Texas State dominated Georgia Southern in San Marcos last Saturday. With that win, the Bobcats became bowl eligible for the first time since 2014. Texas State is just a couple months away from playing in the first bowl game in program history.
Texas State begins the final quarter of the season with a road trip to Conroe, South Carolina for a matchup with the Chanticleers. The Bobcats are 1-3 against Costal Carolina since the Chanticleers joined the conference in 2017. Texas State took the first game of the series for their only conference win of the 2017 season, but are winless in all three matchups since.
But this is a different time, both teams have new head coaches since that game in 2021. Jamey Chadwell left the Coastal Carolina for Liberty this offseason, and the Chanticleers hired Tim Beck away from his OC role at NC State.
Coastal Carolina had a tough time getting off the ground early, starting the season 2-3. Since the disappointing start, the Chanticleers have won four games in a row and are entering the weekend with a 6-3 record.
Coastal Carolina has been without star QB Grayson McCall for the past two games, and he will be sidelined for their game against Texas State on Saturday. Coastal’s backup quarterback Jarrett Guest is also listed as doubtful, so they are likely down to Ethan Vasko, their third quarterback. against the Bobcats.
A Look at Coastal Carolina
Make no mistake, Vasko should not be underestimated. He was the starter for last week’s 28-24 victory over Old Dominion. Vasko completed 17 of his 31 passes for 180 yards along with a touchdown and an interception. However, Vasko ran the ball 22 times for 170 yards with a 75-yard touchdown. Point being, Vasko is a fantastic athlete with a lot of skill running the ball. A quarterback that can run adds so much value to an offense, it cannot be overstated. It makes an offense so much more efficient, and is the easiest way to improve a team’s rushing game. Vasko has a quick release, and pretty solid arm strength. The ball has real zip on it, and he can make almost any throw on the field. Vasko is quite a capable replacement. While he is no Grayson McCall, Vasko is certainly a worthy quarterback.
They haven’t been able to blow any of their opponents out of the water running the ball this season. The efficiency stats rank Coastal near the bottom of the country when they run the ball, much of Beck’s offense relies on the pass. Their leading rusher is Braydon Bennett, who has 349 rushing yards this season. Bennett is a good combination of power and shiftiness. He’s a difficult player to bring down in the open field, but he doesn’t have elite speed or explosiveness.
At receiver they really lean on two players, Sam Pinckney, and Jared Brown. Pinckney is a super senior, he has been in college since 2018. Pinckney is 6-4 and 220 lbs. His size makes him a reliable possession receiver with some serious skills at the catch point. Jared Brown has more speed than Pinckney, he’s more of your stereotypical smaller and quicker receiver. Coastal has a lot of variety and diversity, but it’s far from the most talented group that the Texas State secondary has faced.
Their leader on the defensive line is graduate transfer Michael Mason. Mason is athletic, with lots of experience. He leads the team in sacks, and is helpful in stopping the run. They also have a couple of linebackers with college experience in Shane Bruce and JT Killen.
They’ve got a handful of talented players in the secondary, but Clayton Isbell is the key player at that level of the defense. Isbell is a super senior who transferred to Coastal from Utah this offseason. He’s a tough, physical safety who makes a lot of tackles. He also racked up three interceptions in their game against UCLA, so he’s capable of making a major impact on the game.
Final thoughts
Texas State bounced back from an unfortunate loss to Troy in a big way last week, and they will be riding a lot of momentum into this game. Coastal has also found their stride with four straight wins, so both teams will be feeling confident leading up to the game on Saturday.
I think Coastal is a very good team, but I think that Texas State matches up very well with the Chanticleers, especially with McCall out at QB. The Chanticleer defense does a decent job defending the pass, but their numbers are not good against the run. I expect Texas State’s rushing attack to continue to roll in this game, Mahdi will have a big day.
The biggest task for the Bobcat defense will be limiting Vasko’s legs, they cannot afford to give up explosive plays on QB runs. A lot will rest on the linebackers and vipers on the Texas State defense, they can’t allow Vasko to break contain and get to the outside. For the most part, the Bobcat defense has done a good job stopping the run. With Coastal Carolina’s lack of success in that aspect of the game, I do not anticipate the Chanticleers having much success with designed handoffs.
T.J. Finley will be the most important player. If he plays like he did last week, this game will yield a similar result. He has to be smart with the ball, giving Coastal’s offense extra possessions with turnovers would put the Texas State offense in a deep hole to climb out of. Finley has to be smart with the ball, and get Texas State some points early in the game.
On defense, a lot will ride on the secondary. I trust the front seven to do their job in this game, but the Chanticleers have talent and experience at the wide receiver position. With a backup quarterback, the Bobcats need to do whatever they can to make him feel uncomfortable.
There are no easy wins for Texas State in their final three games of the regular season, Coastal is a quality opponent. Still, I give Texas State a slight edge to win this game. I think that the defense will play at a similar level to where they did last week against Georgia Southern, and the offense will score just enough points to win the game by a possession.
