jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
(15) Coastal Carolina -19 over Arkansas St:
So the road has been quite rough over the last 2 weekends. I've dropped 4 straight games, but am taking a little extra time to study the board a little more meticulously hoping to capture a winning weekend. The past few weekends have been absolute horror shows. And go figure it's not occurring with me laying some of the hugest numbers on the board. I'm hoping the board can bear with me as timing and the results need the pendulum to swing hopefully positively going forward.
The Chanticleers (5-0 1-0) continue play within their Sun Belt conference against Arkansas St (1-4 0-1) at Centennial Bank Stadium. Coastal Carolina seems to roll on posting convincing victories and I was on them a couple of weeks ago when they humbled U Mass out of conference. I am ready for them to make some noise on the road. Last week their cupcake schedule continued when they stormed passed UL Monroe 59-6 at Brooks Stadium. Grayson McCall (13/13 212 2 TD) had an absolutely perfect day for a maximum CFB rating as he opened the scoring with a 5 yard TD pass to Isaiah Likely (5-95 2 TD). McCall then found Likely again in the second quarter from 30 yards out eventually extending the carnage to 21-3. Braydon Bennett had ran it in from 10 yards out for a score, also in the first quarter. Bennett also added a 29 yard rush to paydirt, Aaron Bedgood ran a botched punt 9 yard to the house, and Liam Gray added a 38 yard field goal to give the Chanticleers a 38-3 halftime lead over the Warhawks. CCU rushed for 275 yards and 3 TD's led by Reese White (15-95 6.3) and Bennett (7-76 10.9 2 TD). Jarrett Guest (4/4 49 1 TD) came on in the 4th quarter in mop up duty, and found Chris Rhone for a 32 yard TD pass, his only catch of the game. CCU outgained Ark St 557-203, picked up 26 first downs, and forced 2 Warhawk turnovers. Chandler Rogers (9/17 100 1 INT) could get no offensive rhythm going for ULM, who was held to just 2 Calum Sutherland field goals. Meanwhile Arkansas St lost a 59-33 shootout to Georgia Southern last week at Allen E Paulson Stadium. The Eagles ran for 503 total rushing yards and 7 TD, including 2 each by Logan Wright (10-208 20.8 2 TD) of 59 yards to open the scoring, and later for 41, and Jalen White (14-157 11.2 2 TD) of 59 and 47, both in the 4th quarter. Georgia St outgained Arkansas St 540-534 but finished plenty more quick strike drives with end zone trips, and forced 5 Redwolves turnovers despite only producing 20 first downs to Ark St's 33, and losing the TOP battle 31 minutes to 29. James Blackman (28/43 292 2 TD 3 INT) was clearly not at his best with most of his passing yardage coming with the game well in hand and others ending with careless picks. Layne Hatcher (8/18 151 2 TD 1 INT) was marginally better in terms of control but not so much in accuracy. Arkansas St's bread and butter is not so much running the ball as they were held to just 91 total yards rushing. Corey Rucker (7-71 2 TD) was one of the few bright spots for Ark St, but the Georgia St defense was all over Blackman early sacking him 5 times out of their 7 overall.
McCall (69/86 1113 10 TD 1 INT) has certainly surfaced as most might have thought before the season started. At nearly 80% accuracy thus far and plenty of time in the pocket for him to find one of his primary targets make CCU one of the bonafide threats to easily run away with the Sun Belt title and a prestigious bowl bid to go along with it. Javon Heiligh (24-499 4 TD), along with Likely (19-281 4 TD) is a scary one two punch when it comes to the dominating receiving core for McCall to choose from. Kameron Brown (12-191 1 TD0 is also a viable third option, al be it more out of the flat for this passing unit which produces on average about 280 yards through the air. This offense averages better than 48 points per contest, and equally does a good amount of damage ranked 15th in the country on the ground. White (53-374 7.1 6 TD) and Bennett (30-263 8.8 4 TD) completes this chock full of nuts offense for head coach Jamey Chadwell to pick his poison. Other than an opening win to Div 1-AA Central Arkansas as their in-state rivals, this nationally ranked opponent continues to not bode well as the Red Hawks defense allows 565 total yards, near the bottom of the barrel, and 46 ppg while dropping 4 straight. Elery Alexander is the leading tackler with 37, and has a sack and INT each. However, Kevon Bennett and Joe Ozougwu have 4 sacks each of their team's 10. Lacking in their pass defense is just 5 INT's thus far, so corner like Samy Johnson and safety Antonio Fletcher are going to have to step up in coverage.
