Oct. 7, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Opening Big South Play at Brooks Stadium: The Coastal Carolina University football squad will start its quest for the 2009 Big South Conference crown when it opens the league slate, hosting the VMI Keydets at Brooks Stadium. Tonight the Chants will honor its 2009 Sasser Hall of Fame class that was inducted last night: Amber Campbell (Women’s Track & Field), Steven Carter (Baseball), Joseph Ngwenya (Men’s Soccer) and Dr. Richard Ward (Honorary).
The Coaches: Coastal Carolina Head Coach David Bennett (Presbyterian, ‘84) is in his seventh season at Coastal Carolina with a 47-25 record and 110-42 overall in his 14th year as a head coach. Prior to Coastal Carolina in seven seasons at Catawba, he led the Indians to three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs, including a run into the national semifinal round in 2001.
VMI Head Coach Sparky Woods (Carson Newman, ’76) is in his second season as head coach with the Keydets with a 5-10 record and in his 11th season as a head coach overall, sporting a 68-54-5 mark.
History With VMI: The Chanticleers and Keydets have met in all six previous seasons, with Coastal holding a 4-2 advantage, including 2-1 at home. After dropping the first-ever meeting, the Chants won the next four before suffering their worst conference loss in history last year, losing to VMI 47-20 in Lexington.
Big South Conference Openers: In its brief six-year history in the Big South, Coastal Carolina is 4-2 in league openers. Of those, four of them have occurred at Brooks Stadium, with the Chanticleers sporting just a 2-2 mark. The Chants had dropped their first league game to Gardner-Webb at home during the 2003 season, won the next four and then lost last year’s league starter to then No. 20 Liberty, 43-38. However, Coastal and VMI have met three times on opening day for the Chants, with Coastal Carolina taking all three meetings.
Brown Earns League’s Weekly Defensive Honor: Linebacker E.J. Brown was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week for games played during Week 4 of the 2009 regular season.
Brown recorded a career-best five tackles in Coastal Carolina’s 28-7 win over North Carolina A&T, including a pair of solo stops, a half-sack for minus-9 yards and his first career interception. Brown’s 29-yard interception return in the second quarter set up the Chanticleers’ second score of the contest, one of two plays he made that ended A&T drives.
Making 300 A Yearly Ritual: Coastal Carolina rushed for 304 yards vs. North Carolina A&T Sept. 26, its first game over 300 rushing yards since gaining 302 against Towson last season. The Chanticleers have gained 300 yards on the ground 13 times in their history, tied with VMI for the most in Big South history, and are 13-0 in those games. Coastal Carolina has posted at least one 300-yard rushing game in every season since its inception in 2003.
O’Neal Busting Out: Junior running back Eric O’Neal rushed for a career-high 130 yards against North Carolina A&T Sept. 26.It was his second career 100-yard rushing game, and the most yards rushing by a Chanticleer since current San Diego Charger Mike Tolbert rushed for 244 yards against VMI on Oct. 27, 2007. His 23 carries tied the most by a Coastal Carolina rusher in Brooks Stadium, while his 130 rushing yards was the ninth-best single-game performance in school history. O’Neal needs 28 rushing yards to become the sixth Chanticleer and 25th Big South player with 1,000 in a career.
Defense Stepping Up on the Pass: Coastal Carolina, which led the Big South in pass defense efficiency from 2004-07, is atop the League in the category after the first month of the season. The Chanticleers have a pass efficiency rating of 102.00, which is currently the second-lowest in a single-season in the Big South. Coastal leads the League with eight interceptions, and has allowed just four touchdown passes this year.
Noman "Picking" Up the Family Tradition: Sophomore cornerback Josh Norman is proving that the history of interceptions follows through his family. Norman currently leads the Chanticleers with three interceptions on the season, leading the Big South and tying for sixth in the nation. His three inteceptions already ties for the seventh-best single-season mark in the program's brief history. Currently, Norman has five career picks, which ties for fifth all-time at Coastal and he is tracking older brother Marrio Norman (2004, 2006-08), who ranks second all-time for the Chants with 11 interceptions.
