CCU Takes on the Cure Bowl!

Coastal Carolina’s football season this year was a success with an ending record at 6-2 in the conference and 11-2 overall. This is Coastal’s second year attending the Cure Bowl and their first-ever bowl win.

The Cure Bowl was named to bring awareness to find a cure to breast cancer and fund research. Proceeds from the bowl game go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Teams that are eligible come from the American Athletic Conference or the Sunbelt Conference.

Coastal’s first time attending the Cure Bowl in 2020 took place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL. Due to Covid restrictions, many activities such as attending Universal Studios and possibly Disney were not possible. This year, the game was held at Exploria Stadium, which is actually a soccer field just down the street from Camping World Stadium. The players from both teams were given passes to Universal for a day and spent plenty of time together while still preparing for the big game. Coaches, their families and other departments affiliated with Coastal football were invited on the trip, and two charter planes were taken to Orlando. I was lucky enough to take this trip with my whole family, as my dad is the Offensive Coordinator for Coastal. 

Both times attending the Cure Bowl, Coastal Carolina had very close games. When playing against Liberty in 2020, Coastal ended up losing 37 to 34 after a nail-biter in overtime. In December, Coastal defeated Northern Illinois 47 to 41 with two seconds left on the clock with Northern Illinois on the goal-line. 

Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina’s quarterback, received the MVP Award in the 2021 game while leading the Chanticleers to victory against Northern Illinois.

Trey Carter, a “super senior,” started his sixty-first consecutive game in this year’s Cure Bowl. 

Before the game, Carter commented, “I’m really looking forward to getting one more opportunity to go out there with my best friends. I mean it’s the last chance a lot of us get to wear teal.” 

Many of the players seemed more than excited to be at the game, and so were many of the coaches.

Coach Bill Durkin is the Offensive Coordinator and has coached at Coastal for eight seasons. He has also coached running backs and tight ends. He coached at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Richmond University, Hofstra, and Bowling Green University. This season was special to him. 

Durkin commented, “It was an incredible season with a lot of terrific memories and great wins. You could tell that the group of guys this 2021 season truly loved football.”

Durkin adds his favorite things about the bowl game stating, “Obviously getting the win, but celebrating that win and the history that we made being the first coastal team to ever win a bowl game was very special. The guys worked very hard to get us here and being able to win with the group of kids on this team was very special. I also very much enjoyed being able to celebrate with my family which made the win even more special.”

This season Coastal is losing six super seniors who were given the opportunity to play another year last year due to Covid. Other than that and the loss of some players to the transfer portal and drafts, the Chanticleers are ready for 2022.