Blackman (102/173 1264 8 TD 4 INT) endured one of his rare but subpar performances against CCU and probably thus far this season. However, with a 2 QB operation complementing Hatcher (49/79 621 7 TD 2 INT), the Red Hawks do have some versatility under center and especially in their receiving core. Corey Rucker (28-458 6 TD), Jeff Foreman (22-355 2 TD), and Te'Vailance Hunt (24-308 2 TD) are all solid options for the aforementioned two, and because they like to use a phonetic pace, while they can score quick, no lead potentially is completely safe. What they do not have in their benefit to fall back on is any identity or close to a running game. Three different backs have barely over 100 yards but Ark St has rushed for just 2 TD all season, and they are near the bottom in the nation averaging only 94 rushing yards overall per game. CCU meanwhile, is quite preserved and sound in their secondary, yielding just 132 passing yards per contest, which ranks a healthy 10th in the country. Their defense gives up only 14 points and 283 yards on the net average. They have an overall fierce front led by Silas Kelly (34 tackles) and Teddy Gallagher (31 tackles) with the latter producing 3 sacks. Josaiah Stewart is also stout up front with 4 sacks and 13 tackles. If there's an achilles heel that could use more anticipation and pressure against opposing QB's, CCU has recorded only one pick thus far. Still , their explosive offense paves the way to make it difficult for the opposition to come back as they love to control tempo and provide dominance with the mix of the pass and run.
With the defenders giving up a huge advantage in the secondary and on the line, with the exception of Buffalo, you can only ask for a valiant effort stopping a powerhouse like CCU. There will be problems brewing for Arkansas St on the defensive side of the ball, especially the fact that you're second worst overall against the run. McCall doesn't make too many mistakes either through the air. Granted, Blackman wasn't nearly as solid as he is used to being as evident in his performance against Georgia Southern, but Coastal Carolina defensively will be even a bigger test. McCall didn't even need to do too much against UL Monroe except to hold his perfection. Blackman is going to have to match completion for completion, and TD for TD, because despite his versatility, it is going to take a herculean, mistake free performance just to stay close to Coastal, let alone any chance of pulling off an upset.
Back with more in a couple of days.
So the road has been quite rough over the last 2 weekends. I've dropped 4 straight games, but am taking a little extra time to study the board a little more meticulously hoping to capture a winning weekend. The past few weekends have been absolute horror shows. And go figure it's not occurring with me laying some of the hugest numbers on the board. I'm hoping the board can bear with me as timing and the results need the pendulum to swing hopefully positively going forward.
The Chanticleers (5-0 1-0) continue play within their Sun Belt conference against Arkansas St (1-4 0-1) at Centennial Bank Stadium. Coastal Carolina seems to roll on posting convincing victories and I was on them a couple of weeks ago when they humbled U Mass out of conference. I am ready for them to make some noise on the road. Last week their cupcake schedule continued when they stormed passed UL Monroe 59-6 at Brooks Stadium. Grayson McCall (13/13 212 2 TD) had an absolutely perfect day for a maximum CFB rating as he opened the scoring with a 5 yard TD pass to Isaiah Likely (5-95 2 TD). McCall then found Likely again in the second quarter from 30 yards out eventually extending the carnage to 21-3. Braydon Bennett had ran it in from 10 yards out for a score, also in the first quarter. Bennett also added a 29 yard rush to paydirt, Aaron Bedgood ran a botched punt 9 yard to the house, and Liam Gray added a 38 yard field goal to give the Chanticleers a 38-3 halftime lead over the Warhawks. CCU rushed for 275 yards and 3 TD's led by Reese White (15-95 6.3) and Bennett (7-76 10.9 2 TD). Jarrett Guest (4/4 49 1 TD) came on in the 4th quarter in mop up duty, and found Chris Rhone for a 32 yard TD pass, his only catch of the game. CCU outgained Ark St 557-203, picked up 26 first downs, and forced 2 Warhawk turnovers. Chandler Rogers (9/17 100 1 INT) could get no offensive rhythm going for ULM, who was held to just 2 Calum Sutherland field goals. Meanwhile Arkansas St lost a 59-33 shootout to Georgia Southern last week at Allen E Paulson Stadium. The Eagles ran for 503 total rushing yards and 7 TD, including 2 each by Logan Wright (10-208 20.8 2 TD) of 59 yards to open the scoring, and later for 41, and Jalen White (14-157 11.2 2 TD) of 59 and 47, both in the 4th quarter. Georgia St outgained Arkansas St 540-534 but finished plenty more quick strike drives with end zone trips, and forced 5 Redwolves turnovers despite only producing 20 first downs to Ark St's 33, and losing the TOP battle 31 minutes to 29. James Blackman (28/43 292 2 TD 3 INT) was clearly not at his best with most of his passing yardage coming with the game well in hand and others ending with careless picks. Layne Hatcher (8/18 151 2 TD 1 INT) was marginally better in terms of control but not so much in accuracy. Arkansas St's bread and butter is not so much running the ball as they were held to just 91 total yards rushing. Corey Rucker (7-71 2 TD) was one of the few bright spots for Ark St, but the Georgia St defense was all over Blackman early sacking him 5 times out of their 7 overall.
