HONOLULU — Ethan Vasko threw three touchdown passes and Coastal Carolina beat San Jose State 24-14 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night for its second bowl victory.
Vasko completed 20 of 33 passes for 199 yards and ran for 50 yards on 17 carries for the Chanticleers (8-5). The Spartans (7-6) had won six in a row.
“It was awesome,” Vasko said. “We prepared all week, even the week before and we all came out here confident, excited to play and we played a great game.”
Vasko threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Matt Alaimo with 3:16 left in the first quarter to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Alaimo was 3 for 3 for 52 yards on third downs on the drive, including the scoring play.
Vasko connected with Kendall Karr on another 2-yarder with 3:19 left in the third quarter and closed out the scoring in the fourth with an 8-yard scoring pass to Sam Pinckney, who made a leaping one-handed grab.
Pinckney had eight catches for 123 yards and extended his NCAA record to 58 consecutive games with a reception.
“I’m just so proud of our team and the way they competed, to withstand a great rally from San Jose State and I’m just proud of our guys the way we finished the game at the end,” Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck said.
Down 17-0, San Jose State scored two touchdowns in a four-minute span early in the fourth quarter. Chevan Cordeiro hit Sam Olson with a 35-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down play, and Quali Conley scored on a 12-yard run on the Spartans’ next possession.
“They did a great job tonight,” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said about the Chanticleers. “It was a hard-fought game. I think at the end of the day they beat us fair and square. We didn’t make enough plays to win and I give them a lot of credit. They made plays when they had to … give them all the credit because they played better than us.”
Cordeiro was 16 of 30 for 215 yards. Olson had four catches for 96 yards.
TURNING POINT
San Jose State drove all the way to the Coastal Carolina 6 after a 27-yard scramble by Cordeiro. However, Teddy Tiokeng forced a fumble by Robinson and Shane Bruce recovered for the Chanticleers, who turned the takeaway into an 11-play, 87-yard drive that culminated with the 2-yard touchdown pass from Vasko to Karr.
THE TAKEAWAY
San Jose State: The Spartans will have to replace, among others, their starting offensive backfield in quarterback Cordeiro and running back Kairee Robinson, a pair of Mountain West first-team selections.
Coastal Carolina: The Chanticleers will also have to replace their primary signal caller in Grayson McCall, a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. McCall suffered a season-ending head injury against Arkansas State on Oct. 21 and has since signed with North Carolina State through the transfer portal.