Steward Making the Stops: Linebacker Desmond Steward had a standout game at Towson, Sept. 19. The redshirt sophomore recorded a game-high 16 stops, including six solos and a 0.5 tackle for loss. The 16 tackles are the second-highest total for a game in Coastal Carolina history and the top individual performance in the Big South Conference this season.
Looking at the Record Books: Several Chanticleers are looking to continue their move up the Coastal Carolina record books this season. Redshirt-junior quarterback Zach MacDowall is currently second on the all-time charts in pass completions (199), passing yards (2,658), passing touchdowns (18) and total offense (2,956) and third in pass attempts (337).
Junior kicker Justin Durham is currently fifth in all-time scoring with 130 points. He is just four points behind current San Diego Charger Mike Tolbert in fourth at 134.
Defensively, senior defensive end Phillip Oboh is putting his stamp on the career list. He is currently second in career sacks with 14.5, adding two against North Carolina A&T to pass Maurice Simpkins (2003-05) at 14.0. He is also third in career tackles for loss at 24.0. He needs 2.0 sacks this season to reach Adrain Grady’s Coastal Carolina career record of 16.5 sacks. Redshirt-junior Dominique Davenport is seventh on the career tackles chart with 158 and fifth with 99 career solo tackles.
Going Long and Far: Coastal Carolina was not afraid to chew up the yardage en route to putting points on the scoreboard in 2008. Of the 45 scoring drives, 27 of them were 60 yards or more, while 27 of them were seven plays or longer. The most plays in a drive was 17 against Liberty, Oct. 4, 2008, with the longest drive also occurring against the Flames, a 91-yard march in the fourth quarter.
That same philosophy held true in the Chanticleers' home opener against Monmouth, Sept. 12. Coastal Carolina got four scores on the day, with all four going 70-plus yards and at least seven plays, with three of them 10 plays or more. For the year, they have nine of 12 scoring drives of 55 yards or more and eight that went at least six plays.
Last Time Out For the Chanticleers: The Coastal Carolina University football team used a solid rushing game to defeat a pesky North Carolina A&T squad 28-7 before a sold-out Brooks Stadium crowd on Sat., Sept. 26.
After battling through a scoreless first quarter, Coastal Carolina put 14 points on the board in the second quarter on a pair of Justin Durham field goals and a Jamie Childers touchdown run, capped off by a two-point conversion, for a 14-0 halftime advantage. North Carolina A&T finally got on the board in the third quarter, as Larry Raper accounted for all 60 yards on a two-play drive, with a 51-yard reception and a 9-yard touchdown run to get the game to 14-7 in the third. However, the Chanticleers scored 14 fourth-quarter points to put the contest away.
The Chants outgained North Carolina A&T 414-239, including rushing for a season-high 304 yards, the first time over 300 yards since the Towson contest in the fourth game of last season.
Running back Eric O'Neal had career highs of 23 carries for 130 yards, the ninth-best single game in school history. Fraser nearly made it a pair of 100-yard rushers but just missed with 16 carries for 98 yards and one score.
Last Meeting with the Keydets: The Coastal Carolina University football team gave up 28 unanswered points in the second half and fell at VMI, 47-20, Oct. 11 in a Big South Conference game.
Coastal Carolina and VMI exchanged scores throughout the first half with the Chanticleers earning a 20-19 halftime lead. Even with the lead, the momentum swung to the host Keydets side when, trailing 20-10, they blocked an extra point and Juan Thrasher picked it up and returned it for two points. VMI then scored with just over 35 seconds remaining in the half to trim the halftime advantage to just one.
