HONOLULU — In a wild contest that stretched to an FBS bowl game-record five overtimes, South Florida defeated San Jose State, 41-39, to claim the Hawaii Bowl at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Tuesday night.
The 3 p.m. local time Chrismas Eve game went long enough, 4 hours and 18 minutes, that the calendar had flipped to Christmas Day back at USF’s Tampa, Fla., campus when linebacker Mac Harris knocked down Spartans quarterback Walter Eget’s tying 2-point pass attempt to Justin Lockhart in the back left corner of the end zone.
[Note: See below for more photos of USF-San Jose State in the Hawaii Bowl.]
"Merry Christmas, Happy New Year," said USF receiver Sean Atkins, who caught 11 balls for 104 yards. The 5-foot-10 senior became American Athletic Conference school's career receiving yardage leader, needing 74 entering the game, to go with his program career catches record.
"I’m so proud to leave my stamp and leave my mark on this program," the former walk-on said. "I can’t put it into words. We just won that, went out and took it."
Coach Alex Golesh made it two bowl wins in two years leading the Bulls (7-6), who endured two hurricanes that hit Tampa in a 13-day span in September and October. USF beat Syracuse 45-0 in the Boca Raton Bowl last year.
Golesh raised the Hawaii Bowl trophy over his head and shouted, "To the mayor!" and it was echoed by Bulls players, who also chanted, "Where's the mayor?" for several minutes. It was in reference to the Hawaii Bowl week luau for both teams, where USF was slighted by some perceived lopsided praise from former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann toward San Jose State (7-6) and its local coach, Ken Niumatalolo.
After the raucous celebration settled somewhat, Golesh lauded the Hawaii Bowl team for "everything from the hospitality to the food to the people. It’s a really, really special place."
USF, which plays its home games at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium, is in the process of constructing its own 35,000-seat on-campus venue. Moments like the Hawaii Bowl win add to a feeling of momentum swinging in the Bulls' favor after some down times, Golesh said.
"It’s the start of a great Christmas. We’re bringing another trophy back to Tampa," Golesh said. "That Tampa sports community is incredible. It’s the same for the Bucs, same for the (NHL) Lightning. We call it ‘Champa Bay’ for a reason. We just want to keep adding to that."
The game was lightly attended at under 5,000 (6,720 tickets issued) in the 15,000-seat Ching Complex, but it made up for it on national TV with some crazy swings of fortune late.
Placekicker John Cannon lived up to his surname to collect the Hugh Yoshida Most Valuable Player award. He banged through a 41-yard field goal off the right upright to tie the game at 27-all with 2 seconds left in regulation, then answered Kaiser High alum Kyler Halvorsen’s 24-yarder in the second overtime with a 36-yarder to extend the game.
Ta'Ron Keith's 2-yard touchdown for USF in the first overtime was answered by Matthew Coleman's 4-yard TD pass from SJSU quarterback Walker Eget. Tight end Payten Singletary and Coleman had offsetting conversion catches in the third overtime, when teams must starting going for 2 right away.
Both teams failed to convert in the fourth overtime. USF went first in the fifth overtime and quarterback Bryce Archie found Keshaun Singleton on a dart across the middle of the end zone for the go-ahead points.
"We’ve got some of the best 2-point plays in the nation in my opinion," Archie said. "And (to) let our defense go out there — I believe everything in them."
Eget looked to the back left corner for Lockhart, but he was well covered and Harris leaped to get his right paw on the ball and bat it to the ground. Some USF players swarmed Harris in the end zone while others ran out to midfield.
After a mammoth 72-yard boot by USF's Australian punter Andrew Stokes, SJSU took over at its 5 with 1:55 left and a chance to win it in regulation to cap a comeback from 14 points down. First-year coach Niumatalolo, an Oahu North Shore native who has several staff members and players from Hawaii on the roster, put the ball in the hands of running back Floyd Chalk IV, who carried it three times to gain 9-plus yards. USF burned its last two timeouts to stop the clock after first and second down. Facing a key decision on fourth and less than a yard from the 14 — a first down would've assured SJSU the win — Niumatalolo elected to run the clock down all the way to 53 seconds and take a timeout, then punt the ball away.
