San Jose State preps for another bowl game in paradise — without some key players

San Jose State has returned to the Pacific Islands for its second straight season finale in the Hawaii Bowl.

In 2023’s rendition of the bowl game, SJSU lost to Coastal Carolina 24-14. This time the Spartans will play South Florida on Tuesday night (5 p.m., ESPN).

Last season, Ken Niumatalolo was at his home in Hawaii weighing professional options when San Jose State defensive line coach Joe Seumalo invited him to the team’s pre-bowl practice.

Brent Brennan, then the Spartans’ head coach, let Niumatalolo speak to the team at practice.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” Niumtalolo said.

About a month later, Niumatalolo was announced as the next head coach of SJSU after Brennan left for Arizona.

“I don’t think that was a coincidence,” Niumatalolo said. “The University of Hawaii is right down the road from my house.”

This new coaching staff has plenty of ties to the island, including Niumtalolo, offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann, senior offensive analyst Billy Ray Stutzmann and offensive line coach John Estes, all of whom played for the University of Hawaii.

“We’re excited to come to the most beautiful place in the world and play in this bowl game,” Niumatalolo said.

Safety Robert Rahimi is one of many players visiting Hawaii for the first time for this game.

“It’s just like how I dreamed, the beaches are beautiful. We’re blessed to be here,” Rahimi said.

But the Spartans (7-5, 3-4 Mountain West) are not treating this trip like a vacation. They are set on winning.

“Even though we’re at a beautiful spot with beautiful weather, we still have to remember what our main focus is,” quarterback Walker Eget said.

Eget said the team is more focused in comparison to last season’s Hawaii Bowl trip.

“We’re just more locked in on what we are really here for and not just taking a trip here like a vacation,” Eget said. “We’re here on a business trip and that’s what’s most important.”

Niumatalolo has six bowl wins as a head coach. SJSU has seven bowl wins throughout program history.

But they are going to have to do it without 2024 Fred Biletnikoff Aaward finalist Nick Nash and Pro Football Focus’ fifth-ranked defensive back DJ Harvey.

Nash decided to forgo the Hawaii Bowl to focus his efforts on his next goal, the NFL Draft, according to Niumatalolo.

“He’s not going to play and he’s going to get ready for the next level,” Niumatalolo said. “It would be selfish for me to say he needs to play for us. Nick (Nash) needs to do what’s best for him.”

Niumatalolo said Nash could have shown up to Hawaii on gameday without practicing and he would have played, something other players in the transfer portal would not have the luxury to do with SJSU.

Harvey entered the transfer portal on Dec. 8 and announced his commitment to USC six days later.

The Spartans saw seven total players enter the transfer portal, including defensive back Michael Dansby, who started every game and quarterback Emmett Brown, who started the first five games.

Wide receiver coach Kevin McGiven also left the Spartans before the bowl game, accepting a job as an offensive coordinator at Utah State.

“We kept our roster intact for the most part,” Niumatalolo said. “We feel pretty fortunate where we are at.”

Last season SJSU had 28 players enter the transfer portal.

Dansby committed to Arizona, where Brennan will coach him.

Brown is still practicing with SJSU, made the trip to Hawaii and will back up Eget on Tuesday.

Other transfers include wide receiver Sawyer Deerman, running back Kayden Collins, running back Paolo Burak and linebacker Alexander Cobbs.

SJSU has a plan to fill these spots for the upcoming bowl game.

Wide receiver Sebastian Macaluso and Matthew Coleman will split reps at the slot position, filling in for Nash, according to Stutzmann.

“It will be a really interesting game to see how we collectively play together without Nick Nash,” Stutzmann said.

“Those are two guys that, even when moments are so big people don’t notice that they are the ones making these plays and they’re still big-time playmakers,” Eget said. “What separates them from someone like Nash is they also have a lot more run-after-catch ability, whereas Nash is more of a bigger-body guy.”

On the defensive side, defensive coordinator Derrick Odum has a plan to fill the spots of the two starting corners.

“Anytime you lose starters it’s a big loss,” Odum said. “We’re looking at a bunch of guys to see who rises above and sets the standard of being a starter.”

USF (6-6, 4-4 American) led the FBS in scoring in the month of November with 201 points.

“They are a very explosive offense, they are uptempo and I think they were No. 1 in the country as far as getting the ball off the quickest,” Odum said. “They have a veteran offensive line, they have a receiver that’s caught a ton of balls and they just got weapons all over the place.”

The Spartans will also have their hands full with the Bulls’ defense.

“Up front they’re big,” Stutzmann said on USF’s defense. “They are probably bigger than a lot of Mountain West schools that we played.”

Stutzmann said that the Spartans will have to run the football better as well.

Look for SJSU to rely on freshman running back Lamar Radcliffe and center Joseph Harbert, who started in the regular-season finale against Stanford, who both provide more size.

“He’s a big guy and it’s hard to take him down,” Eget said of Radcliffe. “He moves really well for his size and he’s got great vision.”

Stutzmann also expects second-team All-Mountain West wide receiver Justin Lockhart to produce more in the absence of Nash.

“My Christmas wish is that Justin Lockart goes for 200 yards,” Stutzmann said.