VMI held on Coastal Carolina's first possession and was pinned back on its own 10. On the second play, Kyle Hughes hooked up with Zack Collins, who broke through the defense for a 90-yard touchdown, the second longest pass completion in school history, and a 26-20 lead. A Thrasher interception led to another VMI touchdown, as the Keydets scored on their third straight drive, a streak that would reach five consecutive touchdown drives to put the game away.
The Keydets dominated the statistics as well, posting 546 yards of total offense as compared to just 252 for the Chants, while controlling the ball for 35:18 of the clock. VMI, the top rushing team in the country, had 336 yards of rushing on the day on 59 carries and outgained Coastal Carolina through the air 210-151.
Coastal Carolina had two players rush for 24 yards each in Zach MacDowall and Eric O'Neal. Through the air, MacDowall was 13-for-25 for 141 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, with Marquel Willis catching four balls for 44 yards and one score.
VMI was paced by Tim Maypray, who rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, while Chaz Jones had 14 carries for 53 yards and two scores. Hughes was the most effective through the air, going 8-for-12 for 191 yards, two touchdowns and just one interception. Zack Collins had two catches for a game-high 96 yards and one touchdown.
The Magic Number is 200: The magic answer to the question for Coastal Carolina is 200, as the Chanticleers are 32-4 (.889) lifetime when rushing for 200 yards or more in a game. The only losses came in 2005’s finale at Charleston Southern and 2007’s losses to Georgia Southern, against Presbyterian and at Liberty. In 2008, the Chants were able to post four games with 200+ yards of rushing and came away with victories in all four contests. The most recent was the win over North Carolina A&T, Sept. 26, where Coastal Carolina put up 304 rushing yards. Currently Coastal is 2-0 in 2009 when posting 200 or more rushing yards.
Time To Prepare Is Time To Succeed For Bennett: For Head Coach David Bennett and his coaching staffs throughout their careers, they have shown the ability to prepare effectively when given more than just a week. In games where they have had more than 10 days to get ready against same or lower level opponents, Bennett's teams are 19-4 and outscore their opponents by a 724-318 margin, an average of 17.7 points per game more than their opponents.
I Love the Nightlife: Out of 72 games in its history, Coastal Carolina has played 38 in the night time hours. The Chanticleers are 25-13 in evening tilts, including going an even more impressive 17-7 at home.
Duran Starting To Feel His Way: Redshirt sophomore transfer David Duran showed what he brings to the team after transferring this fall from Michigan State. Duran had three catches for a team-high 82 yards in the win over Monmouth, Sept. 12. His 16-yard catch on 3rd-and-10 prolonged Coastal Carolina’s opening scoring drive, while his 47-yard reception got the ball to the Monmouth 5 on the first drive of the second half, setting up the Chants’ second touchdown of the game.
He then followed it up with six catches for 88 yards and a score at Towson. He is currently the Chants’ second-leading receiver at 10 catches for 183 yards and one touchdown.
Doing It on Both Sides of the Ball: Coastal Carolina rushed for 207 yards and passed for 203 in defeating Monmouth, 24-17, Sept. 12. It was the first time since Nov. 11, 2006 that the Chanticleers surpassed 200 yards in both categories. That day, Coastal Carolina rushed for 332 yards and passed for 306 in a 52-24 win at Gardner-Webb. Not to be outdone, the Chanticleer defense held Monmouth below 100 yards rushing and passing, the sixth time in school history Coastal Carolina held its opponent under the century mark in both rushing and passing in the same game.
Four in the Show: With just three graduating classes in two years, the Chanticleers have shown they have some quality talent, with four players currently on National Football League rosters. Quarterback Tyler Thigpen was the first-ever draft pick out of the Big South Conference by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007, and started 11 games for the Kansas City Chiefs last season before being traded to the Miami Dolphins earlier this year. Defensive back Quinton Teal is starting his third year with the Carolina Panthers after playing in 28 games his first two years in Charlotte. Wide receiver Jerome Simpson was a second-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2008 NFL Draft while fullback Mike Tolbert was a 2008 free agent signee of the San Diego Chargers and started seven of his 13 games played in his rookie season.
