There was hope playing in front of the home crowd could lift Tim Beck’s team to a postseason win. But with an 11 am local kickoff time, Brooks Stadium (which only has a seating capacity of 21,000) looked to not even be half full. So with little juice in the stadium for the home team, it became clear early that this game would never be in the Chanticleer’s control. UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor battled some early rust. But as the game progressed, the Roadrunners sprinted to a deceive 44-15 victory in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Roadrunners Sprinted From Chanticleers
Chants Couldn’t Overcome Roster Attrition
The mounting roster issues facing Coastal Carolina on both sides of the ball were not a surprise during their bowl preparations. But starting a third-string quarterback who has never taken a collegiate snap was going to be a lot to overcome. Even if the rest of the starters on both sides of the ball played in this game, a brand-new quarterback puts a team behind the eight-ball. Chanticleer quarterback Tad Hudson and what was left of his wide receiving corps tried to rally around one another, with the wide receivers dubbing themselves “The Tadpoles” during practice. But the opening drive of the game revealed how the rest of the game would play out for Coastal Carolina.
Offensive Dud From Play One
After the opening kickoff, the Chants took a delay of game penalty on the very first play. This was especially head-scratching considering the first 10ish plays of a game are pre-scripted. This means Hudson and the offense had known what the first play was going to be for weeks now. After running the opening play for zero yards, Coastal Carolina suffered a false start penalty. However, even with the poor start, they overcame 2nd and 20 to pick up a first down.
But it proved to be the same fool’s gold anyone can win at an arcade on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk. The next three plays went backward, with two of them being sacks by the UTSA offense. Coastal Carolina finished with only 271 total yards of offense, while also accumulating 10 penalties for 96 yards. Hudson’s passing numbers reflect someone who had never thrown a college pass before today. He finished the day 17-for-26 for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
Roadrunners Sprinted To Victory In Second Quarter
For as bad as the Coastal Carolina offense was looking, the defense held up well in the first quarter. UTSA’s offense, led by quarterback Owen McCown, had been one of the hottest offenses in all of college football in the second half of the season. So for the first quarter to end 0-0 was a promising sign for the Chants. However, the Roadrunners sprinted to 21 points in the second quarter. They finally started looking like the offense they had been the previous six weeks. McCown wasn’t perfect as he did throw one interception.
But otherwise, it was a very productive day as he finished 23-for-30 passing for 254 yards and one touchdown. He also added 37 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Meanwhile, the UTSA defense also feasted on the diminished Coastal Carolina offense. One of the biggest reasons why Coastal’s offense mustered as few offensive yards as it did was the amount of times the Roadrunners were making plays in their backfield. UTSA finished the game with 10 tackles for loss and four sacks. With this Myrtle Beach Bowl win, it marks the first time in program history (which is only 13 years old) that the Roadrunners have won bowl games in consecutive seasons. The 44 team points also marked a program-high in points scored in a bowl game for UTSA.
Main Image courtesy: Myrtle Beach Bowl
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