Coastal Carolina: 2023 Hawaii Bowl Champions

 

Freshman quarterback Ethan Vasko threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night as Coastal Carolina beat San Jose State 24-14 to win the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

Vasko completed 20 of 33 passes, wrapping up the win with 2:43 remaining when he found Sam Pinckney for an 8-yard scoring strike. The play capped an eight-catch, 123-yard performance for Pinckney in his last college game.

The Chanticleers (8-5) possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes, converting 8 of 15 third downs. They were outgained 374-336, but their defense came up with two key fumble recoveries to halt third-quarter drives.

Spartans quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who was born in Honolulu and playing the final game of his college career, hit 16 of 30 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown. He led two fourth-quarter scoring drives that got San Jose State (7-6) within three points, first finding Sam Olson on a 35-yard strike at the 12:27 mark.

Quali Conley added a 12-yard touchdown run with 8:30 remaining, but the Spartans couldn't get the stop they needed. They had a chance to get within seven points with 1:09 left but kicker Kyler Halvorsen missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt, ending their hopes of a dramatic comeback.

San Jose State entered the game as a clear favorite. The Spartans came in with a six-game winning streak, and Coastal Carolina's star player, quarterback Grayson McCall, departed for NC State via the transfer portal.

But Vasko orchestrated a patient attack that hogged the ball for nearly 18 1/2 minutes in the first half. It was Vasko who broke the scoring seal with 3:16 left in the first quarter, flipping a 2-yard touchdown pass to Matt Alaimo to cap an 80-yard drive that lasted nearly 5 1/2 minutes.

Meanwhile, San Jose State couldn't get going against a Chanticleers defense that was lit up frequently down the stretch. They limited the Spartans to 24 plays, 127 yards and six first downs in the half.

--Field Level Media

Coastal Carolina: 2021 Cure Bowl Champions

ORLANDO, Fla. -- — Grayson McCall threw four touchdown passes and Coastal Carolina held off Northern Illinois 47-41 in the Cure Bowl on Friday night, with the game ending with the Huskies at the Chanticleers 4.

McCall was 22 for 30 for 315 yards, and Braydon Bennett ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns on six carries to help Coastal Carolina (11-1) win 11 games for the second consecutive year. Bennett also caught four passes for 47 yards and a TD.

"He just operates, he's a smooth operator," Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell said about McCall. "As a coach, if he misses a play, you're like, ‘What in the world is wrong with him' because he makes so many good one's."

Chadwell said while there is speculation about McCall's future, "we're confident that he loves Coastal and he's going to be here with us and finish out his career."

It was also Coastal Carolina's first bowl victory. The Chanticleers lost in their first bowl appearance last year, 37-34 in overtime to Liberty.

"Pretty cool," McCall said. "Definitely a team effort. I don't think I played by best game but but all my teammates propelled me forward."

Jay Ducker ran for 146 yards on 24 carries, and Antario Brown added 105 yards and 12 attempts for Northern Illinois (9-5). Rocky Lombardi completed 20 of 33 passes for 181 yards and two scores.

"Couldn't be more proud of their fight," NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. "This could be a launching pad for us into the 2022 season."

NIU's roster has just seven seniors, and includes 71 players who graduated from high school in 2020 or 2021. The Huskies are the first team in FBS history to win its conference championship game one season after going winless (0-6).

Lombardi also had picked up 66 yards including a touchdown on eight carries.

Northern Illinois (516) and Coastal Carolina (514) combined for 1,030 yards. Northern Illinois picked up 335 yards on the ground.

After Northern Illinois wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run at the Huskies 34, McCall threw a shovel pass from the option to Bennett for a TD on the next play. He then connected with Isaiah Likely on a two-point conversion to make it 47-41 with 6:40 left.

NIU converted 4 of 5 fourth-down plays in the game and ended the season successful of 26 of 31 attempts.

Northern Illinois got the ball back at its own 13 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Lombardi hit Miles Joiner for a 4-yard gain on fourth down to the Coastal Carolina 4 with 2 seconds remaining, but the Huskies couldn't off another play.

Likely's second touchdown reception got Coastal Carolina within two at 41-39 with nine minutes left, but McCall's threw an incomplete pass on the two-point try.

Northern Illinois led 24-19 at the half as both teams scored on their first four possessions. NIU's fifth and final possession started with a second left following a kickoff.

McCall passed for 164 yards and a TD during the opening half, while Lombardi threw for just 23 yards but had scoring strikes of 5- and 12-yards.

GAME BALL

A special pink football was brought into the stadium by U.S. military paratroopers during a pregame ceremony. The NCAA approved the use of a football with pink laces for the opening kickoff. It was the first approval of its kind by the NCAA.

TRAINERS ROOM

Northern Illinois: Hammock said around 20-to-25 of his players were impacted by flulike symptoms over the last few days.