Record After a Loss: Coastal Carolina has lost just 25 times in its history. Coming off the 22 in-season losses (not including three season-ending losses), the Chanticleers have gone 17-5 in the games following those losses and only had one three-game losing streak in its brief history.
Winning When Scoring First: Coaches say a good start is essential and the Chanticleers have proven that in their history. Coastal Carolina has been a stellar team when scoring first, holding a 30-4 (.882) mark in six-plus seasons of play.
When Its Natural: Coastal Carolina has played 60 of its 72 games in its history on natural grass. The Chanticleers are 43-17 (.717) on natural grass, including 27-10 (.730) at home. Coastal Carolina has gone just 4-8 on the fake stuff in its six-plus years of play. In 2008, the Chants played 11 of their 12 games on natural grass, with the only exception in Week Three as Coastal Carolina got a 26-7 victory on Field Turf at Monmouth.
This season, there will be four games on artificial surfaces, with Kent State, Towson, Liberty and Stony Brook all playing on FieldTurf. The Chants dropped their first two games on the artificial surface, losing the opener at Kent State, 18-0, and last week's 21-17 heartbreaker at Towson.
Winning at Halftime: The Chanticleers are impressive when leading at the half with a 35-7 (.833) mark. Coastal Carolina is 19-3 at home when taking a lead into the intermission, while posting a 16-4 mark when leading at the half on the road. The only losses have occurred in 2003 at Liberty, 2005’s double-overtime thriller at Charleston Southern, 2007’s losses at Furman and in overtime to Presbyterian, last year’s home opener to Colgate and last year’s game at VMI.
A Good Road Squad: The Chants have proven to be a good road squad in their first six seasons of play. Overall, Coastal Carolina has a 20-14 road mark. Last year, Coastal Carolina was an impressive 4-2 on the road.
The Scoreless Streak Ended: In its brief history of 72 games, the Chanticleers have been shutout just twice, suffering their first shutout in history in last year's season finale, losing at home to Charleston Southern, 24-0, followed by the 18-0 loss at Kent State to open the 2009 season. Prior to that, Coastal Carolina's lowest single game point total was in 2005 at Appalachian State, with just a lone field goal.
Coastal Carolina snapped its 11-quarter scoreless streak with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Zach MacDowall to Chris Presley early in the second quarter against Monmouth, Sept. 12.
Stadium Expansion: Sept. 2, 2006 marked the first game with the new seating capacity of Coastal Carolina University's Brooks Stadium. The school added 914 seats to the facility to bring seating capacity up to 7,322 for the 2006 season. Coastal Carolina is currently building the new Adkins Fieldhouse, which will have offices and meeting rooms for the football program, athletic administration offices, football locker room and equipment room and a weight room for the entire Athletic Department. In addition, there will be an estimated 1,600 seats in front of the new building, bringing the capacity of Brooks Stadium to almost 9,000.
Coaching Staff Continuity: The Coastal Carolina football coaching staff is a rarity in the world of college football. In the eight years as a program, the coaching staff has not had a single full-time coach leave the program and has added two over the years in the process of building to a full staff, with the addition of Gary Smallen (tight ends) in 2006 and Grant Cain (outside linebackers) in 2007. Four of them (Head Coach David Bennett, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Kevin Brown, Defensive Coordinator Curtis Walker and Offensive Line Coach Jamie Snider) have been together for the last 12 years dating back to their time at Division II Catawba.
Bennett Hits The Century Mark: Head Coach David Bennett isn’t one to keep an eye on his statistics, but he just reached a major coaching milestone. With the 42-35 win against VMI, Oct. 27, 2007, Bennett picked up his membership in the illustrious career 100-win club. For his 12-plus year career, he is now 110-42 (.724) as a head coach.
