Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — After a much-needed bye week to recharge and refresh, the San Jose State Spartans returned to CEFCU Stadium on Saturday to host the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the university’s annual Homecoming game.

Prior to Homecoming, the Spartans’ Twitter announced this year’s SJSU football captains: Dakari Monroe, Bryson Bridges, Boogie Roberts and Josh Oliver. All four players deserved their respective titles. The Spartans’ other captain was Mayor Sam Liccardo. Liccardo received some boos and heckles, but ignored the negativity around him.

The Spartans survived an early scare just minutes into the first quarter. Jesse Osuna went down with an apparent injury, but he managed to get up off the ground after nearly five minutes. Spartan fans cheered and clapped when Osuna got up.

The Rainbow Warriors got on the board first. Ryan Meskell scored a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 7:45 left in the first.

The Spartans’ Twitter diverted the fans’ attention to the SJSU men’s basketball players who were at Homecoming to show some love to the SJSU football players on the field.

The Spartans trailed the Rainbow Warriors 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Spartans flipped the script just moments after the first quarter. Boogie Roberts scored a two-yard rushing touchdown and Bryce Crawford kicked a PAT to snatch a 7-3 lead just 35 seconds into the second quarter.

The Spartans grabbed a 14-7 lead at the 10:04 mark of the second quarter, as Bailey Gaither caught a pass from Josh Love for a 55-yard passing touchdown and Crawford kicked a PAT.

Gaither, however, appeared to be in pain following his touchdown. Gaither had his left ankle checked out while covering his face with a towel. Gaither didn’t return to the game.

The Rainbow Warriors held onto the red zone, but the Spartans refused to allow a scoring play. Crawford kicked a 24-yard field goal to extend SJSU’s lead to 17-3 with 6:12 left in the second quarter.

The Rainbow Warriors brought themselves back into the game with an 18-yard passing touchdown by Elijah Dale from Cole McDonald and a PAT from Meskell. Hawaii pulled within seven points, but continued to trail SJSU 17-10 with 2:21 left in the second quarter.

The Spartans took their first timeout of the first half. That being said, the final 21 seconds of the second quarter was crucial for SJSU. After a couple of failed passes, SJSU took their second timeout with nine seconds left on the clock. That wasn’t the solution either. SJSU proceeded to use their third timeout with five seconds back on the clock. Crawford attempted a field goal, but it missed the crossbar.

The Spartans settled for a 17-10 lead over the Rainbow Warriors at halftime.

The Spartans were alarmed for a moment, but continued to cling onto a one-point lead, 17-16, with 9:13 left in the third quarter. John Ursua caught pass from McDonald for a three-yard passing touchdown, but Meskell failed to kick in a PAT.

The Spartans took a 24-16 lead just 53 seconds later. Josh Oliver caught a pass from Love for a 14-yard passing touchdown and Crawford kicked in a PAT.

The Spartans had some good looks that wowed the Spartan fans in attendance. Jonathan Lenard, Jr. collected his first career pick. Also, Tre Hartley helped the Spartans’ process in getting a first down.

The Spartans led the Rainbow Warriors 24-16 at the end of the third quarter.

The Rainbow Warriors tied the score 24-24 at the 12:45 mark of the fourth quarter. Ursua caught a pass from McDonald for a three-yard passing touchdown and Marcus Armstrong-Brown was successful on the two-point conversion.

The Spartans went ahead 31-24 at the 10:07 mark of the fourth quarter. Malike Roberson caught a pass from Love for a four-year passing touchdown and Crawford kicked in a PAT.

But the Rainbow Warriors refused to back down. Hawaii tied the score 31-31 with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter. Ursua caught a pass from McDonald for a four-yard passing touchdown and Meskell kicked in a PAT.

Neither team made the necessary go-ahead play in order to win, so the Spartans and Rainbow Warriors headed into the first overtime with a 31-31 tie. Hawaii got the first overtime possession.

The Rainbow Warriors snatched a 38-31 lead. Dayton Furuta scored a one-yard rushing touchdown and Meskell kicked in a PAT.

The Spartans quickly tied the score 38-38. Roberson scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown and Crawford kicked in a PAT. As a result, the two teams headed into the second overtime with a 38-38 tie.

Meskell missed two field goals, so the two teams headed into the third overtime with a 38-38 tie.

The third time clearly wasn’t the charm as Meskell missed his third field goal in the third overtime. The Spartans had their chance to get ahead, but Crawford missed his go-ahead field goal. The two teams headed into the fourth overtime with a 38-38 tie.

Crawford, however, kicked a 20-yard field goal to put the Spartans ahead 41-38. The two teams headed into the fifth overtime and this specific statistic signaled the Spartans’ first fifth overtime game at CEFCU Stadium.

Meskell kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie the game 41-41. The Rainbow Warriors then scored what appeared to be a touchdown, but the officials called it out of bounds and subsequently handed a five-yard holding penalty.

Meskell kicked another 35-yard field goal to put the Rainbow Warriors ahead 44-41. Shortly after, Crawford received an opportunity to kick in another game-tying field goal for additional playing time, but missed it wide right.

The Spartans fell to the Rainbow Warriors 44-41 in the fifth overtime.

Notes
Spartans’ possible starters
OFFENSE: Justin Holmes, Justin Snyder, Troy Kowalski, Trevor Robbins, Jake Colman, Deano Motes, Josh Oliver, Josh Love, Malike Roberson, Bailey Gaither and JaQuan Blackwell.

DEFENSE: Bryson Bridges, Boogie Roberts, Sailosi Latu, Jesse Osuna, Kyle Harmon, Ethan Aguayo, Jamal Scott, Dakari Monroe, John Toussaint, Tre Webb and Jonathan Lenard, Jr.

Up Next 
The Spartans host the Colorado State Rams next Saturday at 7:30 pm PT on CBS Sports.