“I probably will not be able to sleep thinking about that for the next year,” Niumatalolo lamented afterward.
"I should’ve (gone for it). I was this close to going," he said. "I was going back and forth. If you don’t (get it), it’s an automatic field goal or they might just score to win. If we were a little further out, but, I should’ve."
A 16-yard punt return by Atkins brought USF to the 50.
"Next-play mentality," Atkins said. "This group has been through so much, we’ve dealt through external factors, hurricanes, everything."
Archie completed a 10-yard pass to Nay’Quan Wright and, after two incompletions, found Singleton over the middle for a 17-yard pickup to the SJSU 23. The Bulls spiked it, took one shot at to Singleton in the end zone (he caught it, but out of bounds) then summoned the MVP Cannon to tie it up.
Spartans offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann, a former UH receiver and assistant coach, saw his team produce 441 yards with his signature "spread and shred" offense, 150 more than USF generated. SJSU also had former UH offensive lineman John Estes coaching the O-line and former UH receiver Billy Ray Stutzmann as an offensive assistant.
"Love Craig. He’s done an amazing job," Niumatalolo said. "He’s a brilliant offensive mind. He’s only going to get better."
Eget, the Spartans' successor at signal-caller for Chevan Cordeiro, set a Hawaii Bowl record with his 58 pass attempts and tied the record for completions with 33. He had two touchdowns, one interception and 280 passing yards. USF's Archie, a former backup who was thrust into action at midseason, was 24-for-35 for 235 yards and a pick.
Coleman — playing in a featured role for the game after All-America receiver Nick Nash opted out to protect his pro prospects — had 12 catches for 119 yards and a TD for the Spartans.
Twice in the first half, SJSU seemed to be well on its way to scoring, only to give it away to USF on an end zone fumble-touchback and an intercepted pass. The Bulls scored off of both for a 14-0 lead.
SJSU’s TreyShun Hurry had his helmet torn off by a defender and caught a pass afterward anyway along the left sideline. The pass stood and included a personal foul penalty for an additional 13 yards to the USF 13.
Chalk took it in from 3 yards as SJSU got on the board.
USF’s Keith then took the ensuing kickoff back 93 yards, the third-longest return in Hawaii Bowl history, shaking off a couple of would-be tacklers along the way and beating SJSU receiver Cooper Hoch to the right pylon for a 21-7 lead.
Halvorsen hit a 42-yard field goal going into the half.
The Spartans continued to rally in the second half as Halversen connected on a 22-yarder and tight end Jackson Canaan coasted in from 5 yards on a pass from Eget.
After Cannon hit from 33 yards to make it 24-20 for USF, the Bulls forced a three-and-out and appeared to have regained the momentum. But the Spartans capitalized on linebacker Noah McNeal-Franklin's 27-yard interception return of an Archie throw and Lamar Radcliffe immediately punched in a 2-yard score for SJSU's first lead at 27-24 with 11:14 to play.
It was the third straight year that a team from the South beat a team from the Western U.S. — more specifically the Mountain West Conference — for the Hawaii Bowl trophy. Middle Tennessee edged San Diego State in 2022 and Coastal Carolina topped San Jose State last year. MWC teams dropped to 4-7 in the Hawaii Bowl.
Niumatalolo, the former Navy coach who succeeded Brent Brennan in January when Brennan took the Arizona job, expressed warm feelings about his new experience in life on the West Coast, despite Tuesday's outcome.
"I would’ve never known that I love San Jose this much," he said. "I talked to this team last year in the (Hawaii Bowl), and I had no idea that I would be coming here as the head coach. But from Jan. 21 to today, Dec. 24, it’s been an amazing ride. … I love coming to work every day."
Note: This story was updated with details, quotes and photos.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.