Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Coastal Carolina season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
2020 Record: 11-1 overall, 8-0 in Sun Belt
Head Coach: Jamey Chadwell, 4th year, 19-17
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 12
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 120
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 96
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– The 2019 Coastal Carolina offense was okay. It had some explosive moments, it was almost perfectly balanced, and it was good enough to put up some strong numbers. The 2020 offense averaged well over a yard more per play and ended up cranking out over 400 yards eight times. It averaged 450 yards and 37 points per game, and now almost everyone is back.
– Leading rusher CJ Marable is gone. That’s it. All the other parts return, including third-leading rusher Reese White – who ran for 478 yards and six scores – and 220-pound senior Shermari Jones. They have a deep and talented line to work behind with depth and options to go along with the experienced starters. Guards Trey Carter and Willie Lampkin are the best of the bunch – the running game inside will work.
– Grayson McCall turned into a superstar. In his first year the young quarterback ran the quick-paced offense to near perfection and efficiency, and now he knows what he’s doing. The backup situation is a fight with Fred Payton transferring to Mercer, but Bryce Carpenter is a veteran with enough time logged in to be fine.
The receiving corps is loaded. 6-2, 190-pound senior Jaivon Heiligh led the way with 65 catches for 998 yards and ten scores, tight end Isaiah Likely averaged over 20 yards per catch with five scores, and 6-3, 220-pound senior Kameron Brown adds even more size to the mix.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The offense was so good that the defense got pushed out of the spotlight a bit too much. It was great at taking the ball away, was solid against the run, and it ended up allowing just 352 yards and 20 points per game. Star end Tarron Jackson is gone to the Philadelphia Eagles, but everyone else is back.
– The linebacking corps is loaded with super-seniors and big-time tacklers. It’s a good-sized group with 230-pounders Silas Kelly and Teddy Gallagher combining for 156 tackles, and 5-11, 195-pound hybrid Enock Makonzo is back a the Spur after tying Gallagher for second on the team with 76 tackles.
Jackson might be gone on the line, but 6-4, 260-pound senior Jeffrey Gunter made 6.5 sacks on the outside, and 6-2, 280-pound CJ Brewer came up with 6.5 on the interior. There’s bulk to work around in the massive combination of 335-pound Jerrod Clark and 320-pound Travis Geiger on the nose.
– All-Sun Belt star D’Jordan Strong is back at one corner after coming up with a team-high five picks, Alex Spillum is back at safety after finishing fourth on the team with 60 tackles with four picks, and the rest of the secondary is good enough to make this one of the biggest strengths on a team full of strength.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Offensive Player
QB Grayson McCall, Soph.
Well that went well. McCall was a decent recruit for the program in 2019 and saw a little bit of time, and then he took over the gig going into 2020 and … kaboom.
He hit 69% of his passes for 2,488 yards and 26 touchdowns with three picks, and he was second on the team with 569 rushing yards with seven scores. The 6-3, 200-pounder has good size, a live arm, and he showed he’s a perfect fit for the attack.
2. WR Jaivon Heiligh, Sr.
3. TE Isaiah Likely, Sr.
4. OG Willie Lampkin, Soph.
5. OG Trey Carter, Sr.
Related
Coastal Carolina Football Schedule 2021
Best Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Defensive Player
DT CJ Brewer, Sr.
Several Chanticleers could be considered the Best Defensive Player, but all-star defensive tackles are worth just a wee bit more – they’re tough to find. Brewer isn’t massive, but the 6-2, 280-pounder can more than hold his own while also being an active playmaker in the backfield. He came up with 60 tackles with 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss – expect more of the same.
2. LB Silas Kelly, Sr.
3. CB D’Jordan Strong, Sr.
4. DE Jeffrey Gunter, Sr.
5. LB Teddy Gallagher, Sr.
Top Incoming Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Transfer
DE Emmanuel Johnson, Soph.
No one’s expecting anyone to step in and be another Tarron Jackson at defensive end, and Coastal Carolina has several options to work on the other side of Jeffrey Gunter, but landing the 6-6, 265-pound Johnson from Georgia Tech is a big help for the depth. The Chanticleers got a big prospect for the next few years.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Biggest Key: Offense
Always maintain control of the clock, and do that by owning third downs on a consistent basis.
The Chanticleers were amazing in the time of possession battle – keeping the ball for almost 34 minutes per game – but there were a few issues when the O wasn’t able to keep things moving.
There weren’t any real concerns in the 23-6 win over South Alabama, but the offense struggled on third downs, didn’t win the clock battle, and it wasn’t a bigger blowout.
There were problems controlling the clock early against Appalachian State, but the team dominated the fourth quarter in the 34-23 win – even though the O only had the ball for about 26 minutes – and most of all, there were issues in the bowl loss to Liberty.
Coastal Carolina centered a season-low 27% of third downs, and after doing a great job of owning the fourth quarter all year – it never had the ball for fewer than eight minutes against any FBS team – it only had it for 5:31 of the fourth in the lone loss of the season.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Biggest Key: Defense
The run defense has to be stronger against the big boys. There weren’t any problems against most teams, but the D allowed over six yards per carry against BYU, got hit for almost eight yards per pop in the battle with Louisiana, and it gave up over 200 yards against Appalachian State.
The D gave up a season-high 255 rushing yards Liberty in the bowl loss. When the run defense was playing well, everything else flowed from there.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Key Player To A Successful Season
RB Shermari Jones, Sr.
The Chanticleers have running back options to replace CJ Marable, but Reese White is more of a smallish, quick back to go along with the 6-1, 220-pound size of Jones.
The former JUCO transfer has the speed to go along with the size – he was used on kick returners last year – and ran for almost 400 yards with three scores. If he can turn into a bit more of a workhorse, there aren’t any real weaknesses on the offense.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Appalachian State, Oct. 20
Now the bar is set higher. A winning season has to be a given, a bowl appearance is obvious, and anything less but a conference championship isn’t going to do after what the program showed what it could do last year. That probably doesn’t happen without a win over Appalachian State.
The Chanticleers are 1-3 against the Mountaineers, finally breaking through last year. On the plus side, Coastal Carolina gets a week off to prepare and Appalachian State will be coming off a trip to Louisiana.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
2020 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Fun Stats
– Sacks: Coastal Carolina 34 for 220 yards – Opponents 14 for 63 yards
– Time of Possession: Coastal Carolina 33:50 – Opponents 26:10
– 4th Quarter Scoring: Coastal Carolina 134 – Opponents 69
NEXT: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Just how crazy do we want to get here?
It’s not like Coastal Carolina’s schedule got that much harder than the 2020 version. Most teams lose some of the easier games with a big-time Power Five program, but the Chanticleers get Kansas … again. They beat the Jayhawks the last two years, and it’s a home game in Conway.
Going to Buffalo isn’t that rough this year – especially since the game is in September and not November – and missing Louisiana in Sun Belt play is massive.
The Georgia State game is at home, and getting Troy at home matters, but …
Set The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Regular Season Win Total At … 9.5
At Appalachian State, at Georgia Southern, at Arkansas State. Is it time to just assume Coastal Carolina is going to roll through everyone else – including Kansas – and win at least two of those big conference road games?
Yup.
20 starters are back – not including the kickers, who return, too – and shockingly, head coach Jamey Chadwell hasn’t been snapped up.
(You’d think Kansas might have backed up the truck after seeing up close and personal what Chadwell could do.)
So yeah, go ahead and set the bar high and assume this will all keep on going.
Fear the Chanticleers? Absolutely.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Schedule Analysis
