NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Over the next six weeks — every Tuesday and Thursday through late June — I’ll have a first look opponent preview for each of WVU’s 12 regular season opponents. I’ve been digging through spring game footage, press conference transcripts, and whatever else I could find to get a real idea of who these teams are right now, before depth charts get shuffled in August and everything changes anyway.

We’re starting with the season opener. Here’s your First Look at Coastal Carolina.

Game Vitals

When: Saturday, September 5, 2026

Where: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Virginia

Series Record: West Virginia and Coastal Carolina have only met once — a 31-0 WVU shutout in the 2010 season opener, back when the Chanticleers were still an FCS program.

2025 Record: 6-7 (5-3 Sun Belt)

Head Coach: Ryan Beard (1st year)

Preview

Tim Beck went 8-5 in his first year at Coastal Carolina, won the Hawaii Bowl, and then went 6-6 twice in a row and got fired the day after the regular season finale. Ryan Beard was hired less than two weeks later and while roster turnover with a new coaching staff is expected, Coastal didn’t hemorrhage players the way most programs do. Beard painted his “out-hit, out-hustle” message everywhere around the Chants’ facility, and by all accounts it landed and the energy around the program feels genuinely different from the Beck years.

Off the field, it appears Beard has done everything right so far. On it, there are still a lot of questions.

Coastal’s offensive line is unsettled with two projected starters missing all of spring due to injury. The quarterback competition features four guys learning the offense — Missouri State transfer Deuce Bailey, FCS transfer Tre Guerra, Arkansas transfer Trever Jackson, and freshman Osiris Lopez — and Beard says no clear frontrunner has emerged. The offense is run by Nick Petrino, who made the move with Beard from Missouri State and operates the same system his father Bobby made famous — and who also happens to be Ryan Beard’s brother-in-law. Petrino has acknowledged he’s still figuring out his own personnel as much as his players are figuring out the scheme. Receiver Tristan Gardner projects as the alpha in the passing game, with Robby Washington and Clayton Coppock Jr. behind him, and Dominic Knicely looks like the early frontrunner at running back.

The one unit that looks the most legit for Coastal right now is their defensive front. Defensive coordinator L.D. Scott rebuilt the d-line almost from scratch, bringing Mitchell Toney and Ahmad Poole with him from Missouri State and leaning on Ibrahim Diawara as the unit’s veteran anchor and de facto team leader all spring. They’re physical and can generate interior pressure. Scott switched his scheme from a 3-3-5 to a 4-2-5 specifically to get more athleticism on the field, and linebacker Se’Von McDowell said he feels more comfortable in the two-linebacker set. The Chants’ defensive front should be one of the better units in the Sun Belt by September.

There are a couple storylines worth knowing beyond the X’s and O’s. Zeke Durham-Campbell transferred to WVU from Coastal this offseason after posting 5.5 sacks for the Chanticleers last season. He’ll be lining up against his former team, who already know exactly what he can do. On the other side, Obinna Onwuka, one of Coastal’s defensive ends, previously played for the Mountaineers. He was a part of Neal Brown’s last recruiting class. Also worth noting, Grayson McCall, the quarterback who piloted Coastal’s 11-1 run in 2021, is now on Beard’s staff.

Way Too Early Prediction

A new staff, an unsettled offensive line, and four quarterbacks competing for one job is too much uncertainty for a road opener. The Mountaineers’ defense should be able to create havoc and force Coastal into a hole the offense can’t climb out of. If WVU’s offensive line holds up, this one’s comfortable by the fourth quarter.

West Virginia 34, Coastal Carolina 14

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos