The Chanticleers opened their season Sept. 2 at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with a 27-13 loss in their first ever game against the two teams.
Senior quarterback Grayson McCall completed 27 out of 42 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown. Going into Saturday night, McCall had thrown eight interceptions in his first three seasons. With two interceptions and a fumble at UCLA, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year had the most turnovers in a single game in his career.
“I thought Grayson played well,” Head football coach Tim Beck said. “If you talk to him, he has really high standards and expectations of himself. I think he missed some throws he wished he had back but overall he played tough, he hung in there. He gave us opportunities to win the game, we just needed to connect on a few more and we may have had different results.”
McCall was also sacked four times, leading to questions about his offensive line from some spectators including “Chant Show” co-host Josh Whitlow.
“Their defensive line completely dominated our line the entire game. We couldn’t get any push to run the ball,” Whitlow said, who attended the game.
Senior wide receiver Sam Pinckney showed signs of promise with nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown.
“Sam Pinckney did a really good job winning jump balls against four and five-star corners, I was really impressed with him,” Whitlow said.
The rushing game struggled, with the Chanticleers averaging only 1.6 yards per carry, running the ball 34 times for just 56 yards.
Illinois State University transfer and super senior safety Clayton Isbell led the way defensively for the Chants with three interceptions and nine total tackles, including five solos. Two of these interceptions occurred in the end zone, both of which put a stop to drives that could have resulted in UCLA sscoring.
Isbell was given Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance.
“I thought he had a really good game, one of the better defensive performances for a first-year guy in a program with a first-year defense, he played really really well,” Beck said.
Sophomore kicker Liam Gray attempted four field goals, hitting from 41 and 22 but missing from 33 and 55.
The Chanticleers will now turn their focus onto their three game home stretch against Jacksonville State University, Duquesne University and Georgia State University.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Beck said. “I’m excited to get here in front of our home crowd and let them go crazy here at Brooks [Stadium].”
