CONWAY, S.C. – For the first time as a Sun Belt Conference member, the Coastal Carolina football team will host a primetime nationally televised game on ESPNU as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns come to Brooks Stadium on Thursday night, Nov. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

Milestone Marks Continue

• Coastal Carolina’s first two games in November will be milestone marks for the program’s young history.

• Last Saturday’s game versus Troy (Nov. 2) was the program’s 200th game played (126-74 record).

• Thursday night’s game on Nov. 7 versus Louisiana will mark the program’s 100th home game at Brooks Stadium (70-29 record).

Thursday Night Primetime

• Thursday night’s primetime game on ESPNU will be the Chants’ third non-Saturday game completing the transition to FBS in 2017, as CCU defeated Campbell 58-21 on a Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 12) due to Hurricane Florence and fell at South Alabama 31-28 on Black Friday (Nov. 23) last season.

• The Chanticleers are 3-4 all-time in seven non-Saturday games in the program’s history, including going 2-2 on Thursday’s.

Non-Saturday Games

Date (Day)                             Opponent                               Result

9-25-03 (Thursday)                at North Greenville                 W, 49-39

9-7-08 (Sunday)                     Colgate                                    L, 23-19

9-3-09 (Thursday)                  at Kent State                          L, 18-0

11-19-15 (Thursday)              at Liberty                                 L, 24-21

11-17-16 (Thursday)              Liberty                                     W, 42-7

9-12-18 (Wednesday)            at Campbell                            W, 58-21

11-23-18 (Friday)                   at South Alabama                  L, 31-28

Series Versus the Ragin’ Cajuns

• Coastal Carolina is 1-0 all-time versus Louisiana, as the Chanticleers defeated Louisiana 30-28 in Lafayette, La. last year on Sept. 22, 2018.

Date                Location                     Result

9-22-18            at Louisiana                 W, 30-28

Scouting Louisiana

• Sitting atop of the Sun Belt West Division standings, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play entering Thursday night’s contest.

• The Cajuns have won each of their last two games after falling to Appalachian State 17-7 on Oct. 9 and are a perfect 3-0 in true road games this season with wins at Ohio (45-25), Georgia Southern (37-24) and Arkansas State (37-20).

• Louisiana has the number No. 1 offense in the Sun Belt (491.1 yards per game) led by the No. 1 rushing attack in the league that averages 288.0 yards per game, which also ranks third nationally.

• The Cajuns have three running backs that rank in the top-10 in the Sun Belt in rushing yards and rushing yards per game this season in Elijah Mitchell (705 yds., 88.1 ypg), Trey Ragas (598 yds., 85.4 ypg) and Raymond Calais (547 yds., 68.4 ypg). Mitchell also leads the league with 12 rushing touchdowns and in scoring with an average of 9.0 points per outing.

• Quarterback Levi Lewis is more than handing the ball off to the troublesome trio, as he has completed 63.9 percent (122-of-191) of his passes this season for 1,475 yards and 11 touchdowns.

• Four different receivers have hauled in double-digit receptions for the Cajuns this season, while five have recorded 125 receiving yards or more on the year led by Ja’Marcus Bradley’s team-high 29 catches and 439 receiving yards.

• The defense has done its job this season for Louisiana as well, as the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense ranks third in the Sun Belt and 38th nationally with only 350.8 yards allowed per game.

• Louisiana has the top-ranked scoring defense (18.4 ppg), red zone defense (73.9 percent), and fourth-down conversion defense (38.5 percent) in the Sun Belt entering play this week.

• Linebacker Jacques Boudreaux leads the team with 57 total stops on the season, 21 more than the next Cajun, while as a team Louisiana has registered 17.0 sacks and 38.0 tackles-for-loss on the season.

• Led by Michael Jacquet III and Asjlin Washington who have two interceptions each, the Louisiana secondary has picked off seven passes this season which is tied for second in the Sun Belt and have held its foes to a team passing efficiency of just 114.69 which is the lowest in the Sun Belt on the year.

From the Air to the Ground

• Last Saturday, Nov. 2, the Chanticleers took on the No. 1 passing offense in the Sun Belt in the Troy Trojans.

• Troy entered the game averaging a Sun Belt-high 309.7 yards per game through the air. The Trojans topped that by throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns in the 36-35 loss to the Chants.

• This week, the Chants will switch gears as Louisiana leads the Sun Belt and ranks third nationally in rushing with an average of 288.0 yards per game on the ground.

• Coastal ranks fifth in the Sun Belt in rushing defense, allowing 171.9 yards per game on the ground this season.

Ground Game = Key

• The rushing attack has been a key to the Chants’ success this season, as Coastal has rushed for over 170 yards in each of its four wins this season.

• The Chants have made the ground game a priority in their wins as well, as they have run the ball 39 times or more in each of their four wins on the year.

• However, in their four losses, the Chants are averaging less than 35 rushing attempts per contest and have totaled just 459 rushing yards combined.

• CCU is 3-0 on the season when outrushing its opponent for the game (Norfolk State, UMass, and Troy) and 1-4 when being outgained on the ground with the lone win coming at Kansas.

• The Chants are also 3-0 this season when having a player rush for 100 yards in the contest.

Passing Single-Game Records

• Coastal’s Bryce Carpenter completed a career-high 32-of-45 pass attempts for 285 yards and a touchdown. His 32 pass completions are the second-most in a single game in CCU history behind only Alex Ross’s 34 completions at Elon in 2014.

• Fellow high school teammate Jaivon Heiligh recorded a career-high 12 catches for 107 yards. His 12 receptions are a school record for the most catches in a single game.

Leaders of the Pack

• Despite giving up a season-high 500 total yards of offense to Troy (Nov. 2) last time out, the Coastal defense still ranks among the league’s best in several different statistical categories this season.

STAT                                                              SUN BELT

Total Defense (YPG)                         347.4               2nd

Passing Defense (YPG)                    175.5               2nd

Interceptions                                       7                      2nd

First Downs Defense                         152                  3rd

Scoring Defense (PPG)                    28.0                 4th

Third-Down Percentage Defense     40.2                 4th

Rushing Defense (YPG)                   171.9               5th

Tackles-for-Loss per game               5.9                   5th

Two-Point Success

• In the fourth quarter of the loss to Georgia State (Oct. 12), redshirt senior Ky’Jon Tyler rushed in for a two-point conversion on an end-around to put the Chants down 10 at 31-21.

• The successful two-point conversion was the first for the Chants since 2017 and the first successful rushing attempting on a two-point try since Chris Jones ran in for two points at UAB on Sept. 16, 2017.

• Coastal followed that up with not one, but two successful two-point conversions in the 36-35 home win over Troy (Nov. 2).

• Down 21-20 in the third quarter, the Chants’ scored to take a 26-21 lead on a Jacqez Hairston TD run. To pull back in front by seven, the Chants went for two and were successful as Bryce Carpenter found a leaping Isaiah Likely at the goal line for the score.

• CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell would again go for two on the Chants’ next score, as CCU trailed by one at 35-34 with 30 seconds left in the game. After a pass interference gave the Chants a second chance, this time from the two-yard line, CJ Marable walked into the end zone untouched on an option run to give Coastal the 36-35 home win.

Courtesy: Coastal Carolina Athletics