• Durkin, who is in his sixth year at CCU, was a four-year letterman, a two-year team captain, and first-team all-conference selection in both 1992 and 1993 at UMass. He added consensus first-team All-American honors in 1993 and was later named to the Yankee Conference 50th Anniversary All-Star Team.
 
Scouting the Minutemen
• UMass enters Saturday afternoon's contest at 0-3 on the season with losses at Rutgers (Aug. 30), versus Southern Illinois (Sept. 7) and at Charlotte (Sept. 14).
 
• The Minutemen offense is averaging 19.3 points per outing on a balanced attack between the run and pass game, as the Minutemen are averaging 147.0 rushing yards per contest and 148.7 passing yards per game on the season, an average of 295.7 total offensive yards per game.
 
• The defense has been the Achilles heel for UMass this season, as the Minutemen are allowing an average of 48.3 points per game and 536.3 yards per contest on the year.
 
Fourth Down Success
• CCU was solid on fourth downs in 2018, as the offense ranked first in the Sun Belt and 10th nationally in fourth-down conversions at 11-of-16 (69 percent).
 
• The success has continued in the 2019 season thus far, as the Chants are a perfect 7-of-7 on fourth-down attempts this year, which is tied for the best percentage in the nation with just 21 other schools.
 
Coastal Time
• The Chants led the Sun Belt and ranked 15th nationally in time of possession at 32:48 minutes per game last year in 2018.
 
• This year, Coastal has possessed the ball on average 35:30 minutes per game which is first in the Sun Belt and ninth nationally.
 
Leaders of the Pack
• The Coastal defense ranks among the league and nation's best in several different statistical categories after just three weeks of the season.
 
STAT                                                                                          SUN BELT     NCAA
Passing Yards Allowed (YPG)         123.3                   1st               6th
Total Defense (YPG)                         229.3                   1st               7th
Interceptions                                       4                         1st               8th
Scoring Defense (PPG)                    14.7                      1st               24th
First Downs Defense                         42                       3rd              24th
Red Zone Defense (PCT.)                71.0%                   1st               28th
Rushing Defense (YPG)                   106.0                   3rd              39th
Third-Down Pct.                                 32.3 %                 2nd            41st
 
Less Than 300
• In their first three games of the 2019 season, the Chant "D" has held its opponent to under 300 total offensive yards in each contest.
 
• The last time that a CCU defense held its opponents to under 300 total yards in back-to-back games was the last two games in 2017 - 277 yards for Idaho (Nov. 18) and 284 yards to Georgia Southern (Dec. 12).
 
• The last time that a Chants' defense held three-straight opponents to under 300 total offensive yards in a game was back in 2016. Coastal held five-straight opponents to under 300 yards from Oct. 29 at Presbyterian College to Nov. 26 versus Hampton.

One Score
• The Coastal Carolina defense held Kansas (Sept. 7) to just seven points in a 12-7 win.
 
• The seven points allowed were the fewest by a CCU defense since holding Idaho to only seven points in a 13-7 win on the road on Nov. 18, 2017.
 
• CCU followed that up with another strong showing in the win over Norfolk State (Sept. 14) last week, holding the Spartans to just seven points as well.
 
• The last time that Coastal held back-to-back opponents to just one score was versus Liberty (Nov. 17) and Hampton (Nov. 26) in 2016.
 
Turnover Cloak: King of the South
• The Coastal "Black Swarm" defense has unveiled a new Turnover Cloak on the sidelines.
 
• A Chant is presented the Turnover Cloak and named the King of the South when coming up with an interception or fumble recovery.
 
CHANT                       CLOAK PRESENTATIONS
Chandler Kryst                                               3
Kameron Burton                                             1
 
 
For complete coverage of CCU football, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalFootball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.