CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina lived up to the hype as the No. 22 team in the AP Top 25 Poll in its season opener, and Coastal’s stars played like stars in a 52-14 win over Citadel on Thursday night at Brooks Stadium.
Reigning and preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Grayson McCall was precise in the six possessions he led before heading to the bench early in the third quarter with the rest of the Chanticleers starters.
He was 16 of 19 for 262 yards and a touchdown, and gained 24 yards on just two carries as the Chants coaching staff had little reason to expose him to unnecessary hits.
His top target in 2020, wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh, recorded his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game with six receptions for 133 yards and a TD.
Tight end and All-America candidate Isaiah Likely had five receptions for 64 yards and showed his athleticism at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds by leaping over a defender and continuing downfield following a catch.
Shermari Jones and Reese White, who will be carrying much of the load in the backfield this season after C.J. Marable left and signed with the Chicago Bears, combined for 162 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries.
Defensively, 2020 Associated Press Third Team All-American C.J. Brewer recorded a team-high nine tackles at his defensive end position.
Domination is in the numbers
Coastal scored on its first seven possessions, with six touchdowns and an abbreviated drive that ended in a field goal on the final play of the first half.
Following its first drive of the second half, Coastal was outgaining the Bulldogs 454-84.
Coastal’s defense had five tackles for loss in the first half against Citadel’s flexbone rushing attack including a combined 3.5 by linebacker Enock Makonzo and defensive end Jeffrey Gunter.
Coastal amassed more than 611 yards of offense and averaged 11.1 yards per play, compared to the Bulldogs’ approximate 4 yards per play.
Thursday’s attendance of 16,236 nearly set a new Coastal record, and the school’s students were out in full force.
An impressive first impression
Travis Geiger, who beat out incumbent Jerrod Clark for the starting nose tackle job, got off to a fast start with three total tackles on Citadel’s first drive that totaled seven plays. He finished the game with eight total tackles, which was second on the team.
CCU had just four new starters from last season. In addition to Geiger and Jones/White, redshirt freshman defensive end Braylon Ryan recorded four tackles, including two solo, and super senior receiver Kameron Brown had one catch for 17 yards.
Poll implications
CCU entered the game ranked 22nd in the AP poll and 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and will have a chance to move up slightly depending on what other teams do this weekend.
Up next
Coastal will host Kansas at 7:30 p.m. next Friday night, as the first program from a Power Five conference will visit Brooks Stadium.
The Chants will be looking for their third consecutive win over the Jayhawks of the Big 12, as they defeated them on the road 12-7 in 2019 and 38-23 last season after racing out to a 28-0 lead.
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