In yet another game in which their opponent was favored, Coastal Carolina University football came away with a 31-23 win against Texas State University in their military appreciation game on Veteran’s Day.
The Chanticleers rocked camo Chanticleer logos on their helmets in lieu of military appreciation, winning by eight in a close game.
In the third game for the Chants since super senior redshirt quarterback Grayson McCall’s injury, redshirt freshman Ethan Vasko had a second straight and solid outing. He completed 17 of 27 attempts for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while adding an additional 21 yards on seven carries.
Senior Sage Hurteau described how the team she’s watching now is different from the beginning of the season.
“I’ve always loved watching them, no matter who is playing, but I think it’s more exciting now because it’s not Grayson and it’s someone new and it kind of shows that we can succeed without Grayson because he is graduating,” she said. “For me, I’m excited that our third string is doing really good and it makes it more enjoyable to watch now because it builds excitement for the future.”
Super senior running back Reese White carried 12 times for 41 yards and a touchdown. Super senior Sam Pinckney and redshirt sophomore Jared Brown led receivers with six catches each. Pinckney racked up 81 yards and a score and Brown tallied 53 yards.
Pinckney’s first catch of the contest broke an NCAA record for most consecutive games with a reception at 55 straight.
With nine minutes to go in the game, the Chants led 31-10. Texas State scored on an eight–yard rushing touchdown from redshirt junior quarterback Malik Hornsby with three and a half minutes remaining and then recovered the onside kick attempt. This led to another Hornsby touchdown run and a final score of 31-23 after a missed extra point, a score that was not indicative of how the game really went.
Defensively, The Chants locked down the Bobcats until there was about five game minutes left. The Bobcats offensive plan was heavily reliant on the run game, presumably due to the rainy conditions. On 48 attempts, the Bobcats rushed for 199 yards while passing for just 81 yards on 19 attempts.
Comparatively, the Chants rushed 44 times for 188 yards and passed for 159 yards on 28 attempts.
Despite the rainy conditions, many fans still enjoyed themselves at the win while also celebrating Veteran’s Day.
“The environment was great, the weather wasn’t that great but we still had a lot of students and fans come out to support which helped us pull through with the win,” junior Jake Ewe said. “It was a great game, we were honoring our veterans and paying our respect for what they have done for our country.”
