The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team has experienced early season highs and lows, flashing their strong defense but struggling to find a root in consistency.
After opening the season with a loss to the Virginia Cavaliers, the Chants bounced back in week two shutting out the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 13-0.
This evened their record to 1-1, giving hope for the upcoming game against East Carolina University.
The win against the Buccaneers was not without turbulence. Quarterback M.J. Morris threw three interceptions that stalled drives and gave the Buccaneers a sense of hope, but Coastal’s defense stood strong. Linebacker Shane Bruce grabbed a pickup just before halftime, where defensive back Myles Woods and cornerback Lionell Walker both came up with key breakups to stall Charleston Southern drives.
Sophomore quarterback Tad Hudson entered in the fourth quarter and steadied the offense, capping a drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Kicker Kian Afrookhteh added a pair of field goals to put the game out of reach.
“If our offense isn’t doing the best then the other team can’t win until they score,” said Senior Safety Dre Pinckney, “and that’s what we did tonight.”
But a week later, The Chants were shut out 38-0 by the East Carolina Pirates, suffering their first scoreless game since 2008.
Coastal’s defense again showed early fight.
Cornerback Ja’marion Wayne delivered a big hit to force a punt and broke up two deep passes, while the unit also forced a fumble and blocked a field goal. The Chanticleers also forced a fumble and blocked a field goal, but the offense couldn’t take the advantage.
Hudson extended plays and connected on several throws, but penalties, sacks, and turnovers erased Coastal’s best chances.
He finished with five turnovers, and the Chanticleers have now coughed it up eight times in the past two games.
“We do film, and we preach turnovers lose games,” Beck said. “After last week we talked about how turnovers hurt not only the offense but put the defense in an even worse position, and we came out and did worse tonight.”
The second half of the game unraveled as the Pirates pulled off four touchdowns after halftime.
“We know as a defense that it’s up to us to win the game even when the offense is having rough nights like this,” Bruce said. “Obviously towards the end of the night we didn’t do that, and we just have to be better.”
Hudson finished with five turnovers, and the Chants have now coughed it up eight times in their last two games.
With the loss, Coastal fell to 1-2 leading into their Sun Belt Conference opener on the road against South Alabama. They look to clean up turnovers and find a balance between their sturdy defense and shaky offense.