Among The National Leaders in Attendance: Coastal Carolina has been one of the standouts in I-AA in attendance based on capacity in its first six seasons. Ranking in the top seven in the nation in each of the first two years, the Chanticleers set a new Brooks Stadium record in the home opening win over No. 1 James Madison, packing 8,533 fans into a stadium that seats 6,408. Coastal finished the season as the top I-AA team in attendance based on capacity at 114.3 percent.
The Chants continued that tradition in 2006, including setting a new Brooks Stadium record with 9,287 fans in the home win over South Carolina State, Sept. 23. The Chanticleers then surpassed it with 10,013 fans in the home win over then No. 3 Furman. The Chanticleers had 8,169 fans in the first contest at Elon and ranked fourth in I-AA in attendance based on percentage of capacity at 112.52 percent. In 2007, Coastal Carolina ranked 12th in the nation, again averaging over capacity at 102.65 percent in six games played. Last season, the Chants were 15th nationally at 92.07 percent.
This season, Coastal has averaged a capacity of 96.86 percent for its first two games, placing it 14th in the nation in attendance based on capacity. This includes a sellout Sept. 26 when the Chants hosted North Carolina A&T.
This Week's Injury Report: On this week's injury report for the game against VMI, Jeremy Height (ankle) and Donnie Owens (Illness) are questionable, Trae Long(hamstring) is doubtful and Josh Thomason (shoulder) is out. Out for the season are Myron Rogers (knee), Raymond Emmerling (knee), Alex Wolfe (shoulder) and Robert Morris (knee).
Racking Up the Travel Miles and Seeing New Land: The Chanticleers will play six of their 11 games this season away from home. Of the six games, three will be played in a new state for the squad -- Kent State (Ohio), Towson (Maryland) and Stony Brook (New York). In the six road games, Coastal Carolina will have traveled more than 5,000 combined miles in its six round trips, with the longest the trip to new Big South foe Stony Brook at 1,466 miles. By trip, the breakdown is Kent State 1,300 miles; Towson - 966; Stony Brook - 1,466; Liberty - 604; Clemson - 524; and Charleston Southern - 200 miles.
Presley Making an Impact... and A New Record: Redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Presley made his first collegiate reception a memorable one, grabbing a streak route from Zach MacDowall for a 50-yard touchdown for the Chanticleers. He is the first Chanticleer ever to achieve that milestone. The score also snapped Coastal Carolina’s 11-quarter scoreless streak and tied the game at seven.
Fraser Getting the Job Done: Fullback Tommy Fraser was instrumental in the win over Monmouth, Sept. 12. Fraser had career highs of 14 carries for 74 yards, including a pair of key third-down conversions on the final drive that allowed Coastal Carolina to run out the clock. To put the stats in perspective, Fraser had a total of 24 carries and 81 yards his junior season in 2007 and previous career bests of eight rushes and 35 yards against Savannah State in 2006.
Returning This Season: The Chanticleers return 53 letterwinners and 21 starters (eight offense, eight defense, five special teams) to the squad this year. Of the returners, one significant group could be the offensive line as four of the five starters on the line, along with two other significant players from last season, has returned for the 2009 campaign.
Among the newcomers, 17 Chanticleers saw their first collegiate action at Kent State. That amounted to 27.9 percent (17 of 61) of the Chants that played against the Golden Flashes.
Non-Conference Familiar Faces: In its non-conference action this year, Coastal Carolina will play return games with three familiar foes, continuing tonight with North Carolina A&T. The other return games on this year's slate are Monmouth (home) and Towson (away). The two new opponents on the Coastal Carolina schedule are both FBS schools -- Kent State, who the Chants played in the opener, and Clemson.
