Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Coastal Carolina University plays for the payout

CONWAY -- Growing up in Orangeburg, Coastal Carolina University football player Brian Harrison once shared a similar perception of higher education with many South Carolinians: Clemson and South Carolina were on one level, and the rest of the state's colleges and universities were a rung or two below.

Harrison's attitude changed when he decided to attend Coastal in early 2008, but he feels that many of the state's citizens still see Coastal as a second-rate university. In a college football-crazed state, one game might help change some of those long-held views. The Chanticleers visit Clemson on Saturday, the school's first meeting with the Tigers or the Gamecocks on the gridiron.

"I don't know if the whole state knows about Coastal," Harrison said. "This game will be a great chance to get exposure down here. I think people know of Coastal, but I don't know how many know Coastal. This will be a great opportunity for people to recognize what Coastal is all about. ... We want to let people know it's not just USC and not just Clemson."

Coastal will receive $305,000 for playing in Clemson's Memorial Stadium, but the school is hoping the game provides long-term benefits that remain once the money, which is already earmarked for equipment upgrades in the football program, is spent. The Tigers, coming off a monumental road win over Miami, are expected to roll over the Chanticleers, but Coastal still might win even by serving as the sacrificial lamb.

"It's about the experience," Coastal Athletic Director Warren Koegel said. "It's about giving these kids a chance to play in a stadium such as Clemson with a lot of history and character. It's a chance. ... We're going to go out there and try to win the football game. Our team is really excited. Hopefully we can go out there and make a good showing. It's more about that than just getting a paycheck. That is always something that helps us, but it's really about the experience."

Coastal will be meeting an opponent from college football's highest division for the third time. The Chanticleers received $450,000 from Penn State and were handed a 66-10 loss in their 2008 opener. They trailed just 2-0 at halftime of this season's opener at Kent State, but the Flashes pulled away in the second half for an 18-0 win. Coastal collected $350,000 for the trip to Ohio, money that was used to help pay summer school tuition for all of its student-athletes.

Those games prepared the struggling Chanticleers (3-4), who have lost two straight games, for the challenge they face Saturday, when many fans in South Carolina will turn their attention to Clemson. Coastal is hoping that in response, high school students, potential donors and other citizens across the state begin to turn their attention to Conway. The chance of that happening, school officials say, is much more likely with the Chanticleers stepping onto the same field with the only program in state history to win the national championship at college football's highest level.

"It shows that Coastal is a regional school and that we're no longer tied to one geographic area," said Judy Vogt, Coastal's vice president for enrollment services. "We now have a different sense of prominence within our state and also outside of our state with the institutions we are playing. ... Our primary service area is our in-state population and, of course, Horry and Georgetown counties. We work very hard to serve this population, so a game like Clemson is very important to us to increase our visibility within our own state."

The benefits of Coastal's game against Penn State were significant, Vogt said. At college fairs in Pennsylvania and Ohio, she said students were much more familiar with Coastal than in past years, illustrating the impact that one nationally televised game can have on a football program and its school.

Clemson and South Carolina are the state's only colleges that play in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Coastal, Charleston Southern, Furman, South Carolina State, The Citadel, Wofford and Presbyterian, which is transitioning from Division II to Division I athletics, all play in the Football Championship Subdivision, one tier below the nation's most elite teams.

Once Coastal takes the field Saturday, Charleston Southern will be the state's only full-fledged FCS program that hasn't played either the Tigers or Gamecocks. For the record, Clemson and South Carolina have lost just twice in 26 games against in-state FCS schools since college football split into its current format in 1978.

South Carolina State hadn't played either the Tigers or Gamecocks until 2007 but has visited Clemson once and South Carolina twice in the last three years. Those trips have played a significant role in the growth of the school's athletic and academic departments, South Carolina State Athletic Director Charlene Johnson said.

"When you play these types of schools, the marketing value is so great that you can't really put a dollar figure on it. What it does do is help with the recruitment effort and also promote South Carolina State from a marketing standpoint," she said. "It certainly does provide a vehicle for us to showcase and put us in front of South Carolinians who may want to look at a school different from South Carolina or Clemson."

But Coastal might not get much of a look or respect if the Chanticleers lose like they did against Penn State last season, said Robert Roundtree, an assistant professor of marketing at UNC-Charlotte.

"At some point, you have to not only step on the field with them, but be competitive with them and beat them," he said. "So, having this game for the first time adds some to the reputation of the program. ..."

"Once you start playing better opponents, I think fans generally give you a pass for a period of time. But at some point, the expectations rise. If the expectations are low and you get blown out 63-0, it may not be that bad. If your expectations go up, and you continue to get blown out 63-0, then I think that has the potential to do more harm than good."