Hawaii Bowl point spread: Picking Coastal Carolina Chanticleers vs. San Jose State Spartans

San Jose State and Coastal Carolina will get the luxury of facing off in the Hawaii Bowl this season in Honolulu. The two teams enter the matchup trending in opposite directions with the Spartans having won six straight while the Chanticleers dropped back-to-back games to close the season.

It’s a chance for college football fans to get some exposure to a couple of teams they likely haven’t seen a lot from this season, and hopefully can provide some good entertainment. San Jose State enters as a 9.5-point favorite according to FanDuel, which also has the over/under for the game at 52.5.

How to watch Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State

Time: 10:30 ET on Saturday, Dec. 23
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu, Hawaii

On3‘s Andy Staples broke down the matchup on his Tuesday podcast, beginning with the Coastal Carolina side of things. The Chanticleers lost starting quarterback Grayson McCall to injury earlier this season before announcing his decision to transfer.

That leaves Ethan Vasko to start in his place as Coastal Carolina has gone 2-1 in the games he has played thus far. A former Kansas quarterback, he has thrown for 579 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in his starts. He also had 170 yards rushing and a touchdown in a Nov. 4 win against Old Dominion.

“Grayson McCall gone from Coastal Carolina,” Staples said. “He’s gonna be NC State’s starting quarterback next year. He was hurt anyway and hadn’t played since October. Ethan Vasko will get the start. He started the season finale against JMU. They were not particularly good.”

As for San Jose State, there’s a bit of a mystical story surrounding the Spartans’ turnaround this season.

After beginning the year 1-5, San Jose State reeled off six straight victories to become bowl eligible. The first of those came against New Mexico back on Oct. 14. Staples looked back on the story behind what happened just prior to that game, as coach Brent Brennan took his team on a trip the morning before that game to view a solar eclipse.

It’s also the reason he’s rolling with the Spartans to win.

“They were at the Sheraton in Albuquerque and there was a ring of fire solar eclipse,” Staples said. “This is a type of solar eclipse that can only be seen in a few places and New Mexico’s one of them. Brent Brennan, their coach, ordered a bunch of viewers so that the team could look at the eclipse. Since the eclipse they have ripped off six consecutive wins.

“Guys, I’m getting 10.5 points. Give me the damn ring of fire in this game. Gimme San Jose State. The Spartans with otherworldly influence on this team.”

The last type of ring of fire solar eclipse occurred 11 years ago before the one that the Spartans saw. The effect occurs when the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun, creating a “ring of fire” effect. It was only visible in eight states.

On the field, running back Kairee Robinson is an explosive player in the backfield with 1,127 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro has also been impressive with 2,558 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.

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More than that, though, it would seem there’s other forces at work when it comes to San Jose State. Either way, it should be an entertaining game as we wait to see how it all unfolds.