Despite Early Miscues, Chanticleers Roll To Kickoff Title Defense
Alfonso Smith declared the front seven needed to pickup the slack while the secondary came together and Smith did his part, sacking Hokie QB Pierre Capers on the 1st play of the game as he tallied three of the Chants six sacks in the season opening win.
BOXSCORE
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Coastal Carolina | 14 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 51 |
| Virginia Tech | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
ScoringSummary
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Coastal Carolina | Virginia Tech |
| 1st | Virginia Tech | 6:39 | Dayonne Bourne, 13 Yd Pass From Pierre Capers | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | Coastal Carolina | 5:13 | Duke Kryspin, 1 Yd Run | 7 | 7 |
| 1st | Coastal Carolina | 0:35 | Tyler Hagg, 7 Yd Pass From Fredrick Meredith | 14 | 7 |
| 2nd | Virginia Tech | 9:03 | James Bermudez, 42 Yd Pass From Pierre Capers | 14 | 14 |
| 2nd | Coastal Carolina | 4:45 | Cornell Jennings, 1 Yd Run | 21 | 14 |
| 2nd | Coastal Carolina | 1:16 | Bernie Bender, 14 Yd Pass From Fredrick Meredith | 28 | 14 |
| 2nd | Coastal Carolina | 0:00 | Keke Allotey, Returned Interception 102 Yds | 35 | 14 |
| 3rd | Virginia Tech | 7:11 | Morris Nicholson, 44 Yd Pass From Pierre Capers | 35 | 21 |
| 3rd | Coastal Carolina | 4:33 | Tyler Hagg, 50 Yd Pass From Fredrick Meredith | 42 | 21 |
| 3rd | Coastal Carolina | 0:05 | Fredrick Meredith, 1 Yd Run | 49 | 21 |
| 4th | Coastal Carolina | 7:12 | Safety | 51 | 21 |
Coastal Carolina Virginia Tech
Passing | Stats Passing | Stats
--------------------|------------------------------------------ -------------------|-------------------------------------------
Fredrick Meredith | 28/42, 321 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT Pierre Capers | 19/30, 278 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
| Juna DiNapoli | 6/7, 47 Yds, INT
Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats
--------------------|----------------------------------------- --------------------|------------------------------------------
Cornell Jennings | 9 Att, 107 Yds, TD George Day | 13 Att, 82 Yds
Fredrick Meredith | 6 Att, 66 Yds, TD Adrian Amano | 5 Att, 17 Yds
Fredrick McCallum | 5 Att, 42 Yds Pierre Capers | 4 Att, -27 Yds
Duke Kryspin | 1 Att, 1 Yd, TD Juan DiNapoli | 3 Att, -20 Yds
Dayonne Bourne | 2 Rec, 7 Yds
Bradley Burfict | 1 Att, -2 Yds
Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats
--------------------|----------------------------------------- --------------------|------------------------------------------
Tavares Tinker | 6 Rec, 52 Yds AJ Kazee | 6 Rec, 69 Yds, TD
Dorian Allen | 4 Rec, 67 Yds James Bermudez | 4 Rec, 93 Yds, TD
Jamal Stephen | 4 Rec, 55 Yds Dayonne Bourne | 3 Rec, 32 Yds, TD
Bernie Bender | 4 Rec, 38 Yds, TD Joe Hamm | 3 Rec, 22 Yds
Fredrick McCallum | 3 Rec, 20 Yds Sergio Kryspin | 2 Rec, 31 Yds
Tyler Hagg | 3 Rec, 61 Yds, 2 TD Devontae Doman | 2 Rec, 11 Yds
Duke Kryspin | 2 Rec, 2 Yds Enrique Sampson | 1 Rec, 1 Yd
Malcolm Briggs | 1 Rec, 14 Yds Tyrone EKiyor | 1 Rec, 5 Yds
Cornell Jennings | 1 Rec, 12 Yds Robert Brumfield | 1 Rec, 4 Yds
Morris Nicholson | 1 Rec, 44 Yds
George Day | 1 Rec, 11 Yds
Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats
--------------------|----------------------------------------- --------------------|------------------------------------------
SS Randy Granger | 12 Tkl, 3 TFL MLB DeMarcus Waiters| 10 Tkl, TFL
FS Keke Allotey | 9 Tkl, TFL, 2 INT, TD, Safety FS Tory Kosar | 10 Tkl
DE Alfonso Smith | 7 Tkl, 4 TFL, 3 Sacks CB Nick Lerma | 9 Tkl, TFL, INT
DE Ramon Queiro | 5 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sack CB Jordan Jerman | 3 Tkl, INT
CB Robert Elling | 4 Tkl, INT
LB Tyrone Flinn | 3 Tkl, TFL, Sack
Blacksburg, VA. - Last year when the Chanticleers and Hokies met, Virginia Tech linebacker DeMarcus Waiters made Fredrick Meredith’s life miserable — intercepting him three times in a Coastal win. This time around, Meredith made sure to steer clear of the playmaking linebacker, though the junior quarterback still had a pair of miscues in the first half that kept the Chanticleers from building a larger cushion before the break.
