Chanticleers Rule the Roost With 4th Quarter Heroics
Bill Davis' pair of touchdown in the final two minutes was the final spark Coastal needed to slay South Carolina and claim the spot as the kings of the state.BOXSCORE
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Coastal Carolina | 0 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 25 |
| South Carolina | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
ScoringSummary
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Coastal Carolina | South Carolina |
| 1st | South Carolina | 1:34 | Clayton House, 98 Yd Pass From Jabu Hart | 0 | 7 |
| 2nd | Coastal Carolina | 4:27 | David Yazzie, 13 Yd Pass From Roquan Barber | 7 | 7 |
| 3rd | Coastal Carolina | 2:18 | Safety | 9 | 7 |
| 4th | South Carolina | 5:34 | Malik Clark, 89 Yd Pass From Jabu Hart | 9 | 14 |
| 4th | Coastal Carolina | 1:38 | Bill Davis, 1 Yd Run (Failed 2PT) | 15 | 14 |
| 4th | Coastal Carolina | 1:21 | Haden Tessier, 25 Yd FG | 18 | 14 |
| 4th | Coastal Carolina | 0:27 | Bill Davis, 8 Yd Run | 25 | 14 |
Coastal Carolina
Passing_Stats
| Roquan Barber | 35/46, 246 Yds, TD, INT |
Rushing_Stats
| Bill Davis | 23 Att, 128 Yds, 2 TD |
| Roquan Barber | 8 Att, 8 Yds |
| Michael Allen | 8 Att, -1 Yd |
Receiving_Stats
| Michael Allen | 12 Rec, 62 Yds |
| Trishtin Glass | 7 Rec, 45 Yds |
| Aziah Johnson | 7 Rec, 48 Yds |
| OJ O'Neal | 3 Rec, 54 Yds |
| David Yazzie | 3 Rec, 19 Yds, TD |
| Ja'Marion Wayne | 2 Rec, 3 Yds |
| Xakery Wiedner | 1 Rec, 15 Yds |
Defensive_Stats
| DE Aakil Washington | 4 Tkl, 2 TFL |
| CB Trevor Holton | 4 Tkl, TFL |
| FS Ja'Marley Riddle | 4 Tkl, 3 TFL |
| DE LJ McCray | 3 Tkl, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks |
| DT Nick James | 2 Tkl, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks |
| DE Ibrahim Diawara | Tkl, TFL, Sack |
South Carolina
Passing_Stats
| Jabu Hart | 8/14, 224 Yds, 2 TD |
Rushing_Stats
| Jabu Hart | 8 Att, -35 Yds |
| Isaiah Augustave | 4 Att, -7 Yds |
| Jay Haynes | 2 Att, 5 Yds |
Receiving_Stats
| Clayton House | 4 Rec, 124 Yds, TD |
| Michael Smith | 2 Rec, 9 Yds |
| Malik Clark | 2 Rec, 91 Yds, TD |
Defensive_Stats
| LB Shawn Murphy | 17 Tkl, 3 TFL |
| CB Brandon Cisse | 15 Tkl, 4 TFL, Sack |
| MLB Jayr Johnson | 14 Tkl |
| SS Juan Kilgore | 9 Tkl, TFL, INT |
| DT Davonte Miles | 7 Tkl, 3 TFL |
| DT Reuben Womack | 5 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sack |
| DE Desmond Umeozulu | 5 Tkl, 4 TFL |
| DE Dyland Stewart | 6 Tkl, 4 TFL |
Columbia, SC. - It was a picture-perfect Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium — unless you were wearing garnet and black. In what can only be described as the perfect storm for Coastal Carolina, the Gamecocks were left scrambling after quarterback LaNorris Sellers surprised many by declaring early for the NFL Draft. Then came a season-opening loss to Miami. And when redshirt freshman Weston Bryan went down in that game, the Gamecocks’ offensive outlook went from cloudy to catastrophic.
But ask Coastal Carolina if they care about any of that. Spoiler alert: they don’t.
“There’s always something — that’s football,” Coach Kade Vaughn snapped postgame. “If things hadn’t gone our way, would I be up here whining about Roquan [Barber] playing through injuries that would’ve sidelined most guys? Nah. I’d eat that L and keep pushing. I suggest Kalani does the same.”
The fired-up response came moments after Coastal not only stunned South Carolina 25–14 but also after Vaughn learned that Gamecocks head coach Kalani Sitake had blamed the loss on his banged-up quarterback situation — and referred to the Chanticleers as the “lesser” team.
Lesser? Not today.
Coastal opened the game with a tone-setting, 16-play drive that chewed over eight minutes off the clock. But Vaughn, aggressive as ever, kept his foot on the gas and went for it on 4th-and-goal from the two. South Carolina held — but the message was clear: Coastal came to punch.
Two plays later, the Gamecocks looked dead in the water at their own two-yard line. Then came the gut-punch. Freshman QB Jabu Hart, standing in his collapsing pocket, heaved a prayer to Clayton House, who climbed over corner Josiah Persinger, shook loose, and outran everyone 98 yards to the end zone.
One play. One mistake. One haymaker.
For a moment, it looked like David had woken the sleeping Goliath.
But Coastal didn’t blink.
“Sorry Mama, but we simply said ‘F*** that,’” said running back Bill Davis. “Ain’t no way we were letting them dog-walk us.”
