EasyPost Hawaii Bowl: Game Preview, How To Watch, Odds, Prediction

The San Jose State Spartans and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will battle on the islands to close out 2023. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.

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Who will gift themselves a pre-Christmas W?

EASYPOST HAWAII BOWL: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (7-5, 5-3 Sun Belt) vs. San Jose State Spartans (7-5, 6-2 Mountain West)

WHEN: Saturday, December 23 — 7:30 PM PT/8:30 PM MT

WHERE: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex; Honolulu, HI

WEATHER: Isolated showers and breezy, low of 73 degrees

TV: ESPN

STREAMING: Fans can sign up to receive a free one-week trial of Fubo, which includes ESPN, by following this link.

RADIO: The Coastal Carolina broadcast can be found on the affiliates of the Chanticleer Sports Radio Network, including flagship 99.5 FM (WRNN) in Myrtle Beach. The San Jose State broadcast can be found in and around San Jose on 860 AM (KTRB).

SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting between Coastal Carolina and San Jose State.

LAST GAME: Coastal Carolina lost to James Madison at home, 56-14, while San Jose State defeated UNLV on the road, 37-31.

WEBSITES: GoCCUSports.com, the official Coastal Carolina athletics website | SJSUSpartans.com, the official San Jose State athletics website

GAME NOTES (PDF): Coastal Carolina | San Jose State

ODDS: San Jose State -9.5

SP+ PROJECTION: San Jose State by 1.0

FEI PROJECTION: San Jose State by 6.5

PARKER FLEMING PROJECTION: San Jose State 64.50% win probability (31.51-26.58)

As bowl season picks up in earnest, the Saturday nightcap will be the Hawaii Bowl, featuring two teams at 7-5, albeit with very different credentials: San Jose State, winners of their last six, and Coastal Carolina, who lost their last two. Both the Spartans and the Chanticleers will look to continue their offensive prowess, led by Chevan Cordeiro and Ethan Vasko, respectively. (Grayson McCall has since transferred to N.C. State.)

Both teams come in averaging more than 400 yards per game, and one would expect the offensive fireworks to continue one more time. The transfer portal has impacted both teams for this game, but at their heart these two teams are driven by offenses that will look to attack, early and often.

The game will also represent a homecoming of sorts for Chevan Cordeiro, having been raised in Hawaii and starting his collegiate career at the University of Hawaii.

Here’s how the Chanticleers and Spartans can win the 2023 Hawaii Bowl.

[lawrence-related id=58369]

Hang 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 vibes with the Chants 🤙#BALLATTHEBEACH | #FAM1LY | #TEALNATION pic.twitter.com/cuNdqB9O77

— Coastal Football (@CoastalFootball) December 21, 2023

Three Keys to a Coastal Carolina Victory

1. Protect Ethan Vasko.

Grayson McCall has moved on to N.C. State and Vasko is named the starter for this game. He will need time to throw and settle in early for the Chanticleers to have a shot in this game.

2. Establish the running game.

A running game will take a lot of pressure off Vasko and allow the game to play at a slower pace, all while controlling time of possession.

3. Prepare a trick play (or two)

An onside kick, flea flicker, something that breaks up the norm could go a long way in a closely-contested game like this

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rain or shine 🌤️#ClimbTheMountain | #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/hDotyBYxct

— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) December 20, 2023

Three Keys to a San Jose State Victory

1. Establish the running game.

Kairee Robinson and Quali Conley are among the leaders in the conference, and as with Coastal Carolina, the running game can control time of possession will keep the Chanticleers offense on the sidelines.

2. Establish a viable tight end in the offense.

Dominick Mazzotti has entered the transfer portal and provided a reliable receiver for Cordeiro in many a situation. Cordeiro will need to rely on a new tight end to take the pressure off his wide receivers.

3. Establish the defensive line pressure

The Spartans’ defense has proven to be opportunistic, a bend-but-not-break type, especially for its front seven. If San Jose State can get in the Chanticleers’ backfield and disrupt, that can prove to be effective as well.

Prediction

Based on the statistics, expect a high-scoring affair, with both offenses eager to finish their seasons on a high note. The Spartans’ running game should be the difference maker, however, controlling time of possession and limiting the Chanticleer offense time on the field.

San Jose State 37, Coastal Carolina 33

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Hawaii Bowl: First Look At The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

San Jose State will end its season against a Sun Belt opponent that’s dealt with plenty of its own adversity this year.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

The Spartans face a team in flux.

