CONWAY, S.C. – The No. 16 nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina football team led from start to finish in a 59-6 blowout win in front of a record crowd of 18,674 inside Brooks Stadium in their Sun Belt Conference opener.
 
The win was the Chants' fifth-straight of the season, their first-ever win over ULM (1-3), and put them at 3-2 in Sun Belt Conference openers all-time since joining the league in 2017.
 
CCU extended its conference winning streak to 10-straight games and its home winning streak to 11-straight victories.
 
The Chanticleers outgained the Warhawks 557 to 203 in total yards of offense, holding ULM to 72 yards on the ground and only 131 yards through the air in the win.
 
Coastal also held an advantage on third-down attempts, as the Chants were 9-of-11 compared to the Warhawks' 4-of-15 on third-down conversions.
 
The offense was led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Grayson McCall who was a perfect 13-for-13 in the passing game for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Dating back to the second quarter of the UMass game (Sept. 25) last week, McCall has completed 15-straight passes overall.
 
Aiding in the passing game was Bryce Carpenter (3-for-6, 16 yards), Jarrett Guest (4-for-4, 49 yards, TD), and Zachary Stevens (1-for-1, 5 yards, TD), as both Guest and Stevens recorded their first career touchdown passes as Chants.
 
Nine different Chanticleers caught at least one pass on the day led by senior tight end Isaiah Likely and his five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns and super senior Kameron Brown's five receptions for 46 yards. True freshmen Jared Brown and Chris Rhone each hauled in their first career touchdowns in the victory.
 
On the ground, the two-headed monster of Reese White (15 carries, 95 yards) and Braydon Bennett (7 carries, 76 yards, 2 TDs) combined for 171 yards and two scores, while eight total Chants picked up a carry in the win.
 
Playing without their starting quarterback due to an injury, the Warhawks' offense was led by Chandler Rogers who was 9-for-17 with 100 yards and one interception, while backup Colby Suits was 4-for-6 for 31 yards.
 
Rogers also led the rushing game with 11 carries for 40 yards, while Andrew Henry rushed six times for 15 yards of the backfield.
 
The Coastal defense, which has not allowed a touchdown over the last two games, picked up its first turnover of the season in the fourth quarter, forced eight ULM punts, and scored four three-and-outs to dominate the contest from start to finish.
 
Co-captain and super senior linebacker Teddy Gallagher led the charge with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, and 1.0 sack, while fellow co-captain and linebacker Silas Kelly added six stops. Redshirt seniors Jeffrey Gunter and Tavyn Jackson recorded five and four tackles, respectively, and one pass breakup each on the day.
 
CCU's defense made a statement early with a stop and a near interception by Gunter on the ULM opening offensive possession, allowing just 23 yards on six plays, before a 25-yard punt return by Jaivon Heiligh set up the Coastal offense on its own 45-yard line with 12:34 to go in the opening quarter.
 
Following a holding call on the very first play of scrimmage for the Coastal offense, the Chants used just six plays, highlighted by a 33-yard swing pass to Bennett and a 10-yard rush up the middle by White to take the ball down to the ULM 10-yard line.
 
Three plays later, on a third-and-five, McCall hit an open Likely for the five-yard touchdown catch to cap the six-play, 55-yard, scoring drive in just 3:28 and put the home team on top early at 7-0.
 
After forcing a three-and-out on the defensive side of the ball, the Chants' "Teal Team 6" offense struck again, going 63 yards in just six plays and three minutes as Bennett took an option pitch from McCall off the left side and bullied his way into the end zone for a 10-yard score to put the Chants on top 14-0 with 4:46 still to play in the first.
 
However, after another ULM punt, the Coastal offense took over on its own 23-yard line but fumbled on the second play of the series which was recovered by the Warhawks Quae Drake at the Coastal 22-yard line.
 
Despite the defense not allowing a single yard to the ULM offense on the ensuing drive, the fumble still set up the Warhawk's Calum Sutherland to kick a 40-yard field goal to put the visitors on the scoreboard at 14-3 with less than a minute to go in the opening quarter.
 
Not happy about the turnover on its last offensive possession, the Coastal offense responded in a big way as White led the charge on the ground with five-straight carries, including a 24-yard scramble up the middle, to set up a 30-yard pass and catch from McCall to Likely for their second touchdown of the game. The seven-play, 81-yard drive took just 2:57 off the game clock and pushed the Chants' lead out to 21-3 with 12:50 to go in the second quarter.
 
