— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Ryan Beard-era of Coastal Carolina football is off to a shaky start.
The Chanticleers have won once in five tries and seek their first Sun Belt Conference victory at 7 p.m. Saturday when they face Marshall at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in a contest that can be seen on ESPN+.
Beard is familiar with the Thundering Herd as he helped guide Missouri State to a 21-20 win in Tony Gibson’s first home game as Marshall head coach 13 months ago.
Twelve Missouri State players on the field in Huntington last year now play for Beard at Coastal Carolina. They’re part of a large influx of 65 new players that comprise 63 percent of the Chanticleers’ roster.
“The Missouri State guys who came with us understand what it’s like to play there,” Beard said. “We know we have to be ready a four-quarter battle and deal with it one play at a time.”
The Chanticleers started the season on September 5 with a 31-24 loss at West Virginia that featured a valiant second-half effort after the visitors trailed by 24 at halftime.
Then came Coastal’s lone victory to this point, a 45-7 win over Fordham of the FCS. Since then, the Chanticleers have lost 22-14 at Delaware, 34-17 against Liberty and most recently, 31-24, in last week’s home game against Georgia Southern.
Entering the matchup against Marshall, Coastal Carolina is tied for the third-most penalties among FBS teams with 46, trailing only California and Kent State. The Chanticleers average 9.2 penalties per game for 73.4 yards.
“We have to make sure we’re playing good, clean physical football and the last two games, we haven’t been a disciplined team when it comes to penalties and crucial turnovers that will absolutely kill you,” Beard said. “This is a good time for a road game so we can just go out there and make it all about us this week.”
Coastal’s offense led by shifty quarterback Deuce Bailey.
A dual threat, Bailey previously played at Missouri State and had a strong showing in his first game at Coastal against the Mountaineers.
Bailey has 1,267 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions and is the team’s second-leading rusher with 171 yards.
Six Chanticleers have at least 111 receiving yards, led by wideouts Clayton Coppock Jr., and Colton Hinton, who have combined for 23 receptions, 451 yards and seven touchdowns.
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Wednesday’s Sun Belt Conference player availability report shows Marshall linebacker Chason Clark out for this week’s game.
Clark left last week’s game at James Madison in an ambulance, before being released from the hospital Sunday morning.
Two other Herd players, defensive back Daytione Smith and linebacker Cannon Lewis, are listed as probable to play.
Offensive lineman Xavier Bausley and defensive back Louikenzy Jules are out for the year.