• Location: Michie Stadium – West Point, NY

• Kickoff Time: 12 PM EST, Saturday, November 18th

• Surface: Field Turf

• Weather: High 54, Low 35, Partly cloudy

• TV: CBS Sports

• Team Name: Chanticleers

• Conference Affiliation: Sun Belt East

• Head Coach: Tim Beck (7-3 in first season at Coastal Carolina)

• 2023 Record: 7-3 (5-2 Sun Belt)

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football program played its inaugural season in 2003 on campus at Brooks Stadium. The team's first coach was David Bennett, who held the position from the team's inception until December 9, 2011. Coastal Carolina's first full season as an FBS team was in 2017. The Chanticleers earned the program's first win as an FBS program when they played The UMass Minutemen on September 2nd, 2017.

Jamey Chadwell was introduced as the program's third head coach on January 18, 2019. He was previously the team's interim head coach in 2017. On October 14, 2020, Coastal Carolina got its first-ever win against a ranked FBS team, 30–27 over No. 21 Louisiana. Following the win, AP ranked Coastal Carolina No. 25, making it their first time being nationally ranked.

In the COVID season of 2020, Coastal Carolina went 11-1 and won the Sun Belt East, being ranked as high as 11th nationally at one point during the season. They were defeated by Liberty in the Cure Bowl to finish 11-2. Chadwell won 8 postseason awards for “Coach of the Year.” In 2021, Coastal posted a 10-2 regular season record (6-2 in the Sun Belt) and defeated Northern Illinois in the Cure Bowl to finish 11-2 for the second straight season.

In 2022, behind star Quarterback Grayson McCall, the Chanticleers started red hot again going 9-1 and being ranked as high as 23rd nationally, before being beaten badly in their final regular season game to James Madison, 47-7; falling to Troy 45-26 in the Sun Belt Championship game; and losing to East Carolina 53-29 in the Birmingham Bowl.

After a rocky start this season, the Chants have reeled off 5 straight wins and find themselves in second place in the Sun Belt East.

The first ever meeting between Army and Coastal took place last season in the opener on a Saturday night in Brooks Stadium. Army drew first blood on a Tyrell Robinson counter that went for a 70-yard score. The teams then traded touchdowns as Coastal QB Grayson McCall threw two touchdown passes in the first half and Ja’Kobi Buchanan scored on a 1-yard plunge to knot the score at 14-14 at halftime.

Coastal started the 2nd half scoring with a 25-yard field goal and Army answered with a 54-yard Tyhier Tyler to Ay’Juan Marshall touchdown pass. Unfortunately, that would be the Black Knights last lead of the night at 21-17. McCall threw his third touchdown pass of the evening to put the Chants ahead to stay at 24-21 to end the 3rd quarter.

Coastal RB Reese White started the 4th quarter scoring with a 2-yard touchdown scamper and Army answered again with a 73-yard Cade Ballard to Braheam Murphy touchdown pass as the aerial circus continued for the Black Knights. Grayson McCall capped off the scoring with a 5-yard run to give Coastal a hard fought, 38-28 victory. Coastal’s offense took a play out of Army’s playbook and ran 70 plays to Army’s 47 and held the ball for 36:16 to rack up 437 yards of total offense to Army’s 344.

Coastal’s spread-option offense looks a little different under first year Head Coach Tim Beck. While there are still plenty of elements of Jamey Chadwell’s spread option, with nagging injuries to star QB Grayson McCall, Coastal has reverted to somewhat more of a traditional spread offense that is a little more “pass heavy.”

Coastal is averaging 30.1 points per game to rank 49th nationally. Where the 2023 version of Chanticleers football has made great strides is defensively, where they are only surrendering 21.2 points per game to rank 41st nationally. The Chants have a very balanced offense averaging 267 yards per game passing and 169 yards per game rushing for at total of 436 yards per game.

Star graduate senior QB Grayson McCall has been recovering from an undisclosed head injury the last four weeks and his status for Saturday’s contest could probably be described as questionable. McCall is 151/224 on the season and has thrown for 1919 yards in just 7 games. He has thrown 10 touchdowns to 6 interceptions and has a 148.7 rating. McCall is a dual-threat who presents all sorts of problems for opposing DC’s. We just aren’t sure if he’ll play Saturday.

If McCall can’t go, expect Ethan Vasko to get the start at Quarterback. Vasko’s accuracy is a significant drop-off from McCall. He is 35/60 in 6 games with a 58.3% completion rate. He has thrown for 326 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He has a rating of 117.1.

Look for Junior RB Braydon Bennett to be a factor in the passing game and be the go-to RB when Coastal runs the ball. Bennett has played in 9 games and carried 81 times for 371 yards and a 4.6 average. Bennett has 5 touchdowns and has also caught 15 passes for 151 yards.

Coastal’s leading receiver is 6’4”, 210 lb. Georgia State transfer Sam Pinckney. In 10 games, Pinckney has 54 receptions for 73 yards and 6 touchdowns. He will present match-up problems for Army’s smaller secondary, although I think Jabari Moore will do OK against him if that’s the match-up we are able to get.

Looking at GBK’s predictive analytics, Coastal may be the most balanced team Army has played all year, with an almost even distribution of runs and passes on 1st down. Their most successful opening series are run-pass-run, so the key for Defensive Coordinator Nate Woody and the Black Knights defense will be to stop the run on 1st down to make Coastal one-dimensional. If Coastal gets into a lot of 2nd and short or medium, they can be very successful keeping the Black Knights guessing.

As mentioned earlier, Coastal’s defense has made huge strides under new Defensive Coordinator Craig Naivar. Safety Clayton Isbell leads the Chants in tackles with 63 total tackles, 4.5 TFL’s, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions. The defensive line is anchored by Micheal Mason, who has 61 total tackles including 9.5 TFL’s and 6 sacks. He has also forced and recovered 1 fumble.

The Chanticleers opened as a 5-point favorite, but now that spread is down to 4. In the words of the great Matthew McConaughey, “somebody knows something.” ESPN FPI has Coastal with a 70.3% chance of winning.

We saw last year what a tough opponent Coastal Carolina can be. They have P5-level athletes all over the field, especially at the skill positions, and coming in with a 5-game winning streak, I think it’s fair to say they are playing their best football of the season right now. If McCall starts at QB, we believe this will be an uphill battle for the Black Knights on Senior Day at Michie. Without McCall, however, things get interesting.

With pressure from the ball-hawking Leo Lowin and the rest of the front seven potentially forcing Vasko into bad throws and possibly creating some turnovers, either with strip-sacks or interceptions, Army’s offense will have short fields and a potential to put some points on the board.

We are wondering if the 4-point spread is an indicator that McCall can’t go? With McCall, this game is probably a two-touchdown win for Coastal. Without him, it’s a toss-up. Army will have to find a way to create some offense through the passing game, which may require Freshman Champ Harris to step in at QB. We are sure Drew Thatcher is searching for answers, just as we are.

Coastal Carolina – 27

Army - 20

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