By Colin McGuigan
USF (6-6; 4-4 American) vs San Jose State (7-5; 3-4 MWC)
Tuesday, Dec. 24 • 8:00 P.M. (ET) • Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (16,909) • Honolulu, HI
SURFACE: Artificial Turf
TV: ESPN: Tiffany Greene (P-by-P) & Jay Walker (Analyst) & Marilyn Payne (Reporter)
& ESPN Deportes: Rigo Plascencia (P-by-P) & Alex Pombo (Analyst)
ESPN+ ESPN Spanish Language
AUDIO: USF Broadcast: 102.5 FM/102.5 HD2 The Strike & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn) – Jim Louk, B.J. Daniels & Caylee Cottrell
ESPN National Radio: Kevin Winter & Trevor Matich
SERIES: USF leads, 1-0
IN TAMPA: NA
IN SAN JOSE: USF won, 42-22, in 2017
LAST TIME: USF won first-ever meeting, 42-22 in 2017 at San Jose State
BOWL RECORD: 7-4
LAST BOWL: Won 2023 Boca Raton Bowl over Syracuse, 45-0
Bulls making 12th bowl appearance in 24 seasons of FBS football
Hawai’i Bowl Info: https://www.thehawaiibowl.com/
TAMPA, DEC. 3, 2024 – University of South Florida football will make its second-straight bowl appearance under second-year head coach Alex Golesh at the Hawai’i Bowl in Honolulu, Hawai’i on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
The Bulls (6-6; 4-4 American) will take on San Jose State (7-5; 3-4 MWC) out of the Mountain West Conference in the 21stedition of the Hawai’i Bowl set for a Christmas Eve kick at 8 p.m. ET (3 p.m. HT) from the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai’i at Manoa campus. The game will be televised by ESPN.
The 16,909-seat Ching Athletics Complex, the home stadium for the University of Hawaii, will play host to the Hawai’i Bowl for the third consecutive year. Last season, Coastal Carolina defeated San Jose State, 24-14.
“We are excited for the opportunity to compete in the Hawai’i Bowl against a very good San Jose State team,” Golesh said. “Hawai’i is a unique and beautiful destination that our players are excited to experience, and we look forward to productive bowl practices and a great game as we continue to build our program.”
It will mark the 10th different bowl destination for the Bulls and the sixth different state or province (the Bulls played one bowl in Canada) for USF to compete in a bowl game in. The second meeting ever with San Jose State will mark USF’s first-ever game in Hawai’i and, at over 4,200 miles from Tampa, the farthest destination the Bulls have ever played away from home. USF won at San Jose State 42-22 in the first game of the 2017 season in the first meeting between the programs.
USF won four of its last six games to close the 2024 regular season. The Bulls have won seven of their previous 11 bowl appearances, including three of the last four and a 45-0 victory over Syracuse in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl. USF’s 12 bowl appearances in its first 24 FBS seasons mark the fourth-most for any program since 1980. San Jose State will mark the first Mountain West Conference opponent for the Bulls in a bowl game. USF is 2-2 all-time vs. the conference.
San Jose State posted a 34-31 victory at home over Stanford to close the regular season, winning two of their four games in November. The Spartans are led by head coach Ken Niumatalolo in his first season. Niumatalolo is the former head coach at Navy and faced the Bulls three times (2015, 2016 & 2019) while leading the Midshipmen. San Jose State will be making its 14th bowl appearance and is 7-6 in bowl games, but has lost its last three in 2020, 2022 and 2023. USF will mark the first American Athletic Conference opponent for the Spartans in a bowl game.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and is in its 28th season in 2024 making back-to-back bowl appearances under second-year head coach Alex Golesh. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. The Bulls have earned 12 bowl game appearances (posting 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.
Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
HONOLULU – San José State (7-5) has accepted an invitation to compete in the 2024 Hawai‘i Bowl against the University of South Florida (6-6) on Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 5:00 p.m. (PT), announced on Tuesday. The game will be played at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa campus and will be televised on ESPN.
“It’s an honor to be selected to compete in the Hawai’i Bowl for a second consecutive season. It speaks to our brand and what Ken (Niumatalolo) has done in his first season at San José State,” said SJSU Director of Athletics Jeff Konya. “It’s an elite bowl game for experiences that are provided to the participants, and furthermore, San José State has many rich ties and connections to the area, including our head coach and other staffers. We look forward to playing on ESPN as the only nationally televised college football game on December 24th.”
