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2024 Coastal Carolina Schedule
By Joe Cashion (The Nexus, Info Joe), from The Strut Podcast
Is it too soon to take a quick preview of the 2024 Coastal Carolina football schedule? Why, of course not!
The Chants are coming off a successful 2023 season, going 8-5 overall in head coach Tim Beck’s first year, culminating with a 24-14 Hawai’i Bowl win over San Jose State. Considering Coastal won that game without all-time legend Grayson McCall (injured), running back C.J. Beasley (portal) and most explosive offensive player Jared Brown (portal), it made that win even more impressive. The Chants should take the momentum of winning 6 of their last 8 games into the 2024 season.
As they did in 2023, Coastal starts on the road, except this time not all the way out in Los Angeles. CCU kicks off August 31 at Jacksonville State from Conference USA, a team coming off a very successful first year in FBS as they won 9 games, including the New Orleans Bowl over Sun Belt foe Louisiana. Coastal knocked off Jax State 30-16 in Conway last year, one of the more impressive wins for the Chants in ‘23. The series is tied 1-1, as Coastal lost in its only previous trip to the northeast corner of Alabama back in 2016. The Gamecocks edged the Chants 27-26 on a day where the Chants lost two QBs for the season (and their careers as it turned out) as both schools were FCS then.
Next up is the home opener on September 7 when FCS foe William and Mary comes to Conway. This will be the first-ever meeting of the Chanticleers and the Tribe. W&M is coming off a 6-5 campaign in the Coastal Athletic Association. The Tribe will be the first of three straight home opponents coming to Conway from the commonwealth of Virginia.
On September 14, Coastal is back on the road this time to play at Temple in Philadelphia, another first time opponent. The Owls struggled to a 3-9 season in 2023, finishing 13th in the American Athletic Conference. This will be Coastal’s second game all-time in the Keystone State, with the first coming back in 2008 when the Chants opened the year at Penn State, which was Coastal’s first game ever against an FBS opponent.
The following week will be historic, as Coastal welcomes their first ACC opponent to the Surf Turf on September 21, with the Virginia Cavaliers coming to town. The Cavaliers have struggled in their first two seasons under head coach Tony Elliott and are coming off a 3-9 campaign in 2023. Coastal and Virginia were set to square off in Charlottesville in 2022, but that contest in late November, and the rest of the UVA season, was cancelled following the horrible shooting deaths of three Virginia football players the week of the game. This year’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for UVA assistant coach Curome Cox (defensive backs, defensive pass game coordinator), who coached at Coastal from 2013-2017.
Following a bye week, the Chants are back home to begin Sun Belt conference play October 5 hosting Old Dominion. The Monarchs won here two years ago in convincing fashion 49-21, but Coastal earned some revenge last season in Norfolk, staging a 15-point rally in the second half to beat ODU 28-24. Old Dominion won their last two games in 2023 to qualify for a bowl, miraculously downing Georgia State in the finale. They finished 6-7 overall. Series: ODU 2-1.
Then it’s a short week for the Chanticleers as they head up to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to take on nemesis James Madison in a Thursday night special on October 10. The Dukes have soundly beaten Coastal twice since joining the league in 2022, but are staring over with new head coach Bob Chesney (from FCS Holy Cross) as former coach Curt Cignetti (and his cell phone) along with a number of difference-making playmakers all left town. Still they will be extremely talented and motivated to play well on national television, as hopefully the Chants will be too.
Next up for Coastal will be a renewal of the series against Louisiana (finally). The Ragin Cajuns come to Conway on October 19, and fans of both schools should be savoring this tasty matchup. Coastal won the last time these two teams met in Layfayette in 2020. Coastal connected on a FG with four seconds left to win 30-27. However, as both teams were set for a rematch in the 2020 Sun Belt title game, the Chants were hit with COVID and the league then cancelled the game – something the Cajuns fans have never forgotten and still frequently (hilariously) chirp about. The history should provide a spicy backdrop to this contest. Series: Coastal 2-1.
The Chants then get another bye week before heading down to Alabama’s wiregrass country to take on the Troy Trojans November 2. Troy has been class of the league (officially) the last two seasons but like JMU, they are starting over with new head coach Gerad Parker. The Trojans have been dominating on defense the past two seasons so it will be interesting to see how an offensive coach like Parker may do things differently. The series between Coastal and Troy is even at 3-3, and the last time these teams met was in the 2022 Sun Belt title game at Troy against the backdrop of then CCU head coach Jamey Chadwell’s impending departure. Troy routed Coastal 45-26 for the title and the postgame confetti was still falling when Chadwell was introduced as Liberty’s new head coach.
Coastal’s second Thursday night game of the year comes five days later November 7 with rival Appalachian State invading Conway. These two teams have had some classic battles over the past four seasons, with Coastal taking three of them. App State finished 2023 with a ton of momentum, winning 6 of their last 7, winning the Sun Belt East Division title and finishing 9-5 overall. Coastal won in Conway 35-28 in 2022, won in Boone 27-24 last season but the Mountaineers lead the series 7-3 (4-3 at FBS level).
From there, it’s on to Huntington, West Virginia, and the Marshall Thundering Herd on November 16. Marshall was up and down in 2023, finishing 6-7 and losing to Coastal in Conway 34-6. In the off season, fourth year head coach Charles Huff shook up his staff in hopes of finding more consistency and a higher level of play in 2024. They’ll need it, with games at Virginia Tech, at Ohio State and at App State in the first five weeks of the season. Series: Coastal 2-0.
Coastal returns to Conway for their home finale on November 23 against Georgia Southern. The Eagles knocked off Coastal 38-28 in Statesboro last year, snapping the Chants three-game winning streak in the series. Third year head coach Clay Helton has brought in gunslinging grad transfer QBs in each of his first two seasons, with varying success. I expect more of the same from his offense this year. Series: Georgia Southern 6-4 (CCU 4-3 at FBS level).
Finally, the Chanticleers will head to Atlanta November 30 to wrap up the regular season against the Georgia State Panthers. This series has been fascinating in that since it began in 2017, the road team has never lost. Ga. State has won all four in Conway while the Chants are 3-0 in the ATL. Does the streak stay alive two days after Thanksgiving? The Panthers endured a tumultuous spring, when former head coach Shawn Elliott took a job at South Carolina during spring practice. New head coach Dell McGee has talent on hand but given the way he took over, how will the Panthers look in 2024?
For the Chanticleers, it all starts August 31 at Jacksonville State!
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