CONWAY, S.C. – In a game that saw just 14 combined points in the first half and a total of 50 points scored in the second half, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers found the end zone last with 38 seconds remaining in the contest to give the Chanticleers a 34-30 home win over the Georgia Southern Eagles on Saturday night at Brooks Stadium.
 
Despite the Eagles scoring points in each of their first five second-half possessions, the Chanticleers had the last laugh, as the home team scored in less than two minutes in three-straight offensive series, highlighted by an eight-play, 82-yard drive that ended with running back CJ Beasley leaping a GS defender on his way for a 24-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds left on the game clock.
 
The "Black Swarm" defense picked up a sack and recorded back-to-back pass breakups as time winded down on the Georgia Southern Eagles, as the Chants came away with the come-from-behind win.
 
Coastal's offense held a slight edge in total offense over the Eagles at 485 to 462, as the Chants passed for 335 yards and rushed for another 150 yards in the win.
 
Quarterback Grayson McCall, playing for the first time against the Eagles in his career, was 23-for-34 for 335 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball 10 times for 34 yards and a touchdown.
 
Beasley finished with a team-high 64 yards and a score on 12 carries, while redshirt freshman running back Max Balthazar added six carries for 47 yards, as the Chanticleers were without four running backs in Reese White, Braydon Bennett, Aaron Bedgood, and Nate Hope II due to injuries.
 
Jared Brown eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for the second consecutive game, as he hauled in five passes for 139 yards and a score, highlighted by 72 yards after catch for the game. Graduate transfer Sam Pinckney led the way with a team-high six receptions for 41 yards, while Xavier Gravette (4 rec.,57 yards) and Tyler Roberts (2 rec., 41 yards) each had a touchdown catch in the win.
 
For the Eagles offensively, quarterback Kyle Vantrease passed for 284 yards, completing 26-of-43 pass attempts, with two touchdowns and an interception, as he connected with eight different receivers on the night led by a team-high seven catches for 68 yards by wideout Derwin Burgess Jr.
 
On the ground, the Eagles' Jalen Wright ran 18 times for 145 yards and a touchdown, while Gerald Green finished with 30 yards on 10 rushing attempts.
 
Defensively, the Chants Tré Pinkney led the way with 10 tackles, his third-straight game with double-digit stops, to go along with an interception, his second of the season. Fellow linebacker JT Killen finished with nine stops, 1.0-sack, and two pass breakups, while nose tackle Jerrod Clark added six tackles and 1.0 tackle-for-loss.

The Eagles' defense forced one turnover, a fumble in the second quarter, and added 2.0 sacks. Wylan Free led the way with 10 tackles and recovered the fumble, while defensive backs Anthony Wilson and Derek Canteen followed with nine and eight stops apiece, respectively.
 
After the Coastal defense made a stop on a fourth-and-two on the Eagles opening offensive possession to start the game, the CCU offense was forced to punt on its first offense series to give the ball back to the GS offense.
 
Following another punt by the Eagles' Anthony Beck II, the Chants took the ball and drove 89 yards on 12 plays in 7:23, as the "Teal Team 6" offense picked up four first downs on the drive which was highlighted by a 24-yard swing pass from McCall to Jared Brown and a pair of 13-yard passes to both Jared Brown and Beasley. McCall capped the drive with a four-yard run on the option, finding pay dirt with 58 seconds to go in the opening quarter.
 
However, the lead did not last for long, as the Eagles answered with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive, which saw the new-look GS offense convert on three third-down attempts and find the end zone on a 34-yard pass across the middle from Vantrease to Burgess Jr. less than three minutes into the second quarter.
 
Neither team's offense could get anything going the rest of the half with the two teams trading turnovers midway through the second quarter. The Chants' Pinkney picked off a deflected pass at the GS 27-yard line, however, the Eagles' defense got the ball back four plays later on a Coastal fumble to keep the score at 7-7 with 5:45 to go in the first half.
 
The defense stepped up and forced another GS punt before the Coastal offense took the ball from the CCU 48-yard line and drove down to the 20-yard line to set up a 38-yard field goal attempt. The kick would sail wide right and the Chants' would come up empty to keep the score tied at 7-7 going into the halftime break.
 
Coastal got the ball to start the third quarter and appeared to have got the first down on a fourth-and-one from its own 34-yard line, yet had the play nullified by a holding penalty to force the Chants' third punt of the game.
 
