The 2023 Hawaii Bowl takes place on Saturday, December 23rd in the Aloha state. This year’s iteration of the game will put the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers against the San Jose State Spartans. Both teams’ head coaches will be looking for their first bowl game win as the head of their respective programs. Both teams will also be looking to win their 8th game of the year to finish the season. This will be a battle of two very good group of five programs looking to get back to the success they’ve experienced in the recent past.
Chants in 2023
Many fans might remember the amazing 2020 season Coastal Carolina had. They finished 11-1 earning a share of the Sun Belt Conference championship. They would go on to have two more very successful seasons before losing former head coach Jamey Chadwell to Liberty University at the end of 2022. Then entered former NC State offensive coordinator Tim Beck who was hired just before Coastal’s bowl game last season. This is Beck’s first head coaching job at the collegiate level.
In his first year, Beck has led Coastal Carolina to an overall 7-5 finish in the regular season, and 5-3 in the Sun Belt. They went 2-2 in out-of-conference games, 1-0 against group of five teams beating Jacksonville State of the C-USA. The Chants were also one win away from representing the Sun Belt East Division in the SBC championship game once again. Unfortunately, they would get blown out by James Madison in the last game of the regular season eliminating them from contention. Still, for the first season under Beck, it was not a bad season.
Spartans in 2023
San Jose State was another group of five program that had a very good “Covid season” in 2020. They went 7-1, won their conference championship, and head coach Brent Brennan won Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. Now Brennan is in his 7th season at San Jose State and the one thing he has yet to do is win a bowl game.
This season the Spartans finished 7-5 overall, and 6-2 in the Mountain West. They went 1-3 in out of conference matchups, and 0-1 against group of five teams after a loss to Toledo of the MAC. Just like Coastal Carolina, San Jose State was also one game away from being in their conference championship game. A loss to Boise State earlier in the season knocked them out of the game as the teams tied for second place in the MWC at the end of the regular season. They did however beat the first-place team, UNLV, to end the season which was the Rebels’ first conference loss of 2023.
Key Opt-Outs
When it comes to the opt-outs for this game, Coastal Carolina is the program that will be affected most heavily. Twenty-four of Coastal’s players opted out and entered the transfer portal. Many of the Chants’ best players were included in that group. The biggest hit will be again not having quarterback Grayson McCall. This will not be too unfamiliar for Coastal Carolina this season as McCall has not played since October 21st against Arkansas State after suffering a concussion. Still, it has been obvious this team is not the same without him. McCall has truly been the leader of the program on the amazing run they have had the last few years. The star quarterback will finish his career as a Chant with 10,005 passing yards, 1,113 rushing yards, and 106 touchdowns (88 passing, 18 rushing). He will be transferring to NC State for next season.
This is not the only key player Coastal Carolina will be without in Hawai’i though. It is not just on one side of the ball either. Wide Receiver Jared Brown has entered the portal and will not be playing in the game. Brown was the Chants’ second-leading receiver. Running back CJ Beasley, the team’s third-leading rusher, also opted out of the game. It is not just one side of the ball either. Coastal Carolina’s second leading tackler JT Killen and veteran safety Jahmar Brown will not be joining the Chants for the game either.
San Jose State did also lose a couple of players to the portal but not to the same effect as Coastal Carolina. Four players opted out and entered the portal but only one was a true impact player. That would be offensive lineman Fernando Carmona who committed to Arkansas.
The Matchup
On paper, the matchup between these programs is pretty even. That is until taking a look at all the opt-outs on the Chanticleer side. San Jose State will still have most of their impact players from this season, unlike Coastal. The Chants could still give themselves a chance to win the game though if they can stop the Spartans running game.
The Spartans are averaging 186.2 rush yards per game. San Jose State running back Kairee Robinson is averaging 102.5 yards per game himself. He ran for 200 yards against Fresno State. San Jose is undefeated in games where Robinson runs for over 100 yards (6-0). For Coastal Carolina this game is going to be predicated on stopping the run. If they can slow down the San Jose State ground game, they will give themselves a chance to win. If not, the Spartans may run wild over the Chanticleers.
