College Football Gameday: BYU vs Coastal Carolina; What to expect

It’s About time.

Two of the best stories of the college football season will meet on Saturday in Conway, S.C., with the ESPN College Gameday treatment and all. The winner will get a huge boost toward the Group of Five’s bid for an NY6 Bowl, adding on for BYU, a last-second heave to impress the CFP Committee into a College Football Playoff berth.

I am still disappointed that BYU didn’t get Cincinnati in this spot. The Bearcats still have this weekend open, so we have no idea if there was any real chance of getting a game between them and the Cougars, but man that would've been a treat and possibly enough for Cincinnati to have a real chance at a spot in the top four. 

Nonetheless, we get a real treat, and BYU gets a blessing in a ranked opponent when Liberty backed out due to COVID-19 concerns (We hope everyone in the Flames program has a speedy recovery, they have been fun to watch this year). As the two teams scramble to get ready for each other (literally, look here), let’s see what we will get on Saturday.

While we have all seen the high-flying offense and overall dominance of BYU, the Chanticleers have arguably a better resume than the Cougars. Coastal has more power five wins than BYU (winless Kansas is a stretch to call “Power 5), but we have to count it, and also has a ranked win at Louisiana. Those are two wins that BYU does not have.

Let’s remember, this is the Chanticleers *fourth* season at the FBS level, where it has never had a winning record before, let alone be ranked.

The best marker on BYU’s thin resume is a Boise State team down to its third-string quarterback on the blue turf, but the sheer impressiveness of BYU’s 51-17 win was enough to help push the Cougars to No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings.

The ultimate x-factor, like every BYU game, is Zach Wilson. He’s the projected first-round quarterback in this game, so if he exceeds, so will BYU and that explosive offense. The Coastal defense is stiff. They’ve allowed under 17 points a game, get to the quarterback a ton, and force a bunch of turnovers.

If we expect Wilson and Co. to light it up like they have all year, it might come down to how effectively Coastal can keep it out of his hands. The Chanticleers have been excellent at controlling the clock this year. Four different rushers have over 300 rushing yards, and QB Grayson McCall has made hardly any mistakes with a 20-1 TD-INT ratio this season. They’ll go against a BYU defense that has allowed less than 300 yards a game.

So much good football in this game. Such a shame that it’s going to get relegated to ESPNU. Let’s hope the committee has that channel. For one of these teams, it will be a statement in a historic and crazy season.

Writer

-By: TJ Mathewson