Coastal Carolina Picked Third in Preseason Poll: Coastal Carolina was picked to finish third in the 2009 Big South Conference Preseason Poll, announced at the League's annual Media Day in Charlotte, N.C. After tying for fifth in the 2008 season, Coastal Carolina was picked to finish third behind two-time defending champion Liberty and second-year associate member Stony Brook. The Chanticleers received one first-place vote and 83 points overall, following the Flames (10 first place votes, 109 points) and Seawolves (4 votes, 87 points). Gardner-Webb followed in fourth with one first place vote and 77 points, with Charleston Southern (1 vote, 56 points) and VMI (39 points) rounding out the poll. Presbyterian will count towards the league standings but is not eligible for the conference crown until 2011 as the Blue Hose continue their transition from Division II.
Four Chanticleers Earn Preseason All-Big South Honors: The Chanticleers had four players honored on the Preseason All-Big South team, with redshirt junior Zach MacDowall and senior offensive lineman Ryan Boehm selected on the offense, senior defensive end Phillip Oboh picked on the defense and punter Ben Erdman honored on the special teams. Their 2008 accomplishments are below.
Zach MacDowall (R-Jr, QB): Played in 11 games, earning the start in nine of them, to garner his first collegiate letter... Was 157-for-256 for 2,064 yards, 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions through the air... Also ran the ball 80 times for 238 yards and five scores... Ranked second in the Big South Conference in passing yardage at 187.6 yards per game and passing efficiency with a 144.99 rating... Set a school record with 382 yards passing against Liberty, going 24-for-44 with two touchdowns and two interceptions... Had two 300-plus yard passing games, with the other a 22-for-33 for 306 yards, two touchdowns and no picks versus Stony Brook... Named Big South Offensive Player of the Week twice during the season... Picked up his first weekly award after going 17-for-26 for 233 yards and one touchdown in the road win at Monmouth... Followed it up the next week in a home win over Towson wth 197 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to earn his second award... Rushed for a season-high 80 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries against Stony Brook... Threw at least one touchdown pass in nine of 11 games and scored a rushing touchdown in five of them.
Ryan Boehm (Sr., OL): Started all 12 games on the offensive line, splitting time between guard and center due to injuries on the line... Graded out as Coastal Carolina's second-best offensive lineman on the year... Had one tackle at VMI.
Phillip Oboh (Sr., DE): Started six of the 12 games he played in, earning his third letter... Earned First Team All-Big South honors after posting 33 solo tackles, 53 total tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss for 37 yards, 5.0 sacks for 31 yards, one forced fumble and one blocked kick... Was fourth on the team and 36th in the Big South in total tackles, while ranking fifth in the league in sacks and ninth in tackles for loss... Posted a season-best eight tackles, including four solos, 3.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks, in the road win at North Carolina A&T... Had five solo tackles, including 2.0 sacks, in the victory at Presbyterian... Had three tackles, with 1.5 tackles for loss, and a blocked kick in the win over Towson... Earned seven tackles against Liberty and six against Stony Brook... Recorded at least two tackles in all 12 games and five tackles or more in six of them... 2008 Preseason All-Big South selection at defensive end.
Ben Erdman (Jr., P): Was Coastal Carolina's punter in all 12 games, garnering his second letter... Punted 48 times for an average of 38.0 yards per punt, leading the Big South Conference and earning him First Team All-Big South honors... Earned Big South Special Teams Player of the Week after he was a key part in the Chanticleers' victory at Gardner-Webb... Averaged 40.3 yards per kick,including a 48-yarder, and pinned the Bulldogs inside the 20 three times and allowed only one punt return on the day... Had a season-long 54-yard boot at Penn State, part of his career-best single game 43.0 yard average in eight punts... Pinned opponents inside their 20 on 13 occasions.
Back-To-Back-To-Back: The Chanticleers were the first Big South school to capture three league titles in the brief history of the conference. Gardner-Webb won the first two championships, while Coastal Carolina won the 2004 crown, shared the 2005 title with Charleston Southern and won the 2006 title outright with a 4-0 mark.
