CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina will continue Sun Belt play this Saturday, Oct. 19, as the Chanticleers hit the road to face off with the Georgia Southern Eagles at 3 p.m. at Allen E. Paulson Stadium on ESPN3.

Series Versus the GS Eagles

• Coastal Carolina is just 1-4 all-time versus Georgia Southern on the football field with two of those meetings coming as Sun Belt Conference foes.

• The Chants are 1-1 versus the Eagles as Sun Belt East Division rivals with both of those games coming at home in Brooks Stadium.

• Coastal will play at Allen E. Paulson Stadium for just the second time in the series history with the only other time coming in a 38-21 loss to then-No. 24 Georgia Southern on Sept. 17, 2006, when both teams were members of the FCS.

Date                Location                                 Result

9-16-2006        at Georgia Southern              L, 38-21

9-15-2007        at Coastal Carolina                L, 42-34

9-18-2010        at Coastal Carolina                L, 43-26

12-2-2017        at Coastal Carolina                W, 28-17

11-17-2018      at Coastal Carolina                L, 41-17

Scouting the Eagles

• Georgia Southern is coming off a bye week and hasn’t played since defeating South Alabama 20-17 in double overtime in Moblie, Ala. on Oct. 3.

• The Eagles are 2-3 overall this season and 1-1 in league play having suffered a 37-24 home loss to Louisiana in their conference opener on Sept. 28.

• The pistol/triple option is back again for GS, as the Eagles rank third in the conference and 23rd nationally with an average of 223.4 rushing yards per game this year.

• GS is one of just five programs nationally with four different 100-yard rushers this season along with Houston, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Wyoming.

• The Eagles rushing attack is spearheaded by a trio of backs in Logan Wright (52 att., 294 yds.), J.D. King (66 att., 230 yds.) and Matt LaRoche (33 att., 226 yds.) while quarterback Shai Werts has also rushed 47 times for 188 yards on the season.

• Five different Eagles have recorded at least one rushing touchdown this season led by Wright, King and Justin Tomlin with two each.

• The GS defense has been stingy this season in terms of yards allowed, as the Eagles rank third in the conference and 58th nationally with an average of 380.0 yards allowed per contest.

• However, the Eagles are allowing on average 32.4 points per game this season which is seventh in the league and 104th nationally.

• Linebackers Rashad Byrd (38 tackles) and Reynard Ellis (33) lead the GS defense in tackles, while fellow linebacker Randy Wade Jr. leads the team with 6.5 tackles-for-loss.

Back on the Road

• Coastal Carolina returns to the road for the fourth time this season and the third time over the last five weeks this Saturday at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga.

• The Chanticleers are 2-1 on the road this season with wins at Kansas (Sept. 7) and at UMass (Sept. 21). The lone road loss came at Appalachian State (Sept. 28) in CCU’s last road contest.

• Since joining the Sun Belt as a full-time member in 2017, the Chants have recorded seven of their 11 wins on the road, including three in conference play.

Something Has Got to Give

• Something will have to give on Saturday afternoon between the Chants and the Eagles in terms of the run offense versus run defense.

• The Chants have the fourth-best rushing defense in the league, allowing 160.2 yards per game on the ground which also ranks 70th nationally. The Eagles are averaging 223.4 yards per game on the ground which ranks third in the Sun Belt and 23rd nationally.

Not Through the Air

• Saturday’s Sun Belt contest will be a battle on the ground and not through the air for two reasons:

• Coastal has the top passing defense in the Sun Belt in allowing just 159.7 passing yards per contest which ranks sixth nationally. Georgia Southern is averaging just 55.4 passing yards per game which ranks 10th in the conference and 130th nationally.

Sun Belt Struggles

• Now in their third season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, the Chanticleers are 4-14 overall in conference play having gone 2-6 in each of their first two years (2017 and 2018).

• Dating back to last season, the Chants have lost six-straight conference games and will look to snap that streak this weekend.

Current Sun Belt Conference Losing Streak

Date                Opponent                               Result

11-3-18            vs. App State                          L, 23-7

11-10-18          vs. Arkansas State                 L, 44-16

11-17-18          vs. Georgia Southern             L, 41-17

11-23-18          at South Alabama                  L, 31-28

9-28-19            at App State                           L, 56-37

10-12-19          vs. Georgia State                   L, 31-21

• The Chanticleers’ last conference win was a 37-34 victory on the road at Georgia State on Oct. 27, 2018.

The Fosters

• Saturday will feature a matchup between two brothers, as CCU defensive backs coach Bryant Foster’s younger brother Chris Foster is the associate head coach and running backs coach at Georgia Southern.

Ground Game = Key

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

• The Chants have made the ground game a priority in their wins as well, as they ran the ball 46 times or more in each of their three wins on the season.

• However, in their three losses, the Chants rushed the ball 35 times or less in each contest and totaled just 332 yards on the ground combined.

Handing Out TDs

• Coastal has shared the wealth when it comes to scoring this season, as 13 different players have scored or accounted for at least one touchdown.

Chants Time

• The Chants led the Sun Belt and ranked 15th nationally in time of possession at 32:48 minutes per game last year in 2018.

• This year, Coastal has possessed the ball on average 33:00 minutes per game which is first in the Sun Belt and 16th nationally.

Leaders of the Pack

• The Coastal defense ranks among the league and nation’s best in several different statistical categories halfway through the season.

STAT                                                              SBC    NCAA

Passing Yards Allowed (YPG)         159.2   1st       6th

Interceptions                                       7          1st       21st

Total Defense (YPG)                         319.8   1st       27th

First Downs Defense                         104      3rd       25th

Scoring Defense (PPG)                    26.5     3rd       64th

Rushing Defense (YPG)                   160.2   4th       70th

Plus is Better than Minus

• This season, when the Chants are on the plus side of the turnover battle they are 2-0. On the flip side, when the D loses the turnover fight, CCU is 0-2.

OPPONENT               INTS   FUM. LOST   MARGIN

E. Michigan                 4/0                   0/1       -3

at Kansas                    0/2                   0/0       +2

Norfolk State              0/2                   1/0       +1

at UMass                    1/1                   0/0       EVEN

at App State               1/1                   0/0       EVEN

Georgia State             0/1                   2/0       -1

* COASTAL OFFENSE/OPPONENT OFFENSE

On the Horizon

• Coastal will return home to host two important home contests to kick off the month of November. The Chants will host Troy on Saturday, Nov. 2, for Homecoming Weekend and will turn around five days later to play Louisiana in primetime on ESPNU Thursday night, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Brooks Stadium.