This is the second straight season the Spartans are Hawai‘i Bound presented by Habbas Law and CEFCU, and it’s the first time in program history that the Spartans have gone to three straight bowl games. The Spartans are making their fourth bowl game appearance over the last five years, another program first.
The game will air nationally on ESPN Radio, locally on KTRB 860 AM, and simulcasted on ESPN+ for the second-ever meeting between the schools. This will be the Spartans’ 14th overall bowl game appearance, tallying a record of 7-6.
SJSU finished the regular season with a win over Stanford on national television and has the best record out of any FBS school in California. The Spartans finished fifth in the Mountain West standings at 3-4, playing the toughest schedule of any Mountain West schools, including then-No. 13 Boise State (L, 42-21) and then-No. 23 UNLV (L, 27-16) before defeating Stanford to close out the season, 34-31.
The Spartans are led by Biletnikoff Finalist Nick Nash, who finished the regular season with the rare triple crown, leading all FBS college football in receptions (104), yards (1,382), and receiving touchdowns (16).
SJSU head football coach Ken Niumatalolo knows Hawai’i and the American Athletic Conference well. The La‘ie, Hawai‘i native played quarterback at Hawai‘i from 1987-89 and was part of their first bowl team in 1989. Niumatalolo also led Navy out of the American Athletic Conference to a school-record 109 wins and 10 bowl games over 15 seasons, and is a three-time AAC Coach of the Year (2015, ’16, ’19).
“We are ecstatic to be invited to the Hawai’i Bowl,” said Niumatalolo. “So happy for our entire program! Everyone, especially our players worked extremely hard for this amazing reward. We have coaches and players from Hawai’I, and it will be a cherished experience to play in the Hawai’i Bowl against such a great program in South Florida.”
“On behalf of ESPN Events and our Executive Committee, we’re thrilled to welcome South Florida and San José State to the Hawai’i Bowl,” Executive Director Daryl Garvin said. “Players, coaches and fans from both coasts will enjoy bowl week in paradise, while we showcase the natural beauty of Hawai‘i to television viewers around the world.”
The Spartans have many Hawai‘i connections with Offensive Coordinator Craig Stutzmann, Offensive Line Coach John Estes and Senior Offensive Analyst Billy Ray Stutzmann all having played for the Rainbow Warriors.
The Hawai‘i Bowl is known for its high-scoring, thrilling offenses, and close games with two overtime
contests and seven games decided by one touchdown or less. In addition to promoting the island way of life by sponsoring events intrinsic to Hawai‘i, the bowl supports many non-profit organizations through the
Hawai‘i Bowl Foundation. More than $1.8 million has been awarded to local charities since the inception
of the Hawai‘i Bowl Foundation. Additionally, through the Extra Yard for Teachers program, the Hawai‘i
Bowl has partnered with Teach for America Hawai’i to support teachers, schools and students.
SJSU Bowl History (7-6)
- 2023: Hawai‘i Bowl, Honolulu, Hawai‘I, Coastal Carolina 24, San José State 14
- 2022: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise, Idaho, Eastern Michigan 41, San José State 27
- 2020: Arizona Bowl, Tucson, Ariz., Ball State 34, San José State 13 (Played without 30+ players due to Covid protocols)
- 2015: Cure Bowl, Orlando, Fla., San José State 27, Georgia State 16
- 2012: Military Bowl, Washington, D.C., San José State 29, Bowling Green 20
- 2006: New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque, N.M., San José State 20, New Mexico 12
- 1990: California Raisin Bowl, Fresno, Calif., San José State 48, Central Michigan 24
- 1987: California Bowl, Fresno, Calif., Eastern Michigan 30, San José State 27
- 1986: California Bowl, Fresno, Calif., San José State 37, Miami (Ohio) 7
- 1981: California Bowl, Fresno, Calif., Toledo 27, San José State 25
- 1971: Pasadena Bowl, Pasadena, Calif., Memphis State 28, San José State 9
- 1949: Raisin Bowl, Fresno, Calif., San José State 20, Texas Tech 13
- 1947: Raisin Bowl, Fresno, Calif., San José State 20, Utah State 0
#AllSpartans
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