McCall, Coastal Carolina beat South Alabama 27-21 in OT
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Grayson McCall raced untouched for a 25-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime, Silas Kelly sacked South Alabama's Jake Bentley on the final play and Coastal Carolina beat the Jaguars 27-21 on Friday.
Coastal Carolina (10-2, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference), which was ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll and climbed as high as No. 14 after winning its first six games, fell out of the Top 25 after a 42-40 loss to Georgia Southern two weeks ago. The Chanticleers are headed to a bowl for the second consecutive season and the second time in program history after moving to the FBS level full-time in 2017.
Bentley hit Jalen Tolbert at the 10 and he raced for a 57-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion gave South Alabama (5-7, 2-6) a 21-14 lead with 4:24 left in regulation. The Chanticleers answered with a 10-play, 82-yard drive to force overtime when Bryce Carpenter took the snap and scored from 2-yards out with 39 seconds remaining.
Carpenter, a 6-foot-1, 210 pound senior, is 41-of-69 (59.4%) passing for 483 yards and four touchdowns and has 54 carries for 217 yards and three scores this season.
Kelly finished with eight tackles — including the clinching sack, which gave him 2 1/2 this season — and an interception at the 5. Coastal Carolina then went 95 yards, using 19 plays and chewing up nearly 9 1/2 minutes, to trim its deficit to 10-7 when McCall threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jaivion Heiligh with 2:24 left in the third quarter.
Shermari Jones scored on a 75-yard on the first play of the fourth quarter and South Alabama's Diego Guajardo made a 30-yard field goal to make it 14-13 with 11:14 left in regulation.
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