Coastal Carolina Chanticleers2010 Record: 6-6 (5-1), 1st Big South
2010 Postseason: 1st Round FCS Playoffs, Lost to Western Illinois 17-10
2010 Schedule/Results
@ West Virginia, L 31-0
@ Towson, L 37-35
Georgia Southern, L 43-26
Delaware State, W 34-14
@ Richmond, L 41-19
@ Presbyterian, W 35-7
Stony Brook, L 38-28
@ Gardner-Webb, W 30-27
@ VMI, 31-3
Liberty, W 45-31
Charelston Southern, W 70-3
Western Illinois, L 17-10
OFFENSE
Nobody would have ever thought that CCU would be playing a playoff game after September. The Chanticleers started out 1-4, and were sitting at 2-5, before a streak took over, and the Chanticleers came from the abyss to defeat Liberty and steal the Big south title. Zach MacDowell struggled at times at QB, but still found a way to toss 20 TDs on the season. He did also manage to get picked 16 times, but much of that was early in the season when the team was struggling. MacDowell passed for 2632 yards on the season, averaging 219 yards per game as a senior. MacDowell also rushed for 283 yards and a team leading 8 TDs for the year.
Eric O'Neal carried the load as the Chanticleers primary back, having rushed for 730 yards and 6 scores as a secondary option to the passing game in the offensive gameplan, and added 30 cathes out of the backfield for another 250 yards and 2 scores.
MacDowell did spread the ball around, as he tossed at least 20 receptions to 5 different receivers, led by Brandon Whitley, who caught 40 passes for 545 yards and a team leading 6 TDs. David Duran and Marquel Willis both passed the 400 yard mark on the season, giving CCU one of the deepest groups in the league.
DEFENSE
Coastal boasted the 2nd best tackler in the Big South in 2010 in LB Andrae Jacobs. Jacobs ended the season with 104 tackles, good for 8.67 per game. LB Desmond Steward finished 8th in the conference with 80. The good news is that both will return to give the Chanticleers a solid force as seniors in 2011.
Jacobs was a force behind the line as well, as he finished 3rd in the Big South with 14 TFLs on the season, while DL Kent Harper joined him in the top ten at 7th with 11. Harper finished 2nd in the conference with just 5 sacks, as the league was not a hotbed of QB sackers in 2010.
Josh Norman was a busy guy in the secondary, having defended 9 passes on the 2010 season, good for 3rd in the conference. Dominique Davenport, a senior, finished with 5. You may not be excited about the 5 defended balls, but you should be hyped about his 6 picks on the season, good for 2nd in the Big South. Norman will be back in 2011 to lead the secondary.
Coastal did a fine job balancing out their defense, but must find a way to shore up a leaky rush defense that allowed almost 150 yards on the ground per game.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Justin Durham was not dependable on the whole, as he only managed to connect on 8 of 14 FG attempts on the season. He has graduated, and so CCU will need to make finding a replacement who can provide better consistency as soon as possible, especially without the presence of MacDowell to lead the offense in 2011.
Ben Erdman was also not very good, having only averaged just over 35 yards per punt. IN the NFL, that would get you cut ASAP. More productivity out of the kicking game is a must.
FINAL NOTES
The Chanticleers stole their way into the conference title and a playoff game in 2010, and nobody saw that coming after the awful start that included a head scrratching loss to Towson. The team never had a driving consistency on either side of the ball, and so were lucky to have won 6 games on the season. That being said, Coastal was promptly dispatched in the 1st round of the playoffs. The team may actually not be as good as they were in 2010 next season, due to the departure of MacDowell. In the end, 2010 was the year of the lucky run, and the steal of the season.
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