Brent Brennan’s quest for his first bowl game victory as San Jose State head coach will need to wait another season as the Spartans fell to Coastal Carolina 24-14 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.
SJSU quarterback Chevan Cordeiro passed for 215 yards and a touchdown in his final collegiate game in his home state. Kairee Robinson rushed for 67 yards on 12 attempts.
Coastal Carolina redshirt freshman Ethan Vasko passed for 199 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Sam Pinckney caught eight passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
After Robinson fumbled in the third quarter, Vasko scored his second touchdown of the game on the next possession after finding tight end Kendall Karr on a 2-yard throw to give Coastal Carolina a 14-0 lead.
The Spartans cut the Chanticleer lead to just three points in the fourth quarter after Quali Conley rushed in for a 12-yard touchdown to make the score 17-14 with 8:30 left in the game.
But on the ensuing possession, Coastal Carolina drove 75 yards in 10 plays which ended with Vasko finding Pinckney for an eight-yard touchdown catch to extend its lead to 24-14 with under 2:45 left in the fourth.
The Spartans allowed 17 second-half points, the most since they lost to Boise State on Oct. 7. San Jose committed eight penalties which resulted in 95 yards.
SJSU struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half. The Spartans mustered up just 127 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.
The Chanticleers got on the board first after Vasko found wide receiver Matt Alaimo for a two-yard touchdown pass to put Coastal Carolina up 7-0 with 3:16 in the first quarter.
Brennan is now 0-3 in bowl games as head coach of the Spartans. SJSU has not won a bowl game since 2015 when it defeated Georgia State in the Cure Bowl.
The Spartans started their season 1-5, but rattled off six straight wins to get to bowl eligibility. SJSU ends its season with a 7-6 record. The Spartans open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Sacramento State.