Coastal Carolina vs UTSA Prediction, Myrtle Beach Bowl Game Preview & Odds

Originally posted on College Football News
By Pete Fiutak | Last updated Dec 19, 2024 2:06 AM ET

It’s been an interesting season for UTSA. It was supposed to be a rebuilding campaign, and that’s exactly what it was with a struggle early on, but a late rally to get bowl eligible. There was a nice win over Memphis and a great offensive show against North Texas, but now this is the chance to finish with a winning season.

The program lost its first four bowl games before taking down Marshall in last season’s Frisco. On the other side, Coastal Carolina is in its fifth bowl game in five seasons - it won last year’s Hawaii over San Jose State.

This wasn’t exactly the year the Chanticleers were hoping for, but they rallied back from a 1-5 late run to beat Georgia State to get bowl eligible.

Coastal Carolina vs UTSA: How to Watch the Myrtle Beach Bowl, Game Preview

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2024
Game Time: 11:00 am ET
How To Watch: ESPN
Venue: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC
Teams: UTSA (6-6), Coastal Carolina (6-6)
Fiu Bluesky | CFN Bluesky | CFN X | CFN FB
- Bowl Schedule, Scoreboard, Predictions
- Expert Picks: UTSA vs Coastal Carolina
- Myrtle Beach Bowl History, MVPs

Why Coastal Carolina Will Win

Besides being at home? It might not make for a super-fun bowl experience for the team, but it should be comfortable. It’s going to need all the help it can get - more on that in a moment.

UTSA makes a TON of mistakes. Few teams get hit with more flags - 103 on the year for the Roadrunners - and the O turned it over multiple times in five straight games before the loss to Army and 21 times on the season.

The Coastal Carolina defense was great at forcing takeaways, the offense needs to get into a passing groove against one of the nation’s least efficient pass defenses, and …

Why UTSA Will Win

Yeah, this might be hard for Coastal Carolina to do without any quarterbacks.

UTSA has a slew of players in the portal and a few key parts are hurt, but for the most part the team should be able to hold up personnel-wise. On the flip side, Coastal Carolina hasn’t been totally gutted, but it’s not going well so far this transfer portal offseason with quarterbacks Ethan Vast and Noah Kim both gone.

Enough other key parts are around to be okay, but top playmaker in the backfield Clev Lubin is gone to Auburn, the offensive line is banged up, and …

Even at full strength, this would be a tough one for Coastal Carolina. UTSA’s run defense should hold up, the passing game will push for close to 300 yards, and the Chanticleers are 0-4 when they haven’t hit the 150-yard mark.

Coastal Carolina vs UTSA: Who Will Win?

Only four teams ran for more than 150 this season on UTSA - Texas, Army, North Texas, and Texas State.

Again, UTSA isn’t a full go personnel-wise, either, and the home field angle will make a bit of a difference, but one team has its quarterback - Owen McCown is a good one - and the other side is starting fresh.

The Chanticleers will be just good enough defensively to keep this close and interesting, but there will be too many offensive misfires.