CCU coasts to victory over William & Mary. Here’s what the win means for CCU’s season

Coastal Carolina made quick work of its opponent for a second week.

Just like CCU’s Week 1 win against Jacksonville State, it took about a half of football for the Chanticleers to assert control of the game against William & Mary. Indeed, the Virginia Griffins proved no match for the roosters from Conway.

In its first home game of the 2024 season, Coastal Carolina blew out William & Mary 40-21 in front of 19,214 fans, the fourth-biggest crowd in school history. Coastal once again ran the ball all over the field, finishing the game with close to 6 yards per attempt, as Coastal’s enhanced offensive line moved Griffin defenders out of the way of CCU running backs with ease.

The Chants’ defense stuffed much of William & Mary’s offense on the ground and through the air; the Griffins’ only sustained success came mostly through trick plays or after the game was mostly over, as CCU’s defense otherwise remained stalwart. Indeed, the Chants harassed William & Mary’s multiple quarterbacks, garnering several sacks. For the second week in a row, Coastal’s defense got its hands on the football and scored.

While the game largely mirrored CCU’s destruction of Jacksonville State, the effort was more painful. CCU lost running backs Braydon Bennett and Ja’Vin Simpkins early in the game, and neither returned. Yet CCU seemed able to weather the losses, as Christian Washington and Darren Lloyd seamlessly replaced their teammates, and the Chants finished the game with close to 300 yards for the second week in a row.

Head coach Tim Beck said he didn’t know Bennett and Simpkins’ status after the game, adding that Bennett probably could have returned to the game but, for safety precautions, opted to keep him out.

While Coastal won comfortably, for Beck, the Chants left more points off the board, as CCU cooled down considerably after its 14-point explosion in the first quarter. Beck attributed this to the team losing focus as the game went on.

“We started fast (and that’s) when you saw the distractions kind of in the second,” Beck said. “That’s why some of the mistakes were uncharacteristic of what we were doing in the first five quarters of our season.”

Despite the critique, the win could signal more success for Coastal as the season progresses, but some questions did arise from the game. Here’s what we learned.

Coastal Carolina has a solid running game and can protect the quarterback.

The Chants believe their road to the Sun Belt Conference title game will be paved by repeatedly running the ball. Their adherence to a conventional approach, something they couldn’t rely on in 2023 because of early struggles, has paid dividends early in the 2024 season.

CCU running backs have repeatedly found wide-open fields to run into, sapping their opponents’ ability to get back into the game by dominating the time-of-possession battle.

The conservative approach is working, though, and if Coastal can continue finding success on the ground, then CCU could impose its will on the Sun Belt Conference. The engine behind this attack is Coastal’s offense live, which seemed to easily dictate the line of scrimmage all game. Offensive line coach Derek Warehime’s unit proved its mettle, particularly on pass plays.

Quarterback Ethan Vasko usually had clean pockets and plenty of time to pass when utilizing the vertical game, and he reciprocated the protection by staying in the pocket and looking to throw rather than scramble.

By the end of the game, Warehime’s offensive line gave up no sacks and only one quarterback hit. Beck praised his front five after the game.

“They’ve made a tremendous amount of improvement,” Beck said.

Washington, who after the game wore a chain with his initials “CW” emblazoned on it, given to him by his mother, finished with 100 yards on 16 carries. He spoke positively of the line, adding that it gave him plenty of room to roam.

“I don’t really have to worry too much about people hitting me in the backfield because they’re doing their job,” Washington added.

But while the offensive line gave Vasko and Washington plenty of room and time to operate with, Coastal, at times, struggled to utilize its work.

Ethan Vasko and CCU wide receivers found some success, but the passing game proved difficult

Coastal’s potential as a passing offense showed itself on its fourth offensive play. Vasko knew he was throwing to the speedy Tray Taylor, who was streaking down the field before the first-year Chant receiver even turned around to find the ball.

The 39-yard shot and completion put CCU in a prime position to score its first touchdown and seemed like the beginning of a dynamic game for the Chants through the air. Except the pass proved Coastal’s longest of the day as receivers dropped passes, balls were thrown too high and the Chants seemed somewhat off when going to the air for offense.

Vasko, who finished the game without a touchdown, went 8-23 for 160 yards. The performance was a step back from the redshirt sophomore’s outing against Jacksonville State, although reminiscent of some of Vasko’s play in 2023. While Vasko again threw primarily short passes with intermittent deep ones, as he did against the Gamecocks, the strategy proved less effective against the Griffins.

Vasko’s play could have been a one-game result and not predictive of the rest of the 2024 season. Indeed, Vasko also had success running the ball alongside the running backs, finishing the game with about 60 yards on six rushes. Yet, if Coastal lacks a complementary pass game to go with its ground attack as the season progresses, problems throwing will dampen CCU’s offensive effectiveness.

For Beck, while still looking to assess further, the problems with the passing game were not indicative of a trend causing problems, but instead in-game specifics.

“We just seemed off. It started not that way, but it seemed like we got that way,” Beck added. “We had guys open. We miss them. They were open. We didn’t hang onto the ball.”

The win wasn’t without other struggles. As against Jacksonville State, Coastal’s defense allowed points later in the game, making it appear closer than it was.

Beck said before the game that starting younger players was partially a factor in teams scoring on Coastal late in secured wins, but the trend goes back to 2023.

CCU allowed Texas State to get back into the game in Coastal’s 2023 contest, but now Beck says CCU is still growing as a team and learning how to put games out of reach.

“We’re still learning how to win,” Beck said.

While they still might be learning, the Chants have started the season 2-0 relatively comfortably. If they can master winning, Coastal could be on track for a strong season.