Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina FCS Football 2013 Playoffs 1st Round Game Breakdown
Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina, Saturday, 1:00
Bethune-Cookman enters the playoffs as the MEAC champions, and like their conference counterparts South Carolina State, the Wildcats like to run. Brian Jenkins’ team likes to run a lot. B-CU is a top-ten rushing team in the FCS, averaging over 255 yards per game. They carried for a season-high 475 yards against Hampton two weeks ago. This is good for winning the time of possession battles -- Bethune-Cookman is 11th in the FCS at 32-plus minutes per game -- but not so good for having to throw out of a deficit. For example, in Bethune’s 34-13 win over FBS opponent FIU, they threw for just 38 yards. In the Wildcats’ two losses (54-6 at Florida State and 27-24 to Norfolk State), they threw for just 178 combined yards. Though Coastal’s rush defense (almost 200 yards per game) is surely porous, B-CU simply must get out to an early lead and control the clock to keep CCU’s mighty offense on the sidelines as much as possible. The Chanticleers feature the third-most prolific scoring offense in the land (42.6 points per game), and Bethune’s stingy rush defense (99.4 yards per game) gets a gigantic test from running back Lorenzo Taliaferro. Taliaferro finished the regular season as the fifth-leading rusher in FCS, toting the rock for 1,487 yards. South Carolina State, the teams’ only common opponent and victory, surrendered 159 yards and two scores to Taliaferro in their meeting early this season. Sophomore quarterback Alex Ross finished third in the Big South, behind Liberty’s Josh Woodrum and Gardner-Webb’s Lucas Beatty, in passing yardage this season with 2,450, adding 18 scores to his total. Coastal certainly possesses the ability to toss the ball around the lot that Bethune lacks. This is also a rematch of last year’s FCS opening round, which Coastal Carolina won 24-14 in Daytona Beach. With a different quarterback and running back for Coastal this year, look for a much more productive result.
Projected Score: Coastal Carolina 45, Bethune-Cookman 17
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