2024 Season Preview – Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
2023 Record – 8-5; 5-3 Sun Belt
Bowl: VS. San Jose State in Hawai’i Bowl (W 24-14)
2024 Schedule
- 8/29 – at Jacksonville State
- 9/7 – VS William & Mary
- 9/14 – at Temple
- 9/21 – VS Virginia
- 10/5 – VS Old Dominion
- 10/10 – at James Madison
- 10/19 – VS Louisiana
- 11/2 – at Troy
- 11/7 – VS Appalachian State
- 11/16 – at Marshall
- 11/23 – VS Georgia Southern
- 11/30 – at Georgia State
2023 Recap
After a couple of strong years in 2020 and 2021, which included an undefeated 2020 regular season, Coastal Carolina took a step back down the last couple seasons. In 2023, that started with a lost at UCLA. They were very competitive through the first three quarters, going into the fourth down 14-13. The Chanticleers would give up 13 points in the fourth though to lose 27-13. The next two games would be victories going into conference play.
The start of conference play was tough for the Chanticleers. It started off with a loss at home to Georgia State and followed up with a loss to Georgia Southern. Both losses were by double figures.
Coastal Carolina’s game against Appalachian State was probably their game of the year. It was a back-and-forth affair that the Mountaineers tied up early in the fourth. Coastal would bounce back and kick a field goal as time expired to win the game 27-24 to get back on track.
This would lead to a winning streak. The Chanticleers would win five in a row. All the games were conference game which put them right back in the thick of the East division race. Even after losing a close non-conference game to Army, Coastal Carolina could still win the division if they won their last game of the regular season against James Madison.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. The Dukes came out firing and absolutely blew out the Chanticleers with a 56-14 victory. Coastal Carolina would still make it the Hawai’i Bowl and come out with a 24-14 win over San Jose State to end the season on a strong note. They would finish the season at 8-5, 5-3 in the Sun Belt.
2024 Preview
The Coastal Carolina offense will need to do some retooling going into the 2024 season. This will start at the quarterback position as Grayson McCall moved on to NC State. Luckily backup Ethan Vasko got some decent playing time which will give them needed experience. Vasko was also the second leading rusher behind Braydon Bennett who also returns in the backfield.
Where the experience will need to step up for the Chanticleers is at receiver. The top two targets, Sam Pickney and Jared Brown, are gone. This means the top returning receiver will be James Tucker, who only had 423 receiving yards in 2023.
There are some big holes to fill on defense as well. Coastal Carolina loses their top three tacklers from a 2023 team that gave up under 24 points per game. This means the leading tackler is safety Juan Powell.
This likely means the defensive line will be a point of concern this season. The secondary should continue to be strong after having 14 interceptions in 2023. If they stay strong and the line can find itself the Chanticleers should continue to be competitive in the tough Sun Belt.
2024 Projection
Coastal Carolina has a fairly decent non-conference schedule to start of the season. First up is a game at Jacksonville State out of Conference USA. This is followed up by games against William & Mary and Temple. All three of those games should be winnable for the Chanticleers. The last non-conference is at Virgina, a team out of the ACC that struggled in 2023 but should be better in 2024.
The Sun Belt is loaded for a mid-major conference, and it starts off with some tough games. The toughest will be a trip to James Madison, a team that would have made it to the conference championship game in 2023 if they had been eligible.
There are two other games in the middle of the season that will be tough for Coastal Carolina. Those games are against Troy on the road and at home against Appalachian State. Those are the two teams that played in the Sun Belt Championship game in 2023.
Things let up a little bit to end the season. After a road game at Marshall, the Chanticleers finish the season with games against Georgia Southern and Georgia State. As tough as the Sun Belt is, it will be tough for Coastal Carolina to make it to the conference championship. But, thanks to a favorable non-conference schedule they should still make it to a bowl game pretty easily.
Prediction – 9-3