Chanticleers Travel to Gardner-Webb - Oct. 30 - 1:30 pm
Oct. 27, 2010
Coastal Carolina at Gardner-Webb
Spangler Stadium - Boiling Springs, N.C.
Oct. 30, 2010 - 1:30 pm Kickoff
Coastal Carolina Football Notes (at Gardner-Webb) in PDF Format 
Series Information
This is the eighth meeting between Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb with GWU being one of four teams CCU has played in each of its first seven years (joining VMI, Liberty and Charleston Southern). Coastal Carolina owns a 6-1 advantage in the series, including a 3-0 mark in Boiling Springs. The Chants dropped the first meeting between the teams, 38-17, but has won each of the last six. Except for a 52-24 Coastal win at Gardner-Webb in 2006, the last five wins have not come easy. Coastal needed overtime in 2005 and none of the wins -- except 2006 -- have been by more than five points.
2003 -- Gardner-Webb spoiled Coastal first-ever Big South game as Chris Foster rushed for 123 yards to lead the Bulldogs to a 38-17 decision.
2004 -- Coastal jumped out to a 17-0 lead and cruised to the 31-19 decision. Patrick Hall rushed for 103 yards and Ren McKinnon added 75.
2005 -- Gardner-Webb took a three-point lead with 27 seconds left, but Coastal went 41 yards in five plays and Josh Hoke hit a 45-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime. CCU's Anthony Steele picked off a pass in OT and Hoke hit a 25 yard field goal for the 34-31 overtime win.
2006 -- Coastal scored 14 points in the first, second and fourth quarters, adding 10 in the third, en route to the 52-24 win and clinching at least a share of its third straight conference title. Tyler Thigpen completed 22-of-27 passes for 306 yards and rushed for 119 yards on 10 carries.
2007 -- Down 14-3 in the third quarter, Jerome Simpson caught TD passes of 39 and six yards to lift the Chants to a 17-14 win. Mike Tolbert rushed for 100 yard on 16 attempts.
2008 -- Zach MacDowall threw for 292 yards and three scores and James Pallassino sealed the win -- capping a 4:50 drive -- with a 36-yard field goal with 47 ticks left for the 23-18 win.
2009 -- Josh Norman picked off three passes, MacDowall set a school record with 25 completions and the Chants scored nine unanswered in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner with 4:17 left, to win 26-21.
Date Opponent CCU Result CCU Opp.
10-04-03 Gardner-Webb L 17 38
10-30-04 at Gardner-Webb W 31 19
10-15-05 Gardner-Webb W (OT) 34 31
11-11-06 at Gardner-Webb W 52 24
11-10-07 Gardner-Webb W 17 14
11-08-08 at Gardner-Webb W 23 18
11-07-09 Gardner-Webb W 26 21
Isn't That Special
• Coastal now leads all of NCAA Division I (FCS and FBS) in kick return yardage defense, allowing just 13.91 yards per kick return. Coastal Carolina only allowed Stony Brook to 47 yards on its four kick returns to become the nation's leader.
• Niccolo Mastromatteo returned three kicks for 99 yards and three punts for 33 yards versus Stony Brook ... He had a 53-yard kick return, marking the fourth-longest in school history ... Also had a 28-yarder to the CCU 45 to start the second half, leading to an eventual CCU TD drive ... He had long punt returns of 21 and 12 yards ... The 21-yard return gave CCU the ball on the SBU 29, leading to Coastal's first TD ... The 99 KOR yards ranks ninth for single-game in the CCU record book ... Also, the 33.0 average yards per return for a single-game ranks sixth in the CCU record book ... His 11.0 average yards per punt return for a single-game ranks ninth in the CCU record book.
• Jeremy Height added a 51-yard kick return to set-up Coastal's final score, marking the fifth-longest in school's history.
Quarterback: The Situation and The Protection
• Zach MacDowall left the Stony Brook game with a concussion in the middle of the third quarter ... He will likely play this Saturday at Gardner-Webb as he practiced in full gear Tuesday ... His officialy status will be determined later in the week.
• Quarterback Aramis Hillary, who spelled MacDowall, threw his first career touchdown, a 24-yard completion to Marquel Willis versus Stony Brook ... Hillary added a one-yard rushing TD, his second of the season ... However, he "banged up" his elbow on the play, but went through practice as usual Tuesday and is expected to be the signal caller if MacDowall were to be sidelined.
