Coastal Carolina captures Hawaii Bowl over San Jose State

HONOLULU (AP) — 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.

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 with an 8-yard scoring pass to Sam Pinckney, who made a leaping one-handed grab. Pinckney had eight catches for 123 yards.

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.

Cordeiro was 16 of 30 for 215 yards. Olson had four catches for 96 yards.

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.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football