HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Coastal Carolina defense held the Marshall rushing attack to just 87 yards, while the offense ran out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter in a 24-13 Sun Belt Conference road win on the road in Huntington, W.Va., on Saturday night.
The win pushed the Chanticleers to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while the loss dropped Marshall to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in league action.
Coastal's "Black Swarm" defense held the Thundering Herd to just 87 rushing yards on 37 attempts, an average of 2.4 yards per carry. Marshall entered the game ranked 23rd in the nation with an average of 204.0 rushing yards per game.
While The Herd only rushed for 87 yards, they passed for 320 yards to total 407 yards of total offense in the loss.
CCU's offense scored on the first three possessions to start the game but only totaled 271 yards of total offense for the contest with 150 coming on the ground and 121 via the air.
Leading the way for the Coastal offense was
Grayson McCall, as the redshirt junior quarterback was 13-for-24 with 121 yards and one touchdown. He connected with five different receivers on the night, led by redshirt freshman
Jared Brown with a team-high six catches for 57 yards.
On the ground, five different Chants ran for double-digit yards on the night led by senior
Reese White's 43 yards, while both McCall and redshirt senior quarterback
Bryce Carpenter picked up a touchdown run in the win.
For Marshall offensively, quarterback Cam Fancher was 19-for-36 for 320 yards, as he connected with six different receivers on the night, including his favorite target in Corey Gammage who had a game-high eight catches for 187 yards.
The Sun Belt's leading rusher coming into the game, Khalan Laborn, carried the ball 16 times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Coastal's defensive attack was led by linebacker
Shane Bruce with 11 tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss, one fumble recovery, and one quarterback hurry, while both
Lance Boykin and
JT Killen finished with seven stops apiece.
Charles Arnold Jr. added a career-high eight tackles in the win.
Marshall's defense was paced by Eli Neal with a game-high 14 tackles, 0.5 tackles-for-loss, and a pass breakup, while Michael Abraham and Immanuel Bush added six tackles each.
Special teams played a huge role in the game, as CCU true freshman
Evan Crenshaw punted the ball eight times for 339 yards, which included a career-long 50-yard punt. Fellow kicker
Kade Hensley made good on a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, the Chants' lone points in the final three quarters of play.
The Chanticleers opened the contest with a score on the first possession of the game, as the "Teal Team 6" offense drove 76 yards in 11 plays and 5:02 and scored on a two-yard touchdown run by McCall to give the visitors a 7-0 lead with 9:52 to go in the opening quarter.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense found pay dirt again on the next drive, as this time Carpenter ran the ball across the goal line for a three-yard score to cap a seven-play, 49-yard scoring drive to give the Chants a 14-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first quarter.
Following a second Marshall punt on its next offensive series, the Chants made it 3-for-3 in the first quarter, as the offense went 65 yards in four plays, capped off by a 37-yard touchdown pass down the Marshall sideline from McCall to
Jacob Jenkins to extend the Coastal lead to 21-0 with 1:03 left in the opening frame.
The touchdown pass by McCall set the new Coastal program record in career touchdown passes with 73, surpassing Alex Ross' previous record of 72.
However, the second quarter belonged to The Herd as the home team flipped the script, scoring 10 points and forcing the Chants to punt three times in the final 15 minutes of the first half.
Marshall got on the scoreboard on a two-yard rush off the left side by Laborn, a play that capped a 75-yard drive, which was aided by a fumble that saw The Herd advance the ball 13 yards to the CCU two-yard line.
On the next Marshall drive, The Herd drove down to the CCU 23-yard line before a quarterback hurry by Killen helped to force an incomplete pass on a third-and-four to hold the home team to a 40-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff to cut the Chants' lead to 11 at 21-10.
After both teams punted on their first possession of the second half, The Herd took over on the 27-yard line to start their second offensive series. The home team picked up two first downs and drove down to the CCU 18-yard. However, a sack by
Jairan Parker on a third-and-eight drove Marshall back to the 28-yard line for a fourth-and-18.
On the 45-yard field goal attempt, the Chants'
Rolan Wooden II leaped up to get a hand on the football and blocked the kick to keep the visitors in front at 21-10 with 7:30 to go in the third quarter.
Unable to capitalize on the big play, the Chants were forced to punt the ball back to The Herd with 5:52 to go in the third.
The "Black Swarm" defense appeared to have stopped The Herd offense once again on their next possession, however, a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt attempt from the Marshall 49-yard line gave new life to the home team with an automatic first down.
The Herd made the Chants pay, as Verhoff connected on a 39-yard field goal attempt to cap a nine-play, 44-yard drive to close the gap to 21-13 with 2:49 to go before the start of the fourth quarter.
After the offense came up empty in their next possession, the defense was able to come up with a big turnover on The Herd's next offensive series, as on a first-and-10 on the 41-yard line,
Jacob Proche was able to knock the ball free out of the hands of Laborn. On the fumble, Bruce scooped it up and returned it to the Marshall 36-yard line.
The "Teal Team 6" offense was able to put some points on the scoreboard for the first time since the first quarter, as McCall led the Chants down to the nine-yard line, picking up two first downs along the way.
Hensley was able to cap the drive with a 27-yard field goal to push the visitor's lead to 11 at 24-13 with 11:28 to go in the contest.
The two teams would trade punts before the Coastal defense would come up big on back-to-back series, first making a stop on a fourth-and-three from the CCU 19-yard line with a pass breakup by
Adrian Hope in the end zone and then forcing a fumble on a second-and-20 as
Ja'Quon Griffin picked up a sack-fumble which was recovered by
D'Jordan Strong to all but end the contest with 2:34 left on the game clock.
The Chanticleers (7-1, 4-1 Sun Belt) will return to action in just five days, as the Chants will host Appalachian State (5-3, 2-2 Sun Belt) on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Notes
- The win was the program's first-ever over Marshall (1-0).
- The victory at Marshall marked the program's first-ever win in the state of West Virginia (1-1).
- The win pushed the Chanticleers to a 7-1 start to the season for the second consecutive year.
- The road win increased the Chants' road winning streak to five consecutive games dating back to last year.
- With the win, the Chants improved to 10-1 overall in the Sun Belt Conference in road games since the start of the 2020 season.
- The win pushed the Chants to 4-0 in games following a loss since the start of the 2020 season.
- The touchdown pass by Grayson McCall in the first quarter set the new Coastal program record with career touchdown passes with 73, surpassing Alex Ross' previous record of 72.
- Grayson McCall extended his streak to 21-straight games with at least one touchdown pass, which is adding to his CCU program record.
- With his 13 completions, Grayson McCall eclipsed the 500 career completions mark.
- Rolan Wooden II's blocked field goal in the third quarter was the first blocked field goal for the Chanticleers since Sterling Johnson blocked a field goal at Georgia Southern in 2019.
- With his 11 tackles in the contest, Shane Bruce set a new career high.
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.
