Coastal Carolina aims to bolt out of blocks in clash vs. Virginia

Field Level Media|published: Tue 17th September, 12:37 2024

Coastal Carolina's Christian Washington tries to evade the tackle of Jacksonville State's Malcolm Jones during college football action at Burgess-Snow Field AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama August 29, 2024. (Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden Times)

Coastal Carolina will look for another fast start on Saturday in Conway, S.C., in its first-ever meeting against a Virginia squad coming off a poor finish.

The unbeaten Chanticleers (3-0) have outscored their first three opponents by a combined 79-27 margin in the first half, including recording a 21-10 halftime lead in last weekend's 28-20 win at Temple.

"We've done a really good job of playing fast," Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck said earlier this season. "I talk to our team all the time about starting fast and I (have been) very pleased with that."

The Chanticleers lead the Sun Belt Conference with 251.7 rushing yards per game and rank second in the league in scoring with 41.0 points per game.

Ethan Vasko passed for 103 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 92 yards in the win against Temple. The quarterback is second on the team with 190 rushing yards, trailing Christian Washington and his 206 yards and four touchdowns. Tray Taylor is Coastal Carolina's leading receiver with 132 yards on six catches with one TD.

The Chanticleers will be facing a Virginia defense that ranks 12th against the run (138.7 yards per game) and 14th in total defense (397.3) in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

The Cavaliers (2-1) were outscored 20-0 in the second half as Maryland pulled away for a 27-13 victory last Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. The Terrapins scored on four of their first five drives after the intermission.

"The least important thing in a game is the score at halftime," Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. "It didn't matter if we were up or we were down, we've got to come out and play the best second half that we possibly could. ... We didn't do that."

Anthony Colandrea ranks fifth in the ACC with 901 passing yards but has thrown four interceptions in his past two games.

Kobe Pace is the Cavaliers' leading rusher with 153 yards and one touchdown and Malachi Fields paces the team with 20 receptions for 284 yards.

--Field Level Media