McCall (69/86 1113 10 TD 1 INT) has certainly surfaced as most might have thought before the season started. At nearly 80% accuracy thus far and plenty of time in the pocket for him to find one of his primary targets make CCU one of the bonafide threats to easily run away with the Sun Belt title and a prestigious bowl bid to go along with it. Javon Heiligh (24-499 4 TD), along with Likely (19-281 4 TD) is a scary one two punch when it comes to the dominating receiving core for McCall to choose from. Kameron Brown (12-191 1 TD0 is also a viable third option, al be it more out of the flat for this passing unit which produces on average about 280 yards through the air. This offense averages better than 48 points per contest, and equally does a good amount of damage ranked 15th in the country on the ground. White (53-374 7.1 6 TD) and Bennett (30-263 8.8 4 TD) completes this chock full of nuts offense for head coach Jamey Chadwell to pick his poison. Other than an opening win to Div 1-AA Central Arkansas as their in-state rivals, this nationally ranked opponent continues to not bode well as the Red Hawks defense allows 565 total yards, near the bottom of the barrel, and 46 ppg while dropping 4 straight. Elery Alexander is the leading tackler with 37, and has a sack and INT each. However, Kevon Bennett and Joe Ozougwu have 4 sacks each of their team's 10. Lacking in their pass defense is just 5 INT's thus far, so corner like Samy Johnson and safety Antonio Fletcher are going to have to step up in coverage.
Blackman (102/173 1264 8 TD 4 INT) endured one of his rare but subpar performances against CCU and probably thus far this season. However, with a 2 QB operation complementing Hatcher (49/79 621 7 TD 2 INT), the Red Hawks do have some versatility under center and especially in their receiving core. Corey Rucker (28-458 6 TD), Jeff Foreman (22-355 2 TD), and Te'Vailance Hunt (24-308 2 TD) are all solid options for the aforementioned two, and because they like to use a phonetic pace, while they can score quick, no lead potentially is completely safe. What they do not have in their benefit to fall back on is any identity or close to a running game. Three different backs have barely over 100 yards but Ark St has rushed for just 2 TD all season, and they are near the bottom in the nation averaging only 94 rushing yards overall per game. CCU meanwhile, is quite preserved and sound in their secondary, yielding just 132 passing yards per contest, which ranks a healthy 10th in the country. Their defense gives up only 14 points and 283 yards on the net average. They have an overall fierce front led by Silas Kelly (34 tackles) and Teddy Gallagher (31 tackles) with the latter producing 3 sacks. Josaiah Stewart is also stout up front with 4 sacks and 13 tackles. If there's an achilles heel that could use more anticipation and pressure against opposing QB's, CCU has recorded only one pick thus far. Still , their explosive offense paves the way to make it difficult for the opposition to come back as they love to control tempo and provide dominance with the mix of the pass and run.
With the defenders giving up a huge advantage in the secondary and on the line, with the exception of Buffalo, you can only ask for a valiant effort stopping a powerhouse like CCU. There will be problems brewing for Arkansas St on the defensive side of the ball, especially the fact that you're second worst overall against the run. McCall doesn't make too many mistakes either through the air. Granted, Blackman wasn't nearly as solid as he is used to being as evident in his performance against Georgia Southern, but Coastal Carolina defensively will be even a bigger test. McCall didn't even need to do too much against UL Monroe except to hold his perfection. Blackman is going to have to match completion for completion, and TD for TD, because despite his versatility, it is going to take a herculean, mistake free performance just to stay close to Coastal, let alone any chance of pulling off an upset.
Back with more in a couple of days.
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