Virginia Tech opened with the ball, and despite a first-play sack by Coastal defensive end Alfonso Smith — who had promised earlier in the week that the defensive line would “bring the heat” while the new-look secondary settled in — the Hokies struck first. A stunning 56-yard rush by George Day on 3rd-and-19 kept the drive alive, and Tech eventually punched it in to take an early 7-0 lead against the defending national champions.
While the Chanticleers only dialed up 15 designed runs on the afternoon, with Meredith adding six scrambles of his own, new transfer halfback Cornell Jennings made the most of his limited touches. The former USC Trojan exploded for 100-plus yards in his Coastal debut, highlighted by a 59-yard scamper on his very first carry — bursting through the hole and leaving a defender spinning with a filthy juke move.
It was clear that Kade Vaughn’s offense wanted to get the passing attack in rhythm early and often, but the head coach made it clear after the game that fans should expect a more balanced approach moving forward.
“We really wanted to get the passing game humming — see how Dorian, Malcolm [Briggs], Cornell, and Fredrick all mesh live,” Vaughn said. “Now that we’ve got a feel for where everyone’s comfortable, expect much more balance going forward.”
Despite throwing two interceptions that both led to Virginia Tech scoring drives in the second and third quarters, Meredith still finished with over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air — plus 66 yards and another score on the ground.
“I caught myself pressing, wanting to live up to the hype,” Meredith admitted. “Just got to get back in that groove of killing them with patience. No defense plays perfect for four quarters. We just have to take our big plays when they slip.”
Coastal led 28–14 late in the second quarter after Meredith connected with Bernie Bender for his second touchdown of the half. But with Virginia Tech threatening to add points before halftime, quarterback Pierre Capers tried to force a throw into double coverage with just eight seconds left.
That proved to be a disastrous choice. Sophomore safety Keke Allotey jumped the route, secured the interception, and sprinted 102 yards the other way — silencing Lane Stadium and sending Coastal into halftime with a commanding 35–14 lead.
The Chanticleers never looked back, cruising to a 51–21 win in Blacksburg to open their national title defense at 1–0. Next up: a massive measuring-stick game at home against rival Clemson — a matchup many are already calling a potential ACC Championship preview between two South Carolina heavyweights.
Keke Allotey showing he can do more than lay out the opposition, snagging the 102 yard interception at the end of the 1st half.
Mistakes were abound for the Chanticleers secondary including on this final touchdown pass by Pierre Capers, with both safety and corner biting on the flat route leaving the go-route behind wide open.
Coastal may have eased Cornell Jennings into game action, but expect the former USC Trojans to continue to show out in an expanded role as the season rolls along.
ACC Week One Results
54 #7 Tennessee @ #24 Louisville 35
7 FCS @
NC State 49
25 West Virginia @ Pittsburgh 21
10 FCS @
Georgia Tech 38
14 FCS @
Boston College 35
37 #9 Miami @
#5 Ole Miss 40
7 FCS @
Syracuse 63
7 Wake Forest @
#8 Penn State 35
52 #4 Texas A&M @ #25 Duke 7
48 Georgia @ #13 Clemson 45
17 North Carolina @
Florida State 38
Notable Week One Results
38 Notre Dame @ #17 Michigan 27