CONWAY, S.C. - Charleston Southern went to Coastal Carolina for the final game of the 2010 season with hopes of ending the season with a victory and ending CCU's hopes of tying for the Big South Championship. Things did not go the way that CSU (3-8, 1-5) had hoped, as they fell 70-3 to the Chanticleers (6-5, 5-1), who will wait and see the victor in the Liberty vs. Stony Brook contest to see if they will share the Big South title.

The three points was the lowest total by CSU since being shut out against South Florida last year, 59-0 and the 67 point deficit was the largest in school history.

"Well it was certainly a disappointment and not the way we had anticipated ending the season," said Head Coach Jay Mills. "I thought we had finally found an identity the last couple of weeks after the loss of some key individuals. We got off to a slow start and played poorly in all three phases of the game. We were out played, we were outcoached from the outset to the end of the game."

The Bucs had 218 yards of total offense, the lowest output of the season, while Coastal Carolina managed 457 yards, 248 through the air.

Gerald Stevenson finished his career atop the receiving charts for CSU on the day with three receptions and 44 yards, and has certainly placed himself among the leaders in multiple categories at CSU, including receiving yards, receptions, all-purpose yards, kick return yards and kick returns for a touchdown. Malcom Dixon carried the ball 14 times for 24 yards. Andrew Trudnowski split time behind center for the third game in a row, completing seven of his 16 pass attempts for 70 yards, while Dixon completed six of eight pass attempts for 61 yards.

Fred Godfrey had nine tackles to lead CSU, while Chris Patrick had eight and Jaurvontae Phipps had a career-high seven, including a tackle for loss. Matt Hardy recovered a fumble, the lone turnover for CSU, while the Bucs turned the ball over three times (two fumbles, one interception).

For Coastal, Zach MacDowall completed 15-of-20 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns, tying former Buccaneer Collin Drafts for touchdown passes in a game. Eric O'Neal rushed the ball 11 times for 65 yards and a touchdown, while MacDowall and Anthony Frye also found the endzone on the ground.

Nothing seemed to be going right for the Bucs in the first half as they gave up a couple of long pass plays for touchdowns on Coastal's first two offensive drives, then an interception and punt return for a touchdown in the final five minutes of the half as the Chanticleers opened up a 35-3 halftime lead.

The Bucs had their chances in the first half after a 19 yard run by Keelyan Bryant set CSU up with a first and goal on the 10. Unfortunately, the first mistake of Dixon's young career came on the next play as he fumbled the ball on a handoff exchange. It was no harm, no foul as Coastal moved the ball 81 yards on nine plays, but fumbled the ball back to CSU on the other nine yardline.

The Bucs moved the ball near midfield on their first drive but got stuffed there and it took CCU just three plays to punt it in the endzone, using a 25 yard pass play to Brandon Whitley to make it 7-0 Chanticleers less than four minutes into the game.

It was clear early that Coastal had no intention of kicking the ball to Gerald Stevenson, and a miscommunication by the CSU special teams on a pooch kick backed them up to the CSU six yardline to start the Bucs' second drive.

With the field position shifted in CCU's favor, Coastal added to its lead on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Eric O'Neal to quickly make it 14-0.

The lone CSU score of the first half was a 43 yard field goal by Andy Brown as the Bucs elected not to go for it on fourth-and-two.

A seven yard pass from MacDowall to Racheed Gause made it 21-3 in the first quarter, as Tre Henderson and Niccolo Mastromatteo scored the half's final points on an interception return and a punt return for a touchdown, respectively. Mastromatteo's punt return went for 91 yards, the longest in Big South history.

Even despite the lopsided score, Coastal only held a 216-185 advantage in total offensive yards in the first half, with CSU actually holding an 88-70 advantage on the ground.

The second half nearly started like the first one ended as Coastal returned the opening kickoff 78 yards down to the CSU 13 yardline, and an offside penalty against the Bucs started the CCU drive on the eight. It took two plays for the Chanticleers to finish things off and make it 42-3.

The Chanticleers had to work for it on their next drive as it took them 10 plays to drive down the field. Another CSU fumble turned into more points for CCU as the Chanticleers posted their largest victory since beating Chowan 51-0 in 200, scoring the second highest point total in school history.

Continuing to pour it on, knowing the tiebreaker in the Big South for the league's automatic bid into the NCAA FCS Playoffs, Coastal added a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter on an eight-yard rush by MacDowall, the eighth CCU player to get into the endzone on the day.

The season comes to an end for CSU with a single Big South win for the first time since the 2007 season when CSU finished 5-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big South. It is the first losing season for CSU since the same year. CSU will say goodbye to its senior class of 18 players, the largest class under Mills.

Postgame Quotes - Article
Postgame Quotes - Video
Photo Gallery