Coastal Carolina: Defensive lineman C.J. Brewer left with a groin injury.

Coastal Carolina: 2014-15 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

CONWAY, S.C. -- Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis stood atop the ladder after slipping the Big South Conference championship net around his neck. The fit was just as sweet as ever.

"This is a euphoric moment," Ellis said Sunday, celebrating his team's second consecutive conference title, an 81-70 victory over Winthrop.

Now, Ellis is on another mission -- gaining a higher seed in the NCAA tournament than the No. 16 the Chanticleers had last year. Ellis said his team has proven its mettle the past two seasons, including going toe-to-toe with No. 1 seed Virginia in last season's 70-59 NCAA defeat.

"Yeah, I'm out beating on a drum," the 69-year-old Ellis said. "But I've earned the right to do it."

Coastal Carolina (24-9) displayed that grit to pull away from a game tied 38-all at halftime with a 15-4 run to start the second half and wrest control from the Eagles (19-13).

Warren Gillis scored 22 points and Elijah Wilson had 14 of his 19 in the second half for the Chanticleers. Wilson was named tournament MVP. Both were part of last year's NCAA run and are eager to take things further this season.

"We can matchup with anybody," Coastal forward Badou Diagne said.

Coastal Carolina's victory brings the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance for Ellis, the only Division I coach with 150 or more victories at four separate schools. Ellis last year joined the club of 11 coaches who have taken four teams to the NCAAs. Now, he's done it multiple times at each of his four stops: South Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and Coastal Carolina.

Keon Johnson led Winthrop with 18 points.

Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey thought his team had momentum at halftime after erasing Coastal's nine-point lead to tie the game. But breakdowns on defense and missed open shots swung the game, he said.

"When a veteran team has a lead like that, it's tough to claw back," Kelsey said.

Josh Cameron dribbled out the clock, then threw the ball into the air when the horn sounded as he and the team were quickly swarmed by Coastal Carolina students and fans celebrating the team's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance (1991, 1993 and 2014).

The Eagles came up short in the Big South finals for the second straight season in Kelsey's three years.

Coastal Carolina finished with four players in double figures as Cameron had 13 points and Diagne 11.

The Chants earned their first NCAA Tournament trip in 21 years with a 76-61 victory last year. These teams came from back in the field -- and got plenty of help along the way -to set up the conference tournament's first ever rematch.

Coastal Carolina, the third seed, topped UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb (a seventh seed that upset No. 2 High Point on Friday) to advance. Winthrop was seeded fifth and moved on with wins over No. 4 seed Radford and ninth-seeded Longwood, a quarterfinal winner over regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Charleston Southern.

WILSON'S WORLD

Wilson scored 61 points in three games to earn tournament MVP honors. He had a career-high 29 points off seven 3-pointers in the Chants quarterfinal win over UNC Asheville, then 13 points against Gardner-Webb.

ELLIS' TAKE

Ellis acknowledged the excitement of returning the NCAA Tournament, yet said he's learned to temper things because of the low points that inevitably follow such highs. He brought up the 1990 NCAA Sweet 16 game with Connecticut as Clemson's coach when Huskies guard Tate George hit a last-second shot to end the Tigers' run. "I've been on the other side of this, too," Ellis said.

TIP INS

WINTHROP: Eagles were a mid-major power from 1999-2010 with nine Big South Conference tournaments and NCAA appearances under Gregg Marshall and Randy Peele. ... Winthrop missed out on consecutive 20-win seasons for first time since posting four straight from 2004-08. ... Winthrop is just the second No. 5 seed to reach the Big South title game, joining 2003 UNC Asheville, which won the league tournament championship.

COASTAL CAROLINA: Coastal Carolina and Winthrop have played 80 times, the Chants holding a 41-39 edge.

Coastal Carolina: 2013-14 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

Coastal Carolina is headed the NCAA Tournament, winning the Big South Tournament over Winthrop, 76-61. The Chanticleers never trailed, shooting 58 percent from the field in the win.

Josh Cameron scored 19, including three triples in six attempts. Center El Hadji Ndieguene had a workmanlike effort, scoring just four points but grabbing 10 rebounds. Coastal Carolina finished the regular season 11th in the nation in rebounding, and Ndieguene was a big part of that.

Winthrop came up short, shooting just 8-26 on three-point attempts and just 32 percent as a team. Keon Moore did his best to keep the Eagles in it, with 10 of his 19 points coming in the second half. Winthrop had defeated Coastal Carolina in both of the teams' previous meetings this season.

Carolina finished the regular season 11-5, good enough to finish first in the South Division of the conference. The Chanticleers entered the tournament with a first-round bye, awarded to the top-two finishers in each division. The Chanticleers are expected to be part of the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament, where the field of 68 will be whittled down to 64.