CCU's special teams stepped up to make a big scoring play again on the next ULM drive, as the "Black Swarm" defense forced another three-and-out before the punt block unit's CJ Beasley busted through the line to block the Devyn McCormick punt attempt. Fellow Chant Aaron Bedgood scooped up the loose ball at the nine-yard line and ran in untouched to put the men in black and teal on top 28-3 early in the second quarter.
 
The momentum stayed on the side of the home team over the remaining 11 minutes of the first half, as the Warhawks punted in each of their next two offensive series, while the Coastal offense scored on a 29-yard rush from Bennett and a 46-yard field goal from Liam Gray, the first of his career, to send the home team on top at 38-8 at the halftime break.
 
The Chants scored on five of their six offensive possessions in the first half of play while forcing the Warhawks into three three-and-outs and six punts over their seven offensive drives in the first 30 minutes of play.
 
Out of the halftime break, the Coastal offense looked to add to its lead but a fumble on a mishandled snap on the first play of the drive put the Chants behind the markers and led to a 40-yard punt from super senior Charles Ouverson, his first in the last two games, to give the Warhawks the ball on their own 28-yard line with 12:55 on the third quarter game clock.
 
The Warhawks put together perhaps their best offensive drive of the game on their ensuing offensive possession as ULM used three double-digit plays in a 17-yard pass from Rogers to Zach Jackson, a 20-yard pass and catch between Rogers and Boogie Knight, and a 12-yard reception by Will Derrick to move down to the CCU 18-yard line.
 
However, the Chants' defense would take advantage of a false start penalty and picked up a five-yard tackle-for-loss from Gunter to hold the Warhawks to a 30-yard Sutherland field goal to put the score at 38-6 with 7:31 to go in the third.
 
The rest of the quarter belonged to the Coastal offense, as Carpenter led a drive that went 52 yards and the remainder of the quarter to put the home team on the ULM 23-yard line to start the fourth quarter.
 
Two plays into the final frame, Beasley scored on a 15-yard rush, for his first career touchdown, to push the Chants lead out to 45-6 with 12:56 left in the contest.
 
The 15-play, 75-yard drive was the longest scoring drive of the season in terms of the number of plays and time at 8:03.
 
The "Black Swarm" defense picked up its first turnover of the season on the next ULM drive, as Lance Boykin intercepted the Rogers pass on a third-and-four to end the Warhawks drive and return the ball to the ULM 40-yard line.
 
Just two plays later, Garrett connected with Rhone for a 32-yard touchdown pass to push the Chants over 50 points at 52-6.
 
After a seventh ULM punt, the Chants drove down the field again, this time led by quarterback Stevens, to go 75 yards on nine plays and capped the scoring off with a five-yard touchdown pass from Stevens to Brown to put the score at 59-6.
 
The defense closed out the game with another three-and-out, their fourth of the contest, to seal blowout win for the home team in its Sun Belt Conference opener.
 
The Chanticleers (5-0, 1-0 SBC) will have a quick turnaround as they will be back in action on Thursday, Oct. 7, at Arkansas State (1-4, 0-1 SBC) for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPNU.
 
Notes

• With the win, the Chants move to 5-0 to start a season for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in program history (2013, 2014, 2015, and 2020).
• The win pushes the Chants' winning streak to five straight games overall.
• With the win, the Chants' increase its home winning streak to 11 consecutive games with their last home loss coming back in 2019.
• The Sun Belt win is the Chants' 10th-straight win in conference play not having lost a conference game since 2019 at ULM.
• CCU's 59 points mark the second-straight game and the third time this year that the offense has scored 50 points or more in a game (52 – The Citadel, 53 – UMass, and 59 – ULM).
• Coastal Carolina blocked a punt for the third time this season and ran it back for a touchdown for the second time this year (Blocks – The Citadel, Kansas, and ULM).
• The two punt returns for the Chants this season ties the single-season record set in 2003 and 2012.
• The Chants have blocked four total kicks this season – three punts and one field goal. The single-season record is five blocked kicks in 2015.
• Freshman kicker Liam Gray's 46-yard field goal in the second quarter was his first made career field goal as a Chanticleer.
• Braydon Bennett's two rushing touchdowns mark the first multi-touchdown game of his career as a Chant.
• CJ Beasley's rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter was the first touchdown of his CCU career.
• Jared Brown and Chris Rhone each caught their first career touchdown passes as Chants in the win.
• Jarrett Guest and Zachary Stevens each threw their first career touchdowns as Chants in the victory.

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