The Chants' young offensive line has been pretty good this season, considering the group has four new starters, but like James Madison, the Furman defense will present another great challenge next week. During his call-in show Thursday night, CCU coach David Bennett said the Paladins registered three sacks in a six-play period against Clemson last week ... the Paladins finished with five sacks in the game. Pretty impressive stuff.
CCU coach David Bennett talked about the impressive noise level raised by James Madison home crowd on Saturday during the Big South teleconference. At JMU, the field has been completely boxed-in by a new field house behind the south end zone and bleachers behind the north end zone. Bennett said those additions trap in noise and left several young Coastal players ``wide-eyed'' at times in CCU's 45-10 loss Saturday. Coastal and Bennett hope to increase their home-field advantage at Brooks Stadium with a similar field house in the works, and borrowing another page from JMU, moving the CCU student behind the visiting bench.
Ten weekend football thoughts from MMQB Southeastern Command in Carolina Forest … 10. Rough 0-for-5 weekend for the Big South: James Madison 45, Coastal Carolina 10; Hawaii 66, Charleston Southern 10; Elon 42, Liberty 14; Lehigh 37-6, VMI and Mississippi State 31, Gardner-Webb 15. 9. Jerome Simpson has caught 13 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns through four games. He’s on pace for 677 yards receiving yards and six touchdowns -- far from last year’s marks of 16 scores and 1,000-plus yards. Those numbers are not an indictment on Simpson, but rather show what a dependent position receiver usually is. See: Randy Moss version 2006 vs. Randy Moss version 2007. 8. What was up with the JMU mascot? A pretty disgraceful showing that included pushing a police officer and profane gestures. After the game Saturday, when informed of the mascot battle, CCU coach David Bennett quipped ``Did we lose that one, too?’’ 7. Conway High’s Chris Walls got on the field Saturday, making seven tackles. He was a difference maker in high school (20.5 sacks in his last two seasons with the Tigers) and if the Chants let him play on the edge some he and Phillip Oboh give CCU some intriguing, long-term, pass rush options. 6. Eric O’Neal has just nine touches the last two weeks, though it was hard to do too much with the running game Saturday, facing a 28-0 halftime deficit. 5. For Coastal to return to a high level of play this season, Bennett said during training camp the defense would have to take steps forward to make for the losses on offense. Through four games, in part do to injuries, the Chants have allowed three quarterbacks to rush for 100-plus yards …. CCU is 87th (out of 116 FCS teams) in scoring defense …. and remain last in run defense at 327.8 yards per game. 4. Good news: Furman quarterbacks have combined for -4 rushing yards through four games. 3. The young Chanticleers’ offensive line has performed pretty well given that two of the starters did not travel last season, that said the Dukes’ ability to get pressure with only their front four really clogged up the field for Will Richardson and the Chants’ short-passing attack. 2. Richardson has spent four years on campus, and knows the offense, but Saturday marked just his eighth game and fourth start. There is gradual on-field learning curve for most players. 1. Four games in and heading into the bye week do you keep the redshirt on Jamie Childers? That was Plan A, and is probably best for the long-term development of Childers. 1a. All is not lost for the Chants, the Big South looks very winnable.
Lead Dukes running back Eugene Holloman will not play Saturday against Coastal Carolina, and could be out for the season Article here. Holloman rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season and scored 11 touchdowns. Senior Antoinne Bolton and redshirt freshman Jamal Sullivan will replace Holloman in the lineup for No. 9 James Madison.
Coastal Carolina has a really tough match-up this weekend against James Madison. The Chants, with the worst run defense in FCS play, travel to the No. 9 team in the country. I'm predicting another high scoring game: JMU 48, Coastal 31. What are your predictions?
The Coastal Carolina men's basketball schedule has been released. The Chants travel to play Cincinnati (Nov. 16), Wright State (Nov. 19), McNeese State (Nov. 24), Houston (Nov. 26) and East Carolina (Jan. 2). The schedule was delayed a bit since Nevada backed out of verbal agreement to play CCU at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center due to the departure of Myrtle Beach-native Ramon Sessions to the NBA. Here is the full schedule.
Ten random thoughts and observations from Saturday’s fireworks at Brooks Stadium and other musings …
10. As CCU coach David Bennett said postgame Saturday, it is awfully tough to win
when surrendering 512 yards on the ground. What's amazing is that the Coastal defenders were in position more often than not, Eagles quarterback Jayson Foster is just that quick, strong, smart and fast.
9. One would think the Coastal defense is ready to see a traditional drop-back pocket passer. In the last two games quarterbacks Foster and Winston-Salem State’s Monte Purvis have combined to rush for eight touchdowns.
8. It appears Eagles coach Chris Hatcher has found Foster a home at quarterback. In 11 games at receiver last season, Foster gained 812 yards from scrimmage. In two games this season at quarterback, Foster has gained 484 yards. So far it has been a great move by Hatcher, who is adjusting the Eagles’ scheme to their talent. Hatcher is at heart a pass-first guy.
7. It will be interesting to see where Foster's home is at the next level – his performance Saturday night came before scouts from the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns. Foster does not project as a quarterback and may be too small (5-foot-9) while lacking great hands to play receiver. 6a. Georgia Southern was one of several FCS programs Bennett and his staff traveled to observe while at Catawba.
The next Devin Hester?
6. Hatcher is now even with Bennett. Prior to CCU at Catawba, Bennett defeated Hatcher's Valdosta State team in the 2001 Division II playoffs. They are now 1-1 head-to-head.
6b. OK, we’ll stop talking about Georgia Southern, Foster, Hatcher and company …
5. The Men in Black – that being the Chants wearing their black jerseys – came up just short of some more magic against Georgia Southern. The Chants were dressed in black Saturday, the same jerseys CCU dawned to defeat then defending national champion James Madison in 2005.
