Monday Night Quarterback

I apologize for my tardiness on this blog post. A nagging cold has stuck with me for the past two weeks, and, like a fool, I really did nothing about it until it began to eat away at my brain sometime Saturday night. After seeing the doctor - and then the pharmacist - this morning, I'm confident my status for Saturday's home finale against Presbyterian will be upgraded from questionable to probable at some point midweek.

But before we start thinking about the Blue Hose, let's recap what we saw, or better yet, what we didn't see in Coastal's 26-21 win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday:

* We didn't see the Chants give away a game they should have won.

* We didn't see an offense that has struggled all season continue to commit suicide every time it reached the red zone.

* We didn't see Coastal's special teams give the game away with a big mistake (it almost happened on the blocked field goal but not quite).

All in all, we didn't see the Chants do what they've done all season - make more mistakes than positive plays. This wasn't a pretty win - in fact, the Chants tried to give it away on several occasions - but it certainly comes at a huge junction for the 4-5 Chants, who could very well salvage a winning record after their season soured during an October avalanche of losses.

As I was standing down on the field in the game's final minute - Coastal corner Josh Norman made his game-saving interception right in front of me - I was expecting Gardner-Webb to score. The way this season has gone, I was conditioned to believe that Coastal would do something to give the win away. I had already scripted some of the options in my brain. This is the one I had settled on: the Bulldogs would have heaved a fourth-down pass into the end zone, a Coastal player would have committed pass interference and then the Bulldogs would have scored on a short run on the next play.

But it didn't happen that way, because Norman, the closest thing on this roster to a gamebreaker, made another enormous play when the Chants needed it the most. It was a refreshing result for the Chants and for me, too. I didn't have to go home and write the same story it seems like I'd written for the first eight games of the season. The coaches didn't have to go home and mull over another game in which their team failed to produce against an inferior opponents. And the players didn't lose sight of the chance that maybe, just maybe they are capable of playing at a much higher level than they have all season.

I wholeheartedly expect the Chants to beat Presbyterian this weekend. That would set up a rivalry game with Charleston Southern in the finale and give the Chants a chance to finish 6-5. That same scenario materialized in 2003, the program's first year, when the Chants blew out the Bucs in the regular-season finale to finish 6-5. Of course, the rest is history - the program went on to establish itself as a national contender. I'm not predicting such feats again, but it would be interesting if that scenario unfolded. Six years later, the program would have come full circle.

Random thoughts

* Perhaps we saw proof on Saturday that Coastal quarterback Zach MacDowall is epitome of a gunslinger. He's always had a little Brett Favre in him, and I think we saw Saturday that if you let the kid just go out and play pitch and catch, the results will be worth it. He's got a huge arm, which he relies on too often sometimes, and great instincts. The offense Coastal was running didn't work, so what did offensive coordinator Kevin Brown do? He put the ball in MacDowall's hands and let him go to work.

Coastal averaged 23.25 pass attempts in its first eight games. MacDowall played chuck and duck 42 times on Saturday. And the plan worked to perfection. MacDowall played his best game of the season, and the offense had its best outing of the year. Even if it hadn't worked, at least the Homecoming crowd would have gotten to see some excitement. Incompletions are a lot more exciting than watching Tommy Fraser bulldoze into the heart of the line time after time (this is nothing against Fraser, whose hard running was a big part of the offense's success).

* Coastal defensive coordinator Curtis Walker and Co. should get plenty of credit for altering their game plan against the Bulldogs. The Chants could have utilized their base defense against the spread, but instead based out of the nickel and brought reserve corner Tavorris Jolly into the fold. The Chants could have used a safety or outside linebacker Chris Walls in some coverage against slot receivers, but wisely decided that sacrificing a body in the box was worth the added benefit in coverage. The plan worked better than I imagine anybody expected.

* Does anybody else think that Coastal might have the best set of young starting corners in FCS? Norman and Marcus Lott are already imposing forces in the secondary, and the sophomores are only going to get better. The question that remains is whether Lott stays at corner or moves to safety in the offseason. I think he has all-American potential at safety, because of his great anticipation and willingness to create contact. No matter what happens, it's going to be fun watching them grow up over the next two seasons.

Comments

[tucker]

If Johnny Houston works out at corner next season then Lott should move to safety. From the list I've seen, they aren't recruiting too many safetys this year.

[coastalmom]

We should give cudos to the offensive line. They played better than I have seen all season. Zach had time to get the ball downfield and the receivers did a good job catching the ball.

[ccu fan]

I am glad we won, but I hope not many people have voted on this weeks question poll. If 67% of the people (fans) feel this program is on the right track that concerns me. This is the same problem Clemson has had, they beat usc at the end of the year and they extend contracts no matter how the regular season went. Lets make changes now and the future will look better beacaus we have the talent. Just need a coaching staff to put it together.

[Blue Hens For Chants]

I know that the Chants play the Division-1 BIG DOGS in order to recruit and make over $350,000 per game, but perhaps the Chants should just focus on playing their rivals in the nearby MEAC and CAA and NAC conferences until the puppies can mentally and physically COMPETE with the big dogs. This will also make it easier on the CCU athletic budget too. In 2010 the NAC and Big South champs will automatically qualify for an FCS playoff position. Seniors, Saturday will be your last Chanticleers home game at Brooks Stadium! God bless!!

[me]

LOL JOSH we went 6-5 in 2007 we all know how that went!!!!!!!! get your head out of bennetts hiney and find out what in the world is going on. I know you feel u owe him a lot and u compromise your integrity for that but come on ask him some tough questions!