The Chanticleers fired right back with an 18-play marathon drive of their own. The series nearly stalled at the 11th play, but Roquan Barber found Michael Allen on an out route for a 12-yard conversion on 4th-and-12. Six plays later, facing 4th-and-goal from the 25 due to a holding penalty, Coastal lined up for a long field goal. The kick missed — but a roughing-the-kicker penalty bailed them out.
On the very next play — the 18th of the drive — Barber hit true freshman tight end David Yazzie up the seam for a game-tying touchdown. Eight minutes of grit, kept alive by guts and good fortune.
Neither team threatened the rest of the half, and despite dominating time of possession (18:11 to 3:40), total yards (168 to 111), and first downs (13 to 1), Coastal entered the break tied 7–7.
“Everybody’s tired — I know it,” Vaughn told his team at halftime. “But we’re giving them all they can handle. Keep punching. This game is ours.”
Before the team left the locker room, former Florida Gator LJ McCray delivered a final reminder.
“You can ask Tay [Bennett] — this is SEC football. You keep punching till someone flinches. Let’s make sure it’s them.”
Coastal came out swinging again with another long drive to open the third quarter, but once more, they were stopped at the goal line on 4th-and-2. This time, though, the defense turned frustration into fire. On 3rd-and-11 from their own one-yard line, McCray blew through the line, forcing a hold from guard Trovon Baugh in the end zone — safety. Coastal had the lead, 9–7.
After a few empty possessions on both sides, South Carolina finally broke through. Hart hit Malik Clark on a sluggo route for an 89-yard score — another deep-ball haymaker — and suddenly the Gamecocks led 14–9 with under six minutes left.
Barber, already nursing a lower leg and shoulder injury, limped back onto the field.
“Coach wasn’t pulling me from this game,” Barber later said. “He’d need a stretcher to get me off that field.”
He backed it up with a gutsy 10-play, 75-yard drive. Barber went 5-for-8 for 49 yards, including clutch third-down conversions to Trishtin Glass (14 yards) and OJ O’Neal (23 yards) to move the sticks and soften up the Gamecock defense. Then it was Davis’ turn.
The bruising back broke off a 20-yard rumble to the one-yard line, then finished the job on the next play to give Coastal the lead with 1:55 left. The two-point try failed, but the Chanticleers were in front — 15–14 — and had the ball back just seconds later.
On the ensuing kickoff, safety Nick Rudd-Johnson delivered the play of his young career, laying a perfect hit to jar the ball loose. Coastal pounced on the fumble, and with Barber instructed to burn clock — no heroics — the Chants drained the time before Haden Tessier drilled a 25-yard field goal to push the lead to four.
Now it was touchdown or bust.
Hart opened South Carolina’s final drive with a 13-yard strike to House. But then the walls collapsed. McCray sacked Hart. Nick James followed with another. Fourth-and-23. One shot left.
And for a moment, it looked like Nyck Harbor — the same one who torched Coastal for two scores last year — might do it again.
He broke free past Persinger. The ball was on a rope. Harbor elevated.
But Persinger, hustling back into position, got just enough of the ball to dislodge it. No catch. No comeback.
Two plays later, Davis thundered through the exhausted defense for an 18-yard score to ice the game.
Coastal said they wanted to prove they ran the Carolinas. And on this sunlit Saturday in Columbia — they did.
Clayton House skying for the 98 yard touchdown reception that left Coastal reeling, but not out.
LJ McCray continues to wreck games as advertised racking up two more sacks and forcing a critical holding penalty to secure a safety.
Just when it appeared that Jabu Hart didn't have enough to come back - he struck gold again with this 89 yard bomb to Malik Clark to take the late lead.
The football gods were wearing Teal and Black today as the special teams turnover helped Coastal drain crucial time and tack on an additional three points late in the 4th.
Not this time Nyck - after torching Coastal for a pair of scores a year ago Nyck Harbor was held without a catch including this PBU by Josiah Persinger on 4th and 23 - ending the potential go-ahead touchdown drive by South Carolina.
7 FCS @
James Madison (1-0) 31
10 FCS @
Louisiana-Monroe (2-1) 38
14 FCS @
Arkansas State (1-1) 30
31 FCS @ Troy (1-1) 29
7 Old Dominion (0-2) @
#22 Virginia Tech (2-0) 27
20 Middle Tenn (1-2) @
Marshall (2-1) 26
31 Georgia State (2-1) @ Kennesaw State (1-1) 10
6 Southern Miss (1-1) @
Auburn (2-0) 42
15 South Alabama (1-2) @
Tulane (1-1) 30
38 Louisiana-Lafayette (3-0) @ Rice (1-1) 29
15 Georgia Southern (1-1) @
#13 Clemson (1-1) 45
45 UTSA (1-1) @ Texas State (0-2) 38
33 Appalachian State (1-1) @
East Carolina (2-0) 38
Notable Week Two Results
31 #16 Oklahoma (1-1) @
#4 Michigan (2-0) 45
17 Washington (1-1) @
#5 USC (2-0) 45
38 #18 Penn State (1-1) @
Temple (2-0) 45
29 #14 Notre Dame (3-0) @ Florida State (1-1) 14
45 #6 Ohio State (2-0) @ #23 Texas (1-1) 38
red-hot start. Offense showing up and showing out.