Coastal Carolina players knew at halftime they could win

When Coastal Carolina went to the locker room at the half, they knew they could win the game.

They trailed the Jayhawks just 7-6 and the reason they were behind was a missed extra point. Even though they were down, their confidence was growing after seeing something in the first half.

Coastal Carolina linebacker Teddy Gallagher was spot on with the feeling they had.

“(It) felt like if we gave everything, they wouldn’t be able to score another point,” he said.

And he was right. The Jayhawks didn’t score another point after the half. The Chanticleers defense shut the Jayhawks offense out in the second half.

The players on the offensive side felt the same way. They believed they were pushing the Kansas front seven around and thought they would have the advantage in the second half.

“We were very optimistic, and we could tell they were getting tired,” said offensive lineman Trey Carter. “I feel like we were in better shape than they were. (The) defense was playing lights out in the second half, so the offense was very confident.”

Carter dished out credit to their new strength and conditioning coach Chad Scott.

“We were in better shape than them,” Carter said. “Coach Scott has done a great job getting us in shape. I feel like I could play another game right now and I feel like that was the biggest factor.”

Early on the Kansas offense had success moving the ball. But Coastal Carolina made adjustments, and head coach Jamey Chadwell said Kansas went away from what was working.

The defensive game plan was to make the Jayhawks beat them by throwing the football.

“They were doing some good stuff early and I think what happened is that maybe they got away from it a little bit and instead of doing it again,” Chadwell said. “I thought our defense did a really good job of mixing some things and forcing the quarterback to beat us. That was our goal.”

The Chanticleers had a disappointing start in week one losing at home to Eastern Michigan. They led at halftime but ended up losing by a touchdown. The made the trip to Lawrence knowing if they could eliminate mistakes they could leave with a victory.

“We thought we could win,” Chadwell said. “I thought if we didn’t turn the ball over and make mistakes, then we could do some damage. We did that. We didn’t turn the ball over, and we got some turnovers.”