TOP PHOTO: Coastal Carolina, led by Head Coach Jamey Chadwell, makes school history with Saturday night win.

CONWAY, S.C. (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – With a 22-17 lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, Coastal Carolina’s Mateo Sudipo tackled BYU’s Dax Milne at the one-yard line as time ran off the game clock to give the Chanticleers the five-point win over the No. 8 nationally-ranked Cougars on Saturday night at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.

The win is the first-ever over a top-10 FBS nationally-ranked team and the second win over a top-25 nationally-ranked foe in program history, both of which have come this season.

Caryville native Jamey Chadwell is the head coach of CCU. He said, “It was one of those days you’ll remember for a long time personally and professionally.” BYU was averaging 47 points a game coming in and Coastal held the Cougars to just 17.

“I’m proud of the effort and just the way we handled really the circus here,” Chadwell said. “All week it was a circus and something that we hadn’t experienced, and our guys just never flinched, and they’re resilient and well deserving of this win.”

Coastal is 10-0 to start the season, the best start in Sun Belt Conference football history, and the second time in school history since starting 11-0 in 2014.

The Chanticleers have now won 10-straight games this season and 11 consecutive contests dating back to last year.

With both teams agreeing to take the game on Thursday of this week, the Chanticleers totaled 281 yards of rushing against a BYU defense which entered the game sixth nationally in fewest rushing yards allowed at 88.3 rushing yards per game.

The Coastal defense held the high-powered BYU offense to just 17 points, a season-low for the Cougars who were averaging 47.6 points per game which ranked fourth nationally.

Coastal was outgained by BYU 405-366 in total yards but held a 281-165 advantage in rushing yards and a 37:51 to 22:09 in time of possession.

Senior CJ Marable led the way with 132 rushing yards and two scores on 23 carries, his second-straight 100-yard rushing game, and also caught three passes for 10 yards.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall was 10-of-15 for 85 yards through the air and also ran 12 times for 68 yards.

BYU’s Zach Wilson, a Heisman Trophy candidate, was 19-of-30 for 240 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the loss. He also rushed 10 times for 55 yards, while running back Tyler Allgeier ran 13 times for 106 yards and a score and Milne caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Linebacker Teddy Gallagher led a balanced CCU defensive attack with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss, as six different Chants totaled five tackles or more in the win.

Redshirt junior Jeffrey Gunter added six stops, 1.0 tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble, and a quarterback hurry, while cornerback Derick Bush had his best game of the season with five tackles, 1.0 sack, and one interception.

After both defenses stood tall on the first possession to force a punt, the Coastal offense started on its own six-yard line for their second offensive series of the game.

McCall opened the drive with back-to-back passes, one incomplete and one 14-yards to Kameron Brown before he handed it over to the running game where the trio of Marable, Shermari Jones, and Reese White combined to rush 13 times for 65 yards with Marable scampering in from six yards out to put the home team on the scoreboard first. However, the Chants missed the extra-point to put the score at 6-0 with 10 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The Cougars did not take long to answer, as the visitors in all white needed just four plays to go 76 yards in 1:15 with Allgeier capping the drive with a 42-yard touchdown run to put BYU in front for the first time at 7-6 with 13:50 to go in the second quarter.

Looking to answer the BYU score, the Chants used back-to-back double-digit plays to move the ball down to the Cougars’ 42-yard line before a fumble on the quarterback and running back exchange hit the teal turf and was recovered by the BYU defense.

With the ball near midfield, the “Black Swarm” defense forced a turnover on downs as BYU attempted back-to-back trick plays, including a flea-flicker on the fourth-and-one which was broken up by D’Jordan Strong to give the ball back to the offense.

Starting near midfield, the Coastal offense rebounded from the fumble on the last possession stringing together three first downs to set up a first-and-goal on the eight-yard line.

Following a sack by BYU and back-to-back timeouts, one by Coastal and the second by BYU, McCall rushed for six yards before being stopped at the half-yard line to set up a fourth-and-goal. White then barreled in from one-yard out to put the men in black back in front at 13-7 on a Massimo Biscardi PAT.

Again the quick-strike offense of BYU answered with another big-play, as Wilson found an open Milne who tip-toed down the visitor’s sideline for 41-yards and a score to put the visitors back in front by one at 14-13 with under two minutes left in the opening half.

Kicking off to the Cougars to start the second half, the Coastal defense was able to stop Wilson on a third-and-five to hold the visitors to a Jake Oldroyd 29-yard field goal to keep within one score at 17-13 with 12:28 to go in the third quarter.

After a Coastal punt on its first second-half possession, the Chants’ immediately got the ball back in great position as Gunter forced an Allgeier fumble that was recovered by Silas Kelly at the BYU 29-yard line.

However, the offense was only able to come away with three points, as three-straight rushes forced a 41-yard field goal from Biscardi to cut the BYU lead to one at 17-16 with 6:32 to go in the quarter.

On their next offensive possession, following a BYU punt, the Chants nickeled-and-dimed their way down the field, before a 20-yard pass from McCall to Brown over the middle set up a two-yard plunge up the middle by Marable to put the home team on top at 22-17 with 11:35 left to play in the contest.

Looking to go up by seven, Coastal went for two, yet saw the rush attempt on the two-point play fail to keep the CCU lead at five.

Coastal’s defense stepped up to the challenge and forced the BYU offense to punt over its next two offensive possessions before sealing the win with the stop at the goal line as time expired.

The Chanticleers (10-0, 7-0 Sun Belt) are slated to wrap up the regular-season schedule at Troy (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt), a rescheduled game from Nov. 14 that was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols at Troy.

Notes

  • Lee Corso on ESPN College GameDay was undefeated at 11-0 this season in his headgear picks before picking against the Chanticleers this week.
  • Saturday night’s win over No. 8 BYU is the highest-ever victory over an FBS nationally-ranked opponent.
  • The win is the second-ever over a top-25 nationally-ranked opponent with both wins coming this year having also won at then-No. 21 Louisiana on Oct. 14.
  • The 10 wins this season are the most in a single season for the Chanticleers in the program’s young FBS history.
  • The Chants’ 10-0 start is the best start by any football team in Sun Belt Conference history.
  • CCU’s 10-0 start is the second-best start in school history, as the Chants started 11-0 in 2014.
  • Pushed Coastal’s current winning streak to 10-straight games this season and 11 consecutive games dating back to last year.
  • CJ Marable’s first-quarter reception gives him 30-straight games with a reception, a new CCU record eclipsing Matt Hazel’s mark of 29 consecutive games from 2011-13.
  • With his 100-yard rushing game, CJ Marable has rushed for 100 yards in back-to-back games and nine times in his career at CCU.
  • With his two touchdowns in the game, CJ Marable has scored two touchdowns or more in six games this season and has scored in every game after not finding the end zone in the season opener at Kansas (Sept. 12).
  • Junior cornerback Derick Bush recorded his first career sack in the second quarter.
  • Jaivon Heiligh had his consecutive streak of games with at least one reception snapped at 23-straight games. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 12/06/2020-7AM)

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