• For the second time in as many games -- and the third time this season, Coastal's offensive line did not allow a sack (also did not allow a sack at West Virginia) ... Coastal has only allowed four sacks this season, allowing no more than one in any one game ... The Chants rank sixth in the nation, allowing just 0.57 sacks per game ... Last year, Coastal Carolina allowed 25 sacks -- 2.18 per game --to rank 73rd in the NCAA and allowed 25 -- 2.08 avg -- in 2008 (69th).
Bad Start --Good Finish
Much like the Richmond game earlier this season, where Coastal was down 20-0 allowed 255 yards of total offense early, the Chanticleers faced a similar situation versus Stony Brook. Down 31-0 to the Seawolves and allowing 238 yards of offense with 9:50 left in the second quarter, Coastal's defense only allowed seven points and 81 yards of offense the rest of the way (10 possessions), with six three-and-outs and no drive exceeding eight plays or 30 yards. Stony Brook's only score came from six yards out after Coastal went for it on fourth down with just under five minutes to play. On the flip side, Coastal's offense only managed 108 yards and a TD in the first half only to start the second half with back-to-back touchdowns and gaining 147 in the first two drives. At Richmond in the second half, Coastal's defense turned up the intensity. The Spiders only managed 90 yard of total offense in the second half, converting just 1-of-6 on third downs. More impressively, Coastal only allowed 19 offensive plays for 20 yards over Richmond's first six drives of the second half before allowing a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that sealed the game.
O'Neal Finding Stride
Eric O'Neal has put together six impressive games since gaining just 33 yards on 15 carries (2.2 avg.) in the season opener at West Virginia. Since then (versus FCS opponents), O'Neal is averaging 5.4 yards per carry this season (83 att. for 447 yards).
Opponent Att Yds TD Long Avg.
• at Towson 19 69 2 15 3.6
• Georgia Southern 11 65 1 30 5.9
• Delaware State 11 77 0 38 7.0
• at Richmond 16 97 1 39 6.1
• at Presbyterian 14 68 0 15 4.8
• Stony Brook 12 71 0 40 5.9
Getting It Done
In each of the last two weeks, no Chanticleer defender has been as productive as Dexter Holman. The junior defensive tackle has a team-best 16 tackles over the last two games, including seven at Presbyterian and a team-high nine versus Stony Brook, which is also a career high. Holman now ranks fourth on the team in tackles with 38. Holman only had 33 career stops in his first two years combined (10 as a frosh and 23 as a soph).
Lucky #13
True freshman Aaron Jones, who started the season wearing #28, moved to #13 as his playing time increased, namely being on the special teams with fellow #28 and senior Carlton Mitchell. Jones, thanks to a career-long run of 26 yards earlier in the season, Jones is averaging over 10 yards per carry on his four attempt. However, his average was hurt versus Stony Brook, but for the greater good, scoring his career touchdown, a one-yard plunge into the endzone.
Andrae is Giant
With just 25 tackles in his freshman season and playing with preseason All-Big South linebackers Desmond Steward and Chris Walls, Andrae Jacobs was not the odds-on favorite to be the team leader in tackles through seven games. However, the 5-11, 245-pound linebacker is doing just that with 65 stops --20 more than the next closest on the team, as well as ranking second in Big South and 41st nationally, with an average of 9.29 stops per game. Jacobs came through with 11 tackles in each of his first two games before coming up with 13 versus Georgia Southern. Jacobs' total suffered in the Delaware State and Presbyterian wins, getting just six each time, but had 14 at Richmond. Although he had just six stops versus the Hornets, Jacobs had two TFLs moving him to the top of the Big South list in the category. He added one more at Richmond to retain his lead and had just a half sack at Presbyterian.
Get Back
Despite facing Heisman Trophy candidate and an explosive offense at West Virginia, Coastal Carolina's defense dropped the Mountaineers behind the line of scrimmage nine times for minus 27 yards. Leading the way were sophomores Andrae Jacobs and Chris Thomas, each with 1.5. Coastal's nine TFLs at West Virginia tied for 12th-best in the FCS after week one. However, that stat should not surprise the Chanticleer faithful as Coastal has ranked first or second in the Big South in tackles for loss in each of the last five seasons. Coastal added six TFL at Towson, seven versus Georgia Southern, 11 versus Delaware State and 10 at Presbyterian. With an average of 7.14 TFL/game, Coastal leads in the Big South and ranks 21st nationally in tackles for losses.
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