The San Jose State Spartans will play in their third bowl game in four seasons when they face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in this year’s Easypost Hawaii Bowl. For their part, Coastal is also in a bowl game for the fourth straight year, but the vibes around both teams might be, for the moment, significantly different.

While SJSU is in the midst of a six-game winning streak, their opponent is in the midst of grappling with regression from the heights they reached just two seasons ago. The pressure is on, then, for Coastal Carolina to head into the off-season with some momentum behind the unavoidable transition to a new chapter.

Here’s what San Jose State fans need to know about the Chanticleers.

2023 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers — Team Profile

Conference: Sun Belt

2023 Record: 7-5 (5-3 Sun Belt)

SP+ ranking: 76th

FEI ranking: 86th

Sagarin rating: 86th

Head coach: Tim Beck (first year)

2023 in a nutshell: This fall, the “Chants” became some of the latest proof that things can change quickly in college football. Just two years removed from back-to-back 11-win campaigns, Coastal Carolina began 2-3, dropping their first two conference games, before rallying to win five games in a row. That turnaround came at a price, however, as star quarterback Grayson McCall was lost for the season to a head injury in October.

It was also shortlived since the Chanticleers ended the regular season with back-to-back losses to Army and James Madison. Since then, McCall has led a substantial exodus of talent to the transfer portal, meaning the CCU squad that takes the field in Hawaii will look different from the one that fought their way to seven wins in the rough-and-tumble Sun Belt.

Best wins: vs. Jacksonville State (8-4), at Appalachian State (8-5), at Old Dominion (6-6)

Key Players

Sam Pinckney, WR

After spending four seasons at Georgia State, Pinckney’s two seasons in Myrtle Beach have been productive enough to rewrite the record books. After leading Coastal with 64 catches, 904 yards, and seven touchdowns in 2023, the Greenwood, South Carolina native now holds the Sun Belt record for career receiving yards and established a new NCAA benchmark with a 57-game streak of at least one reception.

What an adjustment from Sam Pinckney! pic.twitter.com/wU9gqLfsiN

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 3, 2023

Clayton Isbell, S

A former freshman All-American at FCS Illinois State, Isbell transferred to Coastal after a one-year stint at Utah and landed on the third-team all-Sun Belt defense in 2023. According to Pro Football Focus, the super senior played a total of 738 snaps and made 34 stops among 86 total tackles, all of which were the most of any Chanticleers defender. He also chipped in with 4.5 tackles for loss, five passes defended, and four interceptions, so don’t be shocked if Isbell’s name comes up early and often since he could be just about anywhere.

Big fourth-down stop from @claytonisbell10 and the Chant defense!#BALLATTHEBEACH | #FAM1LY | #TEALNATION pic.twitter.com/HwMolSqMyB

— Coastal Football (@CoastalFootball) November 4, 2023

Will McDonald, G

A two-year starter at left guard, McDonald hardly missed a snap for the Chanticleers this year and played 781 in all, allowing only one quarterback sack and eight total hurries. For that, he was named a member of the Sun Belt’s third-team all-conference offense, so Spartans defenders may find it tough to make much headway in the interior.

Micheal Mason, DL

Few athletes at any level play well enough to make four straight all-conference teams, but that’s exactly what Mason did at Wofford in the FCS’s Southern Conference from 2019 to 2022. After becoming the first Terrier ever to accomplish that feat, he transferred to CCU to play his super senior season with the Chanticleers, so while he only merited an honorable mention from the Sun Belt in 2023, Mason did lead the team with six sacks and nine tackles for loss.

Matthew McDoom, CB

The lone sophomore starter on a veteran-heavy defense, McDoom had a quality campaign after primarily contributing on special teams last year. Per PFF, he held opposing receivers to a 50% catch rate when targeted and gave up 11.6 yards per reception, making 24 total tackles while tying for the team lead with six passes defended.

Overview:

Offense

After two high-flying seasons as a top-ten offense in 2020 and 2021, the Chanticleers have regressed to the mean over the last two years and finished the regular season as almost exactly an average unit, ranking 66th in points per drive (2.19) despite finishing 29th in available yards percentage earned per drive (54.0%). One big reason for this was a season-long struggle to finish drives: Coastal has converted 74.51% of their red zone opportunities into points (119th in FBS), and just 45.1% of those trips resulted in a touchdown (130th).

