First year Coastal Carolina coach Ryan Beard was hired with one directive: to get the Chanticleers program back to being one of the elite teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
It’s not like Coastal was bad before Beard’s arrival from Missouri State where the son-in-law of Bobby Petrino had been the head coach for three years, guiding the Bears in the transition from FCS to FBS.
Tim Beck had taken the Chants to three straight bowl games after succeeding Jamey Chadwell who won 31 games in three years before leaving for Liberty University. The Chants weren’t bad under Beck (20-18) but being okay wasn’t good enough and he was shown the door. He’s now the offensive coordinator at South Florida.
Coastal wants to be better. Now it’s Beard’s job to take the success he showed at Missouri State where he took the Bears to a bowl game last year while winning eight games and get CCU back to an elite championship level. Previously he was Mo State’s defensive coordinator for three seasons under Petrino who is now the offensive coordinator at North Carolina.
Coastal will be looking to taking a step toward regaining some of that lost respectability when it takes on Georgia Southern at 7 pm. Saturday at Brooks Stadium in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
It’s a game which will finds both teams literally in a must win situation. Both are 1-3 and the loser could quickly find its season spiraling in the wrong direction, especially when it comes to getting the needed six wins for bowl eligibility.
The Chants are coming off a 31-17 loss to Liberty, a game which left Beard frustrated and also offered a glimpse into Coastal Carolina’s season to date.
Coastal dominated the first half, leading a very good Flames team 17-10 at the break in Chadwell’s return. The second half, however, was a different story as Liberty took control and never looked back.
The game was similar to the Chants’ opener at West Virginia only in reverse. At WVU the Mountaineers led 24-0 at the half but had to hold off a furious Coastal rally before settling for a 31-24 win.
After beating Fordham, 45-7, CCU trailed Delaware 15-14 at the half only to go scoreless in the second half in losing, 22-14.
Needless to say, Beard will be looking for his team to put together four solid quarters against the Eagles who have lost to Houston and Jacksonville State in their last two games.
When Beard came from Missouri State, he brought 11 former Bears with him, none more important than redshirt freshman quarterback Deuce Bailey who is quickly developing into a player who can be a game changer.
Last year Coastal had difficulty in stopping anyone—it allowed Georgia Southern to run for 302 yards, 262 by OJ Arnold, in a 45-40 loss—and still managed six wins despite losing its last four games.
The key to the Chants’ success the rest of the way is going to be the continued development of Bailey who has thrown for 1,039 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has added 113 on the ground.
“Deuce is maturing in ways that can’t be quantified by the film,” Beard said on this week’s SBC coaches conference call. “I think one of the things since he’s become the starting quarterback is he’s become more sure of himself in the huddle.
“He understands the offense much better in regards to getting in and out of those choice runs which I mention over and over,” Beard said. “The one thing he has to fight from doing is trying to do too much.
“He doesn’t have to wear the Superman cape. We have to make sure he understands he can stay in the pocket and can step up and deliver the ball down field. We had 10 dropped passes last week and that can be frustrating for a young quarterback. He’s done some good things.”
While the passing game has been solid the Chants are still trying to establish a run game. They are averaging 129.3 yards per game, somewhat slightly better than the Eagles’ 108.
Bailey has a plethora of solid receivers with four who have caught 10 passes led by Kennesaw State transfer Clayton Coppock, Jr., with 11. Furman transfer Colton Hinton has 10 and a conference leading four touchdown catches. Tristian Garner (Missouri State) and Karmello English (West Georgia) also have caught 10 balls each.
Beard beefed up the defense by bringing in a quartet of linebackers: Marcellius Pulliam (Michigan State), Braxton Starnes (Missouri State), Julius Chambers (Western Carolina) and Azarel Juste (Bryant). Pulliam, especially, brings some thump as he leads the SBC in tackles with 37.
What running game the Chants have is led by sophomore Jevon Edwards with 137 yards. Fellow sophomore Dominic Lee-Knicely has 119.
