San Jose State is returning to the Hawaii Bowl for a second year, but this time they have a new Hawaiian in a prominent position.
Coach Ken Niumatalolo, in his first year in charge of the Spartans, will lead SJSU in the Dec. 24 game against South Florida. The Spartans (7-5, 3-4 Mountain West), then quarterbacked by Hawaii native Chevan Cordeiro, lost 24-14 to Coastal Carolina in last year’s version of the bowl game.
The 2024 Hawaii Bowl (5 p.m. PT, ESPN) will be the Spartans’ third straight bowl game — the first such stretch in program history. SJSU is 7-6 in its bowl history and has lost its last three postseason games, dating back to the 2020 Arizona Bowl against Ball State.
Niumatalolo was born in Laie, a small town on Oahu, and played quarterback collegiately at Hawaii in the late 1980s, then was a graduate assistant there before becoming an assistant at Navy and eventually taking over as head coach of the Midshipmen. He said in a Tuesday press conference he visited San Jose State’s practice in Hawaii before last year’s bowl from his home on the islands.
“I’m ecstatic for the players. They worked really hard this year and it’s hard to go to bowl games,” Niumatalolo said. “We’re excited to come to the most beautiful place in the world and play in this bowl game.”
The Spartans’ passing attack and Biletnikoff Award finalist Nick Nash — the nation’s leader in receptions (104), receiving yards (1,382) and receiving touchdowns (16) — will go up against a porous pass defense as the Bulls (6-6, 4-4 American) rank seventh-worst nationally in yards allowed per game (278.7).
Last week against the FBS’s fourth-worst pass defense in Stanford, Walker Eget threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-31 win, though he added an interception and a fumble.
Christmas Eve’s only bowl game figures to feature a fair bit of offense: USF averages 417 yards a game to San Jose’s 407 yards. Defensively, the Bulls allow 437 yards a game; SJSU 388 yards.
South Florida is in a bowl for the second straight season, after missing the postseason in the previous four years. The Bulls needed to finish strong to become bowl eligible, winning four of its final six regular season games.
Sparty will be looking for revenge. The teams have met once and USF got over in a big way: Preseason No. 19 USF won at San Jose State 42-22 in the first game of the 2017 season in the first meeting between the programs and the opening game of former SJSU coach Brent Brennan’s tenure.
The Bulls have made 12 bowl appearances (7 wins), including a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.
In addition to Niumatalolo, the Spartans feature a number of coaches with Hawaiian roots: Offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann and senior offensive analyst Billy Ray Stutzmann (Craig’s brother) were both born and raised on the islands and, like offensive line coach John Estes and Niumatalolo, played for the University of Hawaii.
It’ll also be a homecoming for three Hawaii-born players: senior kicker Kyler Halvorsen, sophomore offensive lineman Laakea Kapoi and freshman tight end Kamaehu Kopa-Kaawalauole.
