CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina football will play its fourth-straight nationally televised game on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, as the unbeaten Chanticleers will hit the road to take on undefeated and No. 21 nationally-ranked Louisiana at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
AMERICA'S TEAM
• With Wednesday night's game at Louisiana set to air on ESPN, Coastal Carolina will have played all four of its games in 2020 on national television.
MOVED AGAIN
• Wednesday's contest between the Chanticleers and Ragin' Cajuns was originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17. However, the Sun Belt Conference office and the two teams agreed to move the game up to Oct. 10 with Louisiana postponing its game on Oct. 7 versus Appalachian State due to COVID-19 reasons.
• Hurricane Delta however had other plans, as the storm forced the game to move back to Wednesday, Oct. 14.
RECEIVING VOTES
• For the fifth-straight week, the Chanticleers earned votes in the USA Today Amway Coaches poll.
• Over the last two weeks, the Chants have received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in the program's young FBS history.
• This week, the Chants received the most points in their FBS program history with 48 points in the USA Today Amway Coaches poll and 38 in the AP Top 25 poll.
COASTAL IN CONFERENCE PLAY
• CCU is in its fourth year of playing a full Sun Belt Conference schedule after moving from the FCS level to the FBS level in 2016.
• The Chanticleers have gone 2-6 in conference play all three years that they have been in the Sun Belt Conference.
• Heading into this season, Coastal had gone an identical 3-9 at both home and on the road in conference play since 2017.
• Since the league went to two divisions in 2018, CCU is just 2-6 versus the East and now 3-6 against the West Divisions with its win last week over Arkansas State (Oct. 3).
NEW TERRITORY
• Coastal is off to a 1-0 start in conference play for the second time since joining the Sun Belt as a full-time member in 2017 (2018; 1-0).
• The Chants are looking to go 2-0 in Sun Belt play for the first time in program history with a win on Saturday at Louisiana.
• CCU is 1-0 all-time at Cajun Field having defeated the Ragin' Cajuns 30-28 (Sept. 22, 2018) in the two teams Sun Belt opener in 2018.
GOING STREAKING
• Since playing a full FBS schedule in 2017, the Chanticleers have posted an FBS-program best season-long three-game winning streak three times.
2018
09/08/18 UAB W, 47-24
09/12/18 at Campbell W, 58-21
09/22/18 at Louisiana W, 30-28
2019
09/07/19 at Kansas W, 12-7
09/14/19 Norfolk State W, 46-7
09/21/19 at UMass W, 62-28
2020
09/12/20 at Kansas W, 38-23
09/18/20 Campbell W, 43-21
10/03/20 Arkansas State W, 52-23
• With a win over Louisiana, the Chanticleers will have started 2020 with a four-game winning streak, setting a new FBS-program record for the longest winning streak in a single season.
• If you go back to the 2019 season, Coastal Carolina has won four-straight games and will be going for its fifth-straight victory on Wednesday in Lafayette.
11/30/19 Texas State W, 24-21
09/12/20 at Kansas W, 38-23
09/18/20 Campbell W, 43-21
10/03/20 Arkansas State W, 52-23
10/10/20 at Louisiana ?
CHANTS VERSUS THE TOP 25
• Coastal will be playing its first top 25 nationally-ranked opponent as a full-time FBS member this week versus No. 21 Louisiana.
• The Chants, who last played a nationally-ranked top-25 team in 2013, is 0-3 all-time versus the FBS top 25.
08/30/08 at #22 Penn State L, 10-66
09/04/10 at #25 West Virginia L, 0-31
11/23/13 at #11 South Carolina L, 10-70
• However, all three games against the nationally-ranked programs came while Coastal was still a member of the FCS.
SERIES VERSUS THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
• The all-time series between the Chanticleers and Ragin' Cajuns is tied up at 1-1 with each team winning on the other team's respective turf.
09/22/18 at Louisiana W, 30-28
11/07/19 at Coastal Carolina L, 7-48
SCOUTING LOUISIANA
• Louisiana is off to a 3-0 start this season and returned to the national rankings last week. The Ragin' Cajuns are ranked No. 21 in both the AP Top 25 poll and the USA Today Amway Coaches poll this week.
• Louisiana is coming off two-straight narrow wins in Sun Belt play with a 34-31 overtime win at Georgia State (Sept. 19) and a 20-18 late-fourth quarter win over Georgia Southern (Sept. 26) last time out.
• Led by Lorenzo McCaskill's team-high 36 tackles, the Ragin' Cajuns' defense is allowing 389.7 yards per game which is third in the Sun Belt.
• UL is also allowing just 21.0 points per game, which ranks second in the Sun Belt and 20th nationally, and has recorded six takeaways to match Coastal among the league leaders in turnovers forced.
• Offensively, the Cajuns are averaging 28.3 points and 409.7 yards per game, led by quarterback Levi Lewis and the three-headed running attack of Elijah Mitchell, Trey Ragas, and Chris Smith.
• Lewis has thrown for 723 yards through three games this year, as he has connected on 52-of-90 pass attempts to go along with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
• The ground game, which is what UL is known for, has been led by Mitchell with 24 carries for 210 yards and two touchdowns in two games, while both Ragas (37 carries, 143 yards, 3 TD) and Smith (21 carries, 105 yards) have both rushed for over 100 yards on the season.
OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE
• The number one scoring offense in the Sun Belt Conference will be facing off with the number two scoring defense in the conference on Saturday at Cajun Field.
• Coastal enters the game with the number one scoring offense in the Sun Belt with an average of 44.3 points per game, which also ranks fourth nationally.
• Louisiana has the number two scoring defense in the Sun Belt, allowing just 21.0 points per game on the season, which ranks 17th in all of FBS.
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.
