CONWAY, S.C. — With a short week and road trip to Arkansas State upcoming Thursday, Coastal Carolina didn’t want to tax its starters Saturday afternoon against Louisiana-Monroe.
CCU managed to get the starters off the field by halftime with a 38-3 lead in an eventual 59-6 win at Brooks Stadium, but was it fast enough?
Quarterback Grayson McCall was rather impressive, completing all 13 of his attempts for 212 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Isaiah Likely.
McCall has 15 consecutive completions going back to his final two passes against UMass last week, which is one shy of the school record set by Zach MacDowall in 2010 at VMI and matched by Kilton Anderson in 2018 at UAB and against Campbell.
But he returned from the locker room for the second half out of uniform with a protective boot on his left foot. He was walking around on it rather freely without crutches, but CCU’s lofty season goals rest squarely on his shoulders.
CCU coach Jamey Chadwell said McCall’s left ankle was rolled on by another player, and he could have continued playing if it was necessary.
“Grayson was taken out at halftime from a precautionary standpoint,” Chadwell said. “He was not going to come back in the second half anyway. ... If he had to play he would have played there in the second half. It was more of a preventative thing more than anything, because of the short week just making sure we’ve done everything possible there for his health.”
Chadwell said the boot was used as protection against someone stepping on his foot on the sideline and to keep any potential swelling down.
“If we were playing next Saturday he would have come right back out and been normal and nobody would have known anything. But since it’s a Thursday and a quicker turnaround we just wanted to take the extra precaution to make sure if that injury is worse than what we think we’ve done everything possible to let him be able to play Thursday.”
A record crowd watched the game, as Coastal set a program attendance record Saturday on Family Weekend at the university with an announced attendance of 18,674.
The previous high was 17,697 earlier this season against Kansas.
Coastal has now beaten the other nine Sun Belt teams.
The Chants were 0-3 against the Warhawks with losses each year from 2017-19, and they beat the other eight teams in the conference last year during their undefeated regular season.
Explosive offense
Coastal added to its impressive offensive numbers that have the Chants among the nation’s top offenses.
CCU entered the game ranked fifth in the nation in scoring at 45.5 points per game and reached 50 points for the second consecutive week, third time this season and sixth time under Chadwell.
That means the team will receive McDonald’s cheeseburgers, as it does every time it posts a “50 burger.”
The Chants ended the third quarter with first and goal inside the ULM 5-yard line. The third, the only was the first quarter this season the Chants have not scored.
Still being special
Special teams continues to provide big plays for the Chants.
Redshirt freshman C.J. Beasley, who is listed on the roster as a backup running back, broke through the interior of the line to block a punt that was picked up by Aaron Bedgood and returned nine yards for a touchdown.
It was the third blocked punt of the season for CCU, and second returned for a touchdown. Alex Spillum blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone against Kansas and Mason Shelton blocked a George Georgopoulos punt attempt last week against UMass. Jeffrey Gunter also has a blocked field-goal attempt this season.
A 25-yard punt return by Jaivon Heiligh set up the Chants near midfield for their first scoring drive, as well.
Beasley capped an eventful day with a tackle-breaking 15-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Turning the page
The Turnover Cloak was finally put into use on the CCU sideline.
Coastal went 19-plus quarters this season without forcing a turnover, but the Chants defense finally recorded its first turnover of the season on redshirt junior cornerback Lance Boykin’s interception early in the fourth quarter.
That allowed a celebration on the sideline featuring the Turnover Cloak.
The lack of a turnover was made more surprising considering the Chants led the nation last season in turnover differential of plus-13 with 25 forced turnovers.
The Chants had some previous opportunities this season, as linebacker Enock Mackonzo forced two fumbles that were recovered by opponents, and two passes were batted into the air in the first half Saturday.
Poll implications
CCU has generally moved up slightly in the Associated Press and USA Today AFCA Coaches top 25 polls with each win, and the Chants are likely to at least hold their No. 16 position in both polls if not move up slightly again with the impressive win against another overmatched opponent.
Up next
The Chanticleers have a quick turnaround to their next game, as they travel to play Arkansas State at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Ark. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Red Wolves entered Sun Belt play on Saturday 1-3. They opened the season with a 40-21 win over Central Arkansas but have since lost to Memphis (55-50), Washington (52-3) and Tulsa (41-34). They kicked off at Georgia Southern at 4 p.m. Saturday.
