Georgia Southern holds on to upend Coastal Carolina, 38-28

Georgia Southern picked off Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall four times en route to a 10-point win over the Chanticleers, 38-28.

While the Eagles defense was aggressive in this win, the offense was the story, as Davis Brin outdueled McCall to the tune of 322 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for the Southern signal caller.

Jalen White returned from injury having missed last week’s contest and was eating up the Chants on the ground, tallying 77 yards on 11 carries, 7 yards per carry, and a score.

From a receiving perspective, Khaleb Hood made a number of impressive plays for the Eagles, including finding a soft spot in the zone from 12 yards out with 8 seconds remaining before halftime, which allowed GS to take a seven-point lead into the break, 21-14.

Hood finished the contest with a game-high 131 yards on 12 receptions in the win over CCU.

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

McCall, for lack of a better term, sucked in this game. He threw for 299 yards and a touchdown, but multiple possessions ended with the Coastal Carolina quarterback either chucking balls into double coverage, having passes batted at the line that ended up in a pick-six, or simply overshooting receivers and the ball ending up in the Eagle defenders hands.

Each of Sam Pinckney and Jared Brown were good despite McCall’s struggles, adding up 100+ yards receiving each, with Pinckney adding a receiving score to open the third quarter.

While the Chanticleers were consistent, with both touchdowns and interceptions in each of the four quarters, Georgia Southern’s offense got hot in the second and third quarters to put this one away.

The game truly felt out of reach for Coastal when Georgia Southern linebacker Khadry Jackson came down with a tipped pass and ran nearly untouched to the end zone to make it 31-21 with 6 minutes left to go in the third.

Coastal’s inability to string together consistent offense combined with McCall’s penchant for turning the ball over kept them away from making a run at the lead, as Georgia Southern kept its double-digital lead until the clock struck zero following the Jackson interception.

Southern will get a week off to prepare for a James Madison squad that looks like the best in the conference, while Coastal will look to rebound from back-to-back losses on October 10 at Appalachian State.