Continuing the remarkable turnaround that is the 2025 Coastal Football season, the Chants 40-27 victory over Georgia State relied on the formula that has worked in nearly every victory to this point.
Namely, running the football for 200 or more yards, stringing together key defensive stops, and winning the turnover battle. Against the Panthers, the Chanticleers (6-3, 5-1) churned out 324 yards on the ground, shut out the visitors in the 2nd and 3rd quarters (while scoring 26 unanswered) and again won the turnover margin 2-0.
QB Samari Collier ripped off an 85-yard touchdown run on Coastal’s first offensive play and overall accounted for 243 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns in the win. Maybe most importantly he directed a Coastal offense that did not turn over the football, as the Chants are now plus-9 in turnover margin in their five SBC wins.
In conference games, the Chants are rushing the ball for an average of 222 yards per game, good for third best in the league. And in conference games, Coastal is allowing 27.7 points per contest, which is 5th best. More importantly however, CCU has been able keep opponents out of the end zone when it has mattered most while at the same time, the offense has scored points. Complimentary football, you might say.
The win over Georgia State also earned bowl eligibility for Coastal, the third time a win over the Panthers has done this interestingly enough. CCU’s wins in 2020 and 2024 over their foes from Atlanta also got the Chants to that magic six-win plateau.
Speaking of bowls, projection season is in full swing with Coastal predicted going anywhere from the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, the Boca Raton Bowl, the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, the Gasparilla Bowl, the Cure Bowl, to the New Orleans Bowl. Or maybe even somewhere else. But bowling somewhere!
The discussion took place on the latest Sunday Strut about the only season besides this one we could remember that was going nowhere fast and suddenly turned around and into something hardly anyone could have predicted. That season was 2010, and those Chants were 2-5 and 1-1 in the league seven games in. However, as late October turned into November, Coastal rallied for a 30-27 overtime win at Gardner-Webb and things started happening.
The Chants then traveled to Lexington, Virginia, to take on VMI. Coastal always struggled to win there but they did not struggle in this one, easily defeating the Keydets 31-3. Following that was a highly improbable 45-31 romp at home over nationally-ranked Liberty and then CCU finished the run with a 70-3 demolition of Charleston Southern.
That stretch earned Coastal a share of the 2010 Big South title, the conference’s autobid to the FCS playoffs and a home playoff game on Thanksgiving weekend.
Obviously nobody is sure how the 2025 season will finish but with three games remaining and two in the Sun Belt, Coastal needs to continue to 1) run the football effectively, 2) get key stops and 3) win turnover margin.
Next up: at Georgia Southern this Saturday evening at 6 pm.
CHANTS UP!