MOBILE, Ala. — Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall ran 25 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, and the Chanticleers stopped South Alabama on fourth down at the 19-yard line to win 27-21 on Friday and end the Jaguars’ bid for bowl eligibility.
South Alabama finished its first season under head coach Kane Wommack at 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. A win would have given the Jaguars the sixth victory needed for bowl eligibility. Coastal Carolina improved to 10-2.
Overtime
After McCall’s touchdown run, Massimo Biscardi’s extra point attempt hit the left upright, leaving Coastal Carolina ahead 27-21 and giving South Alabama a chance to win with a touchdown and extra point.
On first down, quarterback Jake Bentley completed a 6-yard pass to Jalen Wayne to the 19. Bentley’s second- and third-down passes were both tipped, bringing up fourth-and-4. Bentley was flushed to his left and, as he was being dragged down, threw the ball away from any receiver, ending the game.
“We had our opportunities, ton of opportunities,” Wommack said. “We had opportunities in the red zone to score touchdowns instead of field goals, and our defense had opportunities to get off the field, get stops in the red zone.”
“We’ve got to develop some of these guys on our roster and we’ve got to bring more guys into our program that expect to be the guy to make a play to win the game at the end,” he said. “But we’ll get there.”
Bentley Returns, Jaguars Build Early Lead
Bentley started for the first time since injuring his knee against Troy. He had suffered a partial MCL tear and damage to his ACL when he was hit low on South Alabama’s first drive of that game.
After the Jaguars’ defense forced a punt on Coastal Carolina’s opening possession, Bentley completed passes of 16 yards to Jalen Tolbert and 19 yards to Wayne on his first two throws. South Alabama converted two fourth downs on the 12-play, 88-yard drive, the second on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Bentley to Lincoln Sefcik on fourth-and-5.
Coastal Carolina later went for it on fourth-and-1 at the South Alabama 29, but Gi’Narous Johnson and Jamal Brooks stopped the play. The Jaguars then drove to the Chanticleers’ 11 before Diego Guajardo kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Punter Jack Brooks had kicks of 60 and 66 yards in the first half, though both went into the end zone for touchbacks. South Alabama led 10-0 at halftime.
Turnovers Swing Momentum
South Alabama opened the second half by moving from its 25 to its 42, but a deep pass intended for Tolbert was intercepted at the Coastal Carolina 5. The Chanticleers then put together a 19-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that took 9:27 off the clock and cut the lead to 10-7.
After a Biscardi kickoff went out of bounds, Bentley opened the next drive with a 17-yard completion to Tolbert, but his next pass was intercepted at the Coastal Carolina 17.
The Jaguars got the ball right back when McCall’s handoff to Braydon Bennett was fumbled and recovered by Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas at the Coastal Carolina 19. Bentley completed passes of 2 and 7 yards, and Kareem Walker was stopped for no gain before Bentley’s fourth-down pass was intercepted at the 3. A personal foul penalty on South Alabama moved the ball out to the 18.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Shermari Jones broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run that gave Coastal Carolina a 14-10 lead with 14:49 remaining.
Tolbert Puts South Alabama Back in Front
A 31-yard pass from Bentley to Tolbert moved South Alabama into the red zone on the next drive, but a sack on third-and-5 cost the Jaguars nine yards. Guajardo made a 33-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-13 with 11:14 left.
Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely fumbled on the first play of the next drive, but the Chanticleers kept possession. A few plays later, Devyn Flenord intercepted McCall at the South Alabama 23. The Jaguars could not capitalize: Walker lost 2 yards on third-and-1, and Bentley was sacked for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-3, turning the ball over at the South Alabama 39 with 6:20 to play.
Three plays later, senior Chris Henderson forced a fumble that Yam Banks recovered. Bentley hit Wayne for 18 yards, then found Tolbert behind the defense for a 57-yard touchdown. Wommack elected to go for two, and Caullin Lacy held on to a tipped pass from a pressured Bentley for the conversion and a 21-14 lead with 4:24 remaining.
Coastal Carolina answered with a 10-play, 82-yard drive, helped by South Alabama penalties, to tie the game and force overtime.
Players React
“They gloved us up pretty good,” Bentley said of the final possession. “We had a little choice route working and they kind of had the perfect call on defense for it. But we had first, second, and third down to execute it better. And the whole game for that matter.”
“Definitely not the best feeling in the world right now,” Henderson said. “But one thing I am proud of is our guys fought to the end. We didn’t give up, we didn’t blink.”
“They did what 9-2 teams do, they adjusted at the half,” linebacker Jamal Brooks said. “They made one more play than we did. We knocked the run game out in the second half, but they made adjustments in the second half. They just made one more play than us tonight.”
Stats
Bentley completed 28 of 41 passes for 354 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in his final college game. Tolbert caught 10 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown, and Wayne had nine catches for 111 yards.
South Alabama finished with 349 yards of total offense, including minus-5 rushing yards. Terrion Avery ran 11 times for 11 yards, and Walker had 9 yards on 16 carries. The Jaguars converted 3 of 12 third downs and 2 of 5 fourth downs.
Coastal Carolina gained 491 yards, 315 on the ground and 176 through the air. The Chanticleers converted 2 of 9 third downs and 2 of 3 fourth downs and scored touchdowns on both of their red zone trips.
Keith Gallmon and Jamal Brooks led South Alabama’s defense with eight tackles each. Charles Coleman had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks, and Henderson finished with five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Yam Banks, AJ DeShazor, Jamall Hickbottom, Christian Bell and CJ Rias each shared in a sack, and Banks and Bell each recovered a fumble.
Season in Review
The loss was South Alabama’s fourth straight to close the season. The Jaguars’ five wins were their most since 2016, when they went 6-7 and lost to Air Force in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. South Alabama averaged 3.25 wins per season from 2017 through 2020.
Tolbert finished the season with 82 catches for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns. His yardage total is the second-highest single-season mark in Sun Belt history, behind the 1,653 yards Omar Bayless posted for Arkansas State in 2019. Tolbert’s career totals of 178 receptions, 3,140 yards and 22 touchdowns are South Alabama records, and his career yardage ranks third in Sun Belt history behind FIU’s T.Y. Hilton (3,531 yards, 2008-11) and Georgia State’s Robert Davis (3,391 yards, 2013-16). Tolbert is set to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile.
“There were losses we took that could have come out with a different ending,” Tolbert said. “I’m excited for the program’s future. Like coach Wommack always says ‘our best days are ahead.’ I’m excited to see how things go next year.”
Bentley, in his only season at South Alabama, threw for 2,476 yards and a school-record 17 touchdowns. He had been on pace to set the school’s single-season passing yardage record before the knee injury.
“I’ve got pretty substantial damage up in the knee,” Bentley said. “But I just knew, with this team and the friends that I’ve made this year, I wanted to go out with them one more time. They’ve made this year so incredible for me, and I won’t ever forget it.”
South Alabama’s close losses this season included a game against Louisiana decided after a missed Jaguars field goal, an overtime loss to Texas State after a late Bobcats rally, a loss to Louisiana-Monroe in which the Warhawks scored 17 unanswered points, and a loss at Troy in which a Jaguars comeback fell short.
Senior Class
Friday’s game was the last for seniors Tre Young, Devin Rockette, Chris Henderson, Jake Bentley, Kareem Walker, Shawn Jennings, Jamal Brooks, Kwameh Lewis, Christian Bell and Ja’Chai Baker.
The coaching staff will now turn its attention to recruiting.