5a. CCU wideout Santini Washington made some really, really tough catches Saturday night.
4. The Chants might have found a new difference maker on defense in end Phillip Oboh. The sophomore recorded his third sack of the season Saturday and leads the team with 23 tackles.
3. Marrio Norman is a heckuva player, but he would love to have another shot at that could-have-been-an-interception toss from Foster late Saturday.
3a. Quarterback Will Richardson made some nice intermediate throws and decisions, but was hit or miss with the long pass.
2. Don't forget about CCU starting running back Jamie Fordham just yet. While freshman Eric O'Neal has been very impressive thus far – including a 153-yard performance against Winston-Salem State – Fordham rushed for 96 yards on nine carries Saturday including a 61-yard touchdown run, his longest career run.
1. Bennett jokingly asked Chants radio voice Matt Hogue on Friday, who put together this season's schedule? It doesn’t get any easier with James Madison this week.
Vikings coach Brad Childress said he would be ``sick’’ if the team could not slip former CCU quarterback Tyler Thigpen through waivers in August. The Vikings couldn’t as the Chiefs picked up Thigpen. Vikings starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson can’t be making them feel any better about that decision
Though it is really, really earlier, Jackson has a 40 quarterback rating through two games and a 1-to-5 touchdown to interception ratio.
Usually we give this to a Coastal player, but Foster was the story Saturday night. Thirty-six points scored in a football game is pretty good.
Georgia Southern quarterback Jayson Foster was simply amazing Saturday. His night of 253 yards and six touchdowns was historic (a Kobe Bryant-like 36 point night), and what is really remarkable is the CCU defense wasn't terribly out of position on many of those runs. Foster was just that good. Many of you have observed four years of CCU football. I wonder where do you think Foster's night ranks against Coastal, at Brooks Stadium or in Division I football in general?
Programming note: Sunday Morning Quarterback will be moving to Mondays. (Better ratings in that slot they tell me)
- Travis
Coastal Carolina women's soccer standouts Emma Humphries and Emily McColl are playing for the New Zealand National Team in the Women's World Cup in China. Emma writes about her experience here Humphries' blog. After dropping their first match to Brazil, 5-0, the Kiwis are playing Denmark at 4 a.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2. How many of you are going to be up and watching?
A little bit of this, a little bit of that … Yes, the Chants looked better Saturday night in surviving Winston-Salem State. Yes, Will Richardson looked better as did Eric O’Neal and Jerome Simpson was his usual self. It was a must-have win if the young Chanticleers are going to equal the work done by 36 seniors last season, advancing to their first playoff berth. But at this point talking about the playoffs might seem like unrestrained optimism, since CCU can likely only afford -- maybe -- one more loss the rest of the season in hopes of grabbing an at large berth. The playoff field was something CCU coach David Bennett talked about this week, saying the Football Championship Division needs to expand its current 16-team field. "Sometimes change is good ,’’ Bennett said. ``[The current system] is like driving a vehicle without power windows, we are still rolling our windows down." Bennett noted that 64 schools out of the 119 schools in the Bowl Subdivision were playing in post-season games last year (Though money and bragging rights aside, only one FBS bowl game has any significance), while just 16 of 120 schools at the FCS level advanced to the postseason. That’s 13 percent of FCS schools, the lowest percentage of any college sport in granting invitations to its postseason. Moreover, the Chants don’t enjoy the possibility of an automatic bid should they win the Big South. In the FCS, there are only eight automatic bids, one awarded to the Colonial, Big Sky, Gateway, MEAC, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland conferences. There is talk of expanding the FCS playoffs to 24 teams, and once Stony Brook and Presbyterian are in the fold should the Big South should receive an automatic berth. Still, what do you think? Is the FCS playoff field fine how it is, rewarding excellent seasons. Or does the playoff field need to be expanded to allow entry to more deserving teams? Ten thoughts from Saturday 10. Is anyone as fearless as Marrio Norman? Maybe he doesn’t know he can use the fair catch signal when fielding punts in traffic. And at safety, he covers the field sideline to sideline with the civility of a cruise missile. 9. The defense has got to tighten up. That’s six plays of 40-plus yards allowed through two weeks. 8. Congrats to Mike Tolbert, who with five carries for 27 yards brought his career rushing total to 1,000 yards. He is the fourth Chanticleer to reach the mark. 7. Touchdown Tommy Fraser. On the season: four carries, seven yards, three touchdowns. 6: Non-Coastal thought: 45,000 students go to South Florida, which upset Auburn on Saturday night, making it the ninth-largest school in the country. I had no idea. 5. Phillip Oboh was a difference maker at defensive end: two sacks, nine tackles. 4. Georgia Southern … James Madison … Furman. That is one tough three-game stretch ahead. 3. This Eric O’Neal guy can play. After a quiet opener the true freshman piled up 132 total yards, displaying great instincts and solid hands as a receiver. A Marshall Faulk Jr. 2. Like Shaheer McBride, Jerome Simpson can change the game in a blink. He was targeted five times against Winston-Salem (the result 90 yards and a key 50-yard grab to set up the game-winning score), you’d like to see double that number of targets. For example, a No. 1 NFL receiver, gets about 150-160 looks a season. 1. Simpson’s hurdle of 5-foot-10 Ram cornerback Demetrius Rivers was Randy Moss circa 1997. That was fun to watch. Gameball In his second career start, Will Richardson posted his first 300-yard game. Yes he made a few poor decisions, yes he missed a few open receivers but 12.5 yards per pass attempt would satisfy Peyton Manning. I think the Chants have found their man at quarterback.
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