Weekly Big South Teleconference: Each Tuesday during the 2009 season, all seven Big South head coaches will participate in a teleconference call, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. Coastal Carolina Head Coach David Bennett is on from 11:20-11:30 a.m. each Tuesday. Each call will be recorded and available for playback beginning Tuesday afternoons on the Conference’s website, www.Big SouthSports.com. THIS CALL IS OPEN TO MEDIA ONLY. If you would like information to tune in live and ask questions, please contact either John Martin (jamartin@coastal.edu) or Mark Simpson (marks@bigsouth.org) for the dial-in phone number and code.
Brooks Stadium Openers Are Good: Coastal Carolina has had some great, and dramatic, wins in its home openers in the first six years, going 5-2 overall. In the inaugural season, the Chants scored with seven seconds to play to win their first ever game, 21-14 over Newberry. The 2004 home opener was a 31-24 victory over Davidson, but the one in 2005 was a milestone win for the young program. Coastal Carolina hosted defending champion and then No. 1 James Madison, where quarterback Tyler Thigpen connected with wide receiver Perry Parks in the back of the end zone for a touchdown with 30 seconds to go, propelling Coastal Carolina to a 31-27 win over the Dukes. The only losses in a home opener occurred in 2006, as the Chants dropped a heartbreaking 23-20 decision to the Elon Phoenix, and last year's gut-wrenching 23-18 loss on the final play to Colgate. This year, the Chants posted a 24-17 win over Monmouth. All seven of those games have been decided by seven points or less.
Coastal Carolina Football On TV: Coastal Carolina's football team has a pair of television appearances slated for the 2009 campaign. The Chanticleers will make their first televised appearance on Oct. 17 on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network when they travel to two-time defending champion Liberty. Coastal Carolina will also be on the tube when it heads to New York for their first game at Stony Brook, Oct. 24. Coastal Carolina is a solid 14-7 in television appearances all-time, but just 6-5 on the road.
The Playoff System Opens Up: In 2010, the NCAA Football Division I Championships will expand from 16 to 20 teams, with the Big South Conference (Coastal Carolina's league) and the Northeast Conference slated to get automatic bids for their champions. For the next two years (2008 and 2009), a guaranteed at-large position shall be awarded in which a conference champion team representing a non-automatic qualifying conference meets all of the following conditions:
1). Team wins a minimum of eight (8) Division I games during the season;
2). Team wins a minimum of two (2) non-conference games against Division I teams representing a conference that has earned an automatic qualifying bid (AQ) in that year; and
3). Team finishes the season ranked 16th or higher in an average of the last regular season media, coaches and/or computer polls (which will be determined by the committee on an annual basis).
This criteria is not intended to be a permanent solution for interested and eligible conferences without an AQ. Rather, the criteria should only be used to bridge the time between such conferences applying for an AQ and the time need to formally approve and fund necessary bracket expansion – not more than two years. The committee believes it important to continuing adhering to Cabinet policy limiting the number of AQ conferences to not more than 50% of the championship bracket.
Stadium Expansion: Sept. 2, 2006 marked the first game with the new seating capacity of Coastal Carolina University's Brooks Stadium. The school added 914 seats to the facility to bring seating capacity up to 7,322 for the 2006 season. Coastal Carolina is currently building the new Adkins Fieldhouse, which will have offices and meeting rooms for the football program, athletic administration offices, football locker room and equipment room and a weight room for the entire Athletic Department. In addition, there will be an estimated 1,600 seats in front of the new building, bringing the capacity of Brooks Stadium to almost 9,000.
It Was The First (But Not the Last) Time: Coastal Carolina made its first appearance in the Division I Football Championship (formerly known as the I-AA playoffs) in its brief five-year history when it took on eventual two-time National Champion Appalachian State in the opening round in 2006. This was the first time that a Big South Conference school earned a berth in the postseason and only the second school from a non-automatic bid conference to earn a berth (Cal Poly - 2005) in the last 10 years.
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