Coastal Carolina hosts Jacksonville State in home opener

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will host Jacksonville State in their home opener on Saturday night.

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Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

CCU LOOKING FOR FIRST WIN

• The Chanticleers will head into Saturday night’s action looking for their first win of the season after dropping the season-opener 27-13 at UCLA in the iconic Rose Bowl.
• After trailing 14-6 at halftime, CCU scored the game’s lone touchdown of the third quarter and trailed 14-13 entering the final quarter. The home-standing Bruins scored 13 unanswered points in the final stanza for the final 27-13 score.

SUN BELT ACCOLADES COME EARLY FOR THE CHANTS

• CCU’s Clayton Isbell was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week based on his play at UCLA.

• The Utah transfer tied for game-high honors with nine total tackles, five of which were solo.

• He also intercepted three passes, two in the endzone to stop Bruin drives.

• His three interceptions tied a CCU single-game record with former Chanticleer standouts Dontavius Johnson (vs. North Carolina A&T, Sept. 1, 2012), Josh Norman (vs. Gardner-Webb, Nov. 7, 2009), and Marrio Norman (vs. Presbyterian, Oct. 20, 2007).

PINCKNEY REACHES THE 1,000 CAREER RECEPTION YARDS MARK

• Super-senior Sam Pinckney had game-highs in both receptions (9) and receiving yardage (139) against the Bruins in the season-opener.

• Pinckney started the season just short of 1,000 career receiving yards with 996 yards. He now has 1,135 receiving yards after his outing in Pasadena.

MCCALL CONTINUES HIS ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS

• Senior quarterback Grayson McCall continues to work his way up several career passing lists after passing for 271 yards on 27-of-42 passing against UCLA.

• His 27 completions set a single-game career-high for the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.

• Among the school records he already holds are passing touchdowns (79), pass completion percentage (70.6), pass efficiency (186.8), and touchdowns responsible for (96).

• He enters Saturday’s action second in pass completions (586), second in passing yards (8,357), and second in total offensive yards (9,414)

• With his touchdown pass at UCLA, McCall has now thrown a touchdown pass in 25 consecutive games.

RECEIVING VOTES

• Coastal Carolina received three votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Preseason Poll on Aug. 14.

• Coastal was ranked in the top 25 in both the Associated Press (AP) and USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Top 25 polls for 11 straight weeks in 2020 and 11 straight weeks in 2021.

• The Chants were one of just three Sun Belt Conference teams to earn a spot in the top 25 polls in 2022. Coastal was ranked in both top 25 polls at No. 23 for week 12 and 13 of last season. receiving touchdowns

TV CHANTS

• With CCU’s 2023 season opener at UCLA broadcast live on ESPN, the Chanticleers, better known as #AmericasTeam, will have a total of 25 games nationally televised since the start of the 2020 season.

• In those 25 games the Chanticleers are 18-7 overall.

• The Chants Thursday night game at home versus Georgia State on Sept. 21 is also scheduled for an ESPN national broadcast while CCU’s game at Appalachian State on Oct. 10 is scheduled to be shown on ESPN2.

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS

• This season begins Jacksonville State’s Football Bowl Subdivision era after its 30th and final season as a member of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2022.

• Jax State’s Rodriguez is facing Coastal Carolina for the first time in his head coaching career.

• Jax State is off to a 2-0 start for the second-straight season after not starting a season 2-0 since 2013 before last year. It is the first time the Gamecocks have been 2-0 in consecutive seasons since a streak of eight straight seasons from 1987-93.

• Rodriguez enters this week in ninth place among active FBS head coaches in career wins. In his 26th season as a head coach, Rodriguez has a 174-121-2 career record.

SERIES SNAPSHOT WITH JACKSONVILLE STATE

• Saturday’s game with Jacksonville State will be the second time the two teams have met on the gridiron with JSU holding a 1-0 lead in the series.

• The two teams met in Jacksonville, Ala., back on Sept. 17, 2016, as the Gamecocks held on for a 27-26 victory over the Chanticleers.

NON-CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK ENDS

• With CCU’s non-conference loss at UCLA to open the season, the result stopped the Chanticleers’ 13-game non-conference win streak that dated back to the 2019 season.

• CCU will now look to win its 14th non-conference game in its last 15 non-conference outings.