Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) throws the ball as San Jose State defensive lineman Mata Hola (94) approaches in the first half at Spartan Stadium in San Jose on Sun Sep 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Sunday, September 3rd, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – In CEFCU stadium, the San Jose State Spartans face the Oregon