Zach Wilson, No. 13 BYU Upset by No. 18 Coastal Carolina in Stunning Finish

Richard Shiro/Associated Press

No. 18 Coastal Carolina picked up its biggest victory of the season Saturday, holding off a furious comeback attempt against No. 13 BYU to escape with a 22-17 win.

Chanticleers running back CJ Marable rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, and Coastal’s defense stopped the Cougars on the 1-yard line right as the clock hit zero.

BYU had gotten the ball back down five with 55 seconds to play and driven 81 yards total with a final Zach Wilson pass to Dax Milne coming just three feet short of a walk-off victory.

Wilson finished 19-of-30 passing for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

BYU gained 405 total yards to Coastal’s 366, though the Chanticleers were held to just 85 passing yards. It’s the first loss for the Cougars since falling to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl last December.

That BYU was even able to play against Coastal this week was a shock in itself.

The Chanticleers (10-0) were set to play the Liberty Flames this week until a COVID-19 outbreak within the Flames’ program caused the matchup to get scrapped. With a national stage suddenly available—ESPN’s College GameDay previously announced it would broadcast from Coastal’s campus—BYU (9-1) jumped at the chance to add another ranked opponent to its schedule.

“We’re grateful that this game between our two teams could be put together in such a timely fashion,” BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in a statement on December 3. “It’s good to have a partner like ESPN that can help put together such a meaningful game at this point of the season.”

Those positive feelings ended around halftime Saturday, when the two teams got into a shoving match after the second quarter following multiple hits to Wilson.

BYU held a 14-13 lead at the break that the Cougars extended to 17-13 barely three minutes into the third quarter.

Coastal would get those points back with their own field goal midway through the third quarter before taking the lead on Marable’s second score of the day to begin the final frame. A failed two-point conversion after his touchdown kept BYU alive until the end, where Mateo Sudipo came up with a game-saving tackle at the goal line to keep the Chanticleers’ undefeated season alive.