On the punt, the Eagles' Amare Jones broke loose and returned the kick all the way back to the CCU 10-yard line. Three plays later, the Eagles took their first lead of the game at 14-7 on a four-yard touchdown pass from Vantrease to Jeremy Singleton with 11:09 to go in the third quarter.
 
It was the Chants' turn to answer back, and they did just that, as McCall led the offense 75 yards in just nine plays, picking up a first down on a 12-yard pass to Tyson Mobley, another on a three-yard run on a third-and-two, and a third one on a 15-yard pass across the middle to Gravette to put the Chants on the 32-yard line.
 
Two plays later, McCall stood in the pocket and took a hit on a second-and-five but found a wide-open Gravette behind the Eagles' defense for a 27-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 14-14 with 6:51 to play in the third period.
 
The scoring trend continued, as on the ensuring Eagles' offense possession, the visitors in white were two-for-three on third down conversions and picked up three first downs to go 51-yards and get to the CCU 32-yard line.
 
On a third-and-nine, the Chants' defense held the Eagles to just four yards to force a fourth down. Georgia Southern's Alex Raynor connected on the 45-yard field goal attempt to push the Eagles back in front by three at 17-14 with just over a minute to go before the fourth quarter.
 
After the Chants went three-and-out, the Eagles took over at midfield and immediately picked up a 23-yard rush from White to put the visitors on the CCU 27-yard line.
 
Coastal's defense held strong the next three plays, forcing a fourth-and-one. However, after an Eagles' timeout, GS went back to the ground game where White broke through and took it 18-yards for the score to give the Eagles a 24-14 lead following the extra point.
 
Down 10 points, the Coastal offense quickly answered, as the Chants went 75 yards in just four plays on a 14-yard rush from Beasley, a 21-yard scramble by McCall, a four-yard gain again by Beasley, and then a 36-yard touchdown pass from McCall to Tyler Roberts to close the GS lead to three at 24-21 with 10:10 left to play.
 
Now it was the Eagles' turn to add points to the scoreboard on the ensuing possession, as the visitors opened up the drive with a 37-yard pass to Khaleb Hood to cross midfield.
 
Following back-to-back pass completions from Vantrease and a rush by White, a big pass breakup by CCU's Killen on a third-and-four held the Eagles to a 30-yard field goal to put the score at 27-21.
 
Holding the Eagles to a field goal proved to be huge, as the Coastal offense again took just four plays to find pay dirt, this time going 76 yards with just 1:54 coming off the game clock.
 
The Chants' kicked off the drive with a 14-yard run up the middle by Balthazar, but then saw a GS sack put the offense in a hole at second-and-16.
 
CCU and McCall responded with a seven-yard pass to Gravette and then a 61-yard catch and run by Jared Brown on third-and-nine, which ended in the end zone to put the home team on top 28-27 with 5:55 left in the contest.
 
The game was far from over, as the Eagles scored on their fifth consecutive offensive series, driving 85 yards on 11 plays to kick the go-ahead field goal from 20 yards out to put the score at 30-28 with 2:05 left in regulation.
 
The 20-yard field goal by Raynor set up the game-winning scoring drive for the Chanticleers and the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 touchdown run by Beasley.
 
The Chanticleers (5-0, 2-0 Sun Belt) will look to remain unbeaten, as they return to the road for a Sun Belt Conference contest at ULM (2-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) next Saturday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
 
Notes

• Coastal is off to a 5-0 start for the third-straight year and just the sixth time in program history.
• With the win, the Chants extended their winning streak to three-straight games over Georgia Southern.
• Coastal also extended its overall winning streak to eight-straight games and its conference winning streak to four-straight games dating back to last season.
• With the home win, the Chants have now won five-straight games at Brooks Stadium, again, dating back to last season.
• Since the start of the 2020 season, the Chants are 27-3, tying them with the Georgia Bulldogs for the second-best record in all of FBS during that stretch.
• The Chants' scoreless second quarter was the first time the Chants have been held scoreless in a quarter this season.
• Tyler Roberts caught his first career touchdown pass as a Chant in the fourth quarter.
• With his two touchdown passes in the game, Grayson McCall extended his streak to six consecutive games with two touchdown passes or more.
• Grayson McCall has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 18-straight games, adding to his school record.
• Xavier Gravette recorded his first touchdown catch of the season in the victory.
• Jared Brown recorded his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game, totaling a career-high 139 receiving yards on the night.
• Max Balthazar ran for a career-high 47 yards in his first career start.
   

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