Losing McCall almost certainly had an impact, but even he wasn’t as mistake-free as he’d been throughout the program’s peak: He averaged 8.6 yards per attempt, but that was the lowest YPA of his collegiate career. McCall also threw six interceptions in 224 attempts, a 2.7% rate that, believe it or not, was two-and-a-half times higher than what he posted from 2020 to 2022. With he and backup Jarrett Guest gone through the transfer portal, starting quarterback duties will fall to redshirt freshman Ethan Vasko, who has started three of the last five games and averaged 271.7 yards of total offense per game in November.

He won’t be the only relatively new face in the mix for the Chants on offense, though, since running back CJ Beasley and wide receiver Jared Brown, the Sun Belt’s freshman of the year in 2022, are both gone, as well. Braydon Bennett and Reese White have been the nominal starters at running back most of the year, but youngsters Max Balthazar and Ja’Vin Simpkins could see more reps in Beasley’s absence.

The offensive line is relatively stable, at least, with the same group of five starting the final six games of the regular season. McDonald and tackles Nick Del Grande and Zovon Lindsey headline a unit that held up well in pass protection, allowing just 16 sacks in 12 games.

As for replacing Brown, Coastal has a handful of intriguing options to pull attention away from Pinckney in the passing game. Tight end Kendall Karr (21 catches, 232 yards, four touchdowns) and wide receivers Jameson Tucker (19-395-3) and Kyre Duplessis (14-223-1) could all factor in with a few targets against the Spartans secondary.

Defense

Much like their offensive counterparts, the best descriptor for the Coastal defense in 2023 might just be “fine”. They allowed opponents to earn 49% of available yards per drive on average (78th in FBS) and gave up 2.23 points per drive (67th), propelled in part by 21 takeaways but equally hindered by an overall lack of disruption that’s evidenced by a 15.3% defensive havoc rate. Just one player, Mason, managed more than five tackles for loss in the regular season, which might be a problem against a San Jose State running game that’s surged as the year has progressed.

Also like the CCU offense, the ranks may be thinned by the transfer portal here, too, with Braylon Ryan and JT Killen the most noteworthy names. It’s still a veteran-heavy group at every level, though: On the defensive line, Will Whitson started the last seven games and contributed five TFLs and three sacks while Kennedy Roberts has appeared in 59 games dating back to 2019. Nickelback Juan Powell transferred in after four year at East Carolina and chipped in five TFLs and six pass breakups. Isbell and cornerback Keonte Lusk (five passes defended, three interceptions) anchor a secondary that features four different players who have picked off at least two passes in 2023.

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San Jose State Football: Spartans To Face Coastal Carolina In EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

The Spartans will head to the Hawaiian islands once again to close 2023 against the Chanticleers.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS & @MWCwire

An early Christmas gift for the surging Spartans.

The EasyPost Hawaii Bowl made a triumphant return to college football’s postseason scene last season, following a two-year hiatus, and is now one of the first games on the scene with a matchup in place for December: The San Jose State Spartans will clash with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, first reported by Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

🚨 OUR MATCHUP IS SET 🚨

Aloha, @CoastalFootball and @SanJoseStateFB 🤙#cfpextrayard #MālamaKuʻuHome #BowlSeason #TFAHawaii #gohawaii #ESPNEvents #CollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/r9GU4KK6va

— EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl (@HawaiiBowl) November 30, 2023

After starting 2023 with a 1-5 record, Brent Brennan’s Spartans ended the regular season with a six-game winning streak, including rivalry wins over Hawaii and Fresno State and a season-ending road victory over UNLV, though the computers didn’t favor them in a three-way tiebreaker for the Mountain West championship game. The consolation comes with some intriguing narratives, however, namely that star quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, a native of the islands who transferred from Hawaii before the 2022 season, will get one last chance to impress before a home crowd.

Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, secured bowl eligibility for the fourth straight season under first-year head coach Tim Beck with a 7-5 record, but they had plenty of their own challenges in the fiercely competitive Sun Belt Conference. For instance, star quarterback Grayson McCall only appeared in seven games before being lost for the season to injury and recently left the program for the transfer portal.

This year’s Hawaii Bowl is not on Christmas Eve but will take place the day before on Saturday, December 23. It will be broadcast on ESPN, kicking off at 5:30 PM local time (7:30 PM Pacific/8:30 PM Mountain).

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