Coastal Carolina: Sham….Wow
Liberty gets a big win over #12 Coastal Carolina as the clock strikes midnight for the Chanticleers.
By: The Waco Kid
Liberty cleaned up the Chanticleers to end their hopes of a perfect season.
Just as the title of this article suggests, Coastal Carolina had all hopes of relevancy and a self-proclaimed National Championship wiped clean off the table by Hugh Freeze and the Liberty Flames. For weeks now we have heard why the Chanticleers should have been heavily considered for a New Year’s 6 Bowl game or possibly a playoff berth. The outcome of the Cure Bowl provided insight on why the Group of 5 Teams are looked down upon by the Playoff Committee. Coastal was 11-0 with quality wins over Kansas and BYU. Yes, you read that right, those were the quality wins that fans and analysts tried to push this team into the playoffs based upon. This bowl game brought the “Sham” factor to the Coastal Carolina football team, while Flames’ quarterback Malik Willis put the “Wow” into the #12 teams’ Shamwow gimmick of a season.
Let me repeat this to all of those CCU Cinderella story believers: when the time is upon you, the carriage taking the program towards college football notoriety will always turn back into a pumpkin. A football team can only hide behind the magical veil of a soft schedule for so long before they are exposed as a fraud wanting their 15 minutes in the spotlight. This was proven tonight on the gridiron and for anyone that wants to defend the Chanticleers, understand that not only did Liberty win but they did so after fumbling the ball on the goal line with seconds left in regulation. The Flames could have kicked a field goal and ended it but instead allowed Coastal to stay in the game and force extra time. Still, that was not enough to overcome the mighty Liberty University.
Photo: Liberty Athletics
Malik Willis may have proven he is the biggest national treasure to represent Virginia since D’Brickashaw Ferguson led the offensive line for UVA back in the early 2000s. Willis was by no means impressive through the air but he ran rampant over the Coastal Carolina defense and was credited with 137 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns. If you give up 4 rushing touchdowns to a quarterback your program should never be mentioned in the same breath as the top teams in the nation. This game was not a runaway but if you want to make a splash playing in a crap conference you have to beat teams like Liberty by 25+ points, and if you can’t, your spot in the corner will be there when you return, being warmed by the likes of Cincinnati, Louisiana-Lafayette, and San Jose State.
Grayson McCall was the lone silver lining in this game for the Chanticleers. This kid played his heart out for a team and coach he believed in. He left everything he had on the field and there is nothing more commendable than that. Top SEC quarterbacks could take a lesson from this redshirt freshman on what it really means to give it your all. If I were an Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, or South Carolina I would be reaching out to McCall begging him to be a part of the program. He may not be a typical SEC QB but he is a competitor and any program can learn from someone who is willing to risk anything and everything for those around him. At the end of the contest, he had thrown for 318 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception, while adding another score on the ground. He was their offense and Liberty could not stop McCall. But as we have seen, most evidently from Texas, a star quarterback needs weapons around him to produce wins and this ultimately served as the demise for the Coastal Carolina team, falling in OT 37-34.
Hugh Freeze got his “career/program changing” win last night and will ride that momentum into 2021. As much denial as I hear from Freeze and college programs, there is no doubt in my mind that the former Ole Miss head coach will be asked to step into a Power 5 job to lead another team into football significance. Whether that is in the SEC is still to be determined, but I cannot imagine a coach of his caliber staying at Liberty University when he has miraculously revamped his image and become the belle of the ball throughout the nation. Mississippi may have Lane Kiffin now, but Hugh is a bonafide winner and the SEC better hope that he does not find a landing place in the South or some more coaches may get fired.
*Tennessee Chatroom: Hugh Freeze has entered the chat*
Coastal has been overrated all season and now there is no argument that can be made to deny that. A commendable season by the Chanticleers but if you want to be in discussion with the big boys, play some of them in the regular season and prove you are not just another UCF.