Game recap: Georgia Southern loses wild Sun Belt opener 34-30 to Coastal Carolina

Georgia Southern lost its opener in the Sun Belt Conference 34-30 to Coastal Carolina in a wild back-and-forth game in Conway, S.C. See below for our recap.

Previously: Clay Helton played quarterback in college at Houston at Auburn. Since then, he has coached a lot of high-quality quarterbacks.

The first-year head coach at Georgia Southern has another one in Kyle Vantrease when the Eagles (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) visit the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4-0, 1-0 SBC) and their star quarterback Grayson McCall in a conference game at soldout Brooks Stadium (capacity 20,000) in Conway, S.C.

The game was rescheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+) because of the impact of Hurricane Ian.

Vantrease (sore shoulder) and McCall (ankle sprain) are expected to play in what could be wet, slippery and windy conditions. Both Helton and CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell have said this week that they anticipate their standouts will play.

Helton spoke highly of both quarterbacks on Monday. Vantrease, a sixth-year player in his first season at Georgia Southern, has executed the Eagles' new pass-friendly offese "really well in three of the four ballgames," Helton said — the lone exception in a 35-21 loss at UAB on Sept. 17.

"I know UAB, there were some throws he'd want back," Helton said. "I don't know how much better he could play in Lincoln, Nebraska in winning that game (45-42 on Sept. 10). I thought in this opening ballgame in a new system, putting 59 points on Morgan State on the board (a 59-7 win on Sept. 3) and really executing at an extremely high level, was very good.

"This last week, just veteran leadership all over," Helton continued, noting the 34-23 home win over Ball State on Sept. 24. "The decision-making, the timing, the accuracy that he distributed the ball with, I thought was excellent. He's grown within this system. I think he's one of the better quarterbacks in our league right now. We expect it from him. That's the reason he came here to be part of a system where he could really shine, and he's doing that. I'm so proud for him. As he excels, we excel as a team."

Coastal Carolina has excelled with their third-year starter McCall, a redshirt junior and the two-time reigning SBC Player of the Year. Coastal is on a 26-3 run since the start of the 2020 slate including 4-0 this season, tied for second with Georgia and behind only Alabama (30-2) during that span.

"It all starts with their quarterback," Helton said of McCall. "When you look at great football teams, it starts with the quarterback play. Obviously, Grayson is one of the best quarterbacks not only in our conference but in the country right now, playing at very, very high level, does not make mistakes, has the ability not only to show elite arm strength but also has the ability to run.

"You're talking about one of the better quarterbacks that are playing right now and one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the country," he added.

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Kyle Vantrease on the Sun Belt quarterbacks

Granted the quarterback is such an important position — a popular stance is it's the most important in sports — the Sun Belt Conference can boast of many standouts who are leading their teams.

Looking just at FBS passing leaders, six QBs already have thrown for at least 1,000 yards this season: Georgia Southern's Kyle Vantrease (seventh, 1,290 yards); Troy's Gunnar Watson (ninth, 1,249); Texas State's Layne Hatcher (T30th, 1,067); South Alabama's Carter Bradley (38th, 1,014); Appalachian State's Chase Brice (40th, 1,008); and Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall (41st, 1,001). McCall also is fifth in passer efficiency with a 191.21 rating.

Vantrease is a sixth-year player and former three-year starter at the University of Buffalo who transferred to Georgia Southern in January.

"It's a bunch of guys that have played a lot of football, that have proven to be successful," Vantrease said. "It's awesome to go out there and compete with those guys. I'm not really worried about what they're doing. I'm not focused on their stats or anything like that. I'm focused on the Georgia Southern Eagles and that's it. That's all I care about."

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6:53 p.m. | Quarterbacks ready to play

According to pregame show on the Georgia Southern Sports Network, standout quarterback Grayson McCall will play as expected despite an ankle sprain Sept. 22, but not WR Deon Fountain. The Chanticleers already are missing three running backs, but CJ Beasley stepped up big in the last game, a dominant win at Georgia State.

McCall's counterpart, Kyle Vantrease, is also going to play after playing through a sore right (throwing) shoulder in a victory Sept. 24 over Ball State.

6:30 p.m. | Using Quin Williams' skillset

During the Georgia Southern Sports Network pregame show, the broadcasters noted that Eagles redshirt senior Quin Williams (6-foot-3, 270 pounds) will be playing linebacker instead of defensive end tonight against the Chanticleers.

Williams is athletic and large, and he could be disruptive to Coastal Carolina's spread option offense run so effectively by standout quarterback Grayson McCall.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Live score: Georgia Southern battles Coastal Carolina in Sun Belt