ATLANTA, Ga. – The No. 20/21 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers dominated from the opening kickoff in the 51-0 win over Georgia State on Halloween day in Atlanta, Ga. The shutout win was the first for the Chanticleers in their young FBS history and the first since November 2015.
 
The Chants are off to a 6-0 start to the season for only the fourth time in school history while the six wins are the most in a single season in CCU's four-year FBS history.
 
The 51 points are the second-most scored by the Chants in a Sun Belt Conference game and the second-most this season behind the 52 points in the win over Arkansas State on Oct. 3.
 
Coastal's offense totaled 530 yards on 250 rushing and 280 passing and had just one turnover, a fumble late in the fourth quarter.
 
While the offense was putting up points, scoring on eight of the 11 drives in the game, the defense absolutely shut down the GSU offense.
 
The Panthers entered the game atop of the Sun Belt with an average of 42.0 points per game and ranked 23rd nationally in total offense at 466.5 yards per game.
 
The "Black Swarm" held GSU to just 106 total yards, 76 rushing and 30 passing, posted six three-and-outs, forced six punts, and caused two turnovers. In fact, GSU had negative yards for four of its 11 offensive series in the contest.
 
Coastal held a 30 to 5 advantage on first downs and a 41:04 to 18:56 edge in time of possession for the game. The Chants ran 76 plays compared to Georgia State's 40.
 
Returning after missing last week's game due to injury, redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall was superb, as he was 18-of-24 for 254 yards and four touchdowns and added six rushes for 15 yards and a score on the ground. His four passing touchdowns tied his career-high.
 
McCall, and fellow quarterbacks Fred Payton and Jared Guest, combined to connect with 10 different receivers led by Jaivon Heiligh and his team-high five catches on 81 yards and two touchdowns. Sam Denmark added three receptions for 57 yards, while Greg Latushko picked up three catches for 43 yards. Both CJ Marable and Kameron Brown had a touchdown catch in the win.
 
On the ground, Marable led the way with 10 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. Reese White ran seven times for 47 yards and a score while Shermari Jones finished with 43 yards on 10 carries.
 
GSU's two quarterbacks combined to go just 6-of-12 for 30 yards and one interception while running back Destin Coates rushed 11 times for 56 yards on the ground.
 
Redshirt junior linebacker Enock Makonzo led the defense with a team-high seven tackles, including 1.0 tackles-for-loss, while both Jeffrey Gunter and Tarron Jackson finished with four tackles each and combined for 1.0 sack, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, and three forced fumbles. Redshirt senior Silas Kelly had three tackles, 1.0 sack, and an interception.
 
The Chanticleers struck first to start the contest, as following a Georgia State 47-yard missed field goal, McCall led a 70-yard touchdown drive that started with a 21-yard run by White and ended with a 35-yard pass and catch down the sidelines from McCall to Heiligh on a fourth-and-7 to put the visitors in front 7-0 with 8:14 to play in the first quarter.
 
The defense then forced back-to-back three-and-outs to set up the offense once again, as Marable opened the drive with a 12-yard run for a first down. After three plays put the Chants on a fourth-and-2 at their own 49-yard line, Coastal called a timeout to think over the attempt.
 
The timeout worked, as McCall got the first down on a five-yard run to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, the redshirt freshman quarterback hit a streaking Marable out of the backfield for an 18-yard catch to put CCU on top 14-0 with 11:39 left in the first half.
 
On the next GSU offensive possession, the "Black Swarm" lived up to its name as not one, not two, but three Chants tackled wide receiver Sam Pinckney with the third hit by Jackson knocking the ball loose which was recovered by Brayden Matts at the GSU 26-yard line.
 
Two plays later, White ran off the left end for 13 yards and a score. However, the extra point was no good to put the Chants in front at 20-0 with 10:39 to go in the opening half.
 
The defense struck again on the ensuing Panthers' series, as CCU answered GSU's successful fourth-and-1 attempt with an interception by linebacker Kelly on the very next play to give the ball back to the offense.
 
The offense took full advantage as McCall connected on pass plays of 11 and 27 yards to set up a 10-yard touchdown toss to a cutting Heiligh for the tandem's second score of the game and to push the lead out to 27-0 in the second quarter.
 
Following another third-and-out by the Coastal defense, the Chants' offense took its time driving down the field, using 10 plays to go 48 yards in 4:25 to add to its lead with a two-yard touchdown plunge up the middle by McCall to give the visitors a 34-0 lead going into the halftime break.
 
The Chants opened the second half just like they ended the first, as Coastal padded its lead with another 10-play scoring drive to open the third quarter.
 
After back-to-back pass plays to Latushko and Heiligh, the offense took to the ground game as the next eight plays covered the final 43 yards with the last two yards coming on a Marable touchdown run. The extra point was good to give the Chants a demanding 41-0 lead with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
 
The rout continued as the Chants scored on a 12-yard pass from McCall to Brown on the next offensive series to increase their lead to 48-0 with over 18 minutes to go in the contest.
 
Junior placekicker Massimo Biscardi added a 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cap the 51-0 win.
 
Coastal (6-0, 4-0 Sun Belt) will return home to host South Alabama (3-3, 2-1 Sun Belt) on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m. ET. The Homecoming contest will be nationally televised on ESPNU at 8 p.m. ET.
 
 
Notes

• The six wins are the most by the Chanticleers in a single season since moving to the FBS level full time in 2017 and the most since 2016.
• Coastal is 6-0 to start the season for the first since 2015 and just the fourth time in program history (2013, 2014, and 2015).
• The win extends Coastal's winning streak to an FBS-record six-straight games this season and seven dating back to last year.
• The Chants are 4-0 in Sun Belt play for the first time in the program's young history.
• Coastal's win over the Panthers marks the five-straight Sun Belt Conference win dating back to last year.
• The shutout victory was the first for the Chants as an FBS member and the first since defeating Gardner-Webb 46-0 back on Nov. 7, 2015.
• The 30 passing yards allowed by the CCU defense is the fourth-fewest allowed in a single game in program history.
• With his four passing touchdowns in the win, Grayson McCall has passed for two touchdowns or more in every game he has played in this season.
• Grayson McCall eclipsed the 1,000 career passing yard mark in the first quarter, becoming the 10th Chant to reach the mark in CCU's young history.
• Jaivon Heiligh's 35-yard touchdown catch extended his streak to 21-straight games with at least one reception.
• CJ Marable's 18-yard touchdown pass gives him a catch in 26-straight contests.
• Jaivon Heiligh's two receiving touchdowns mark a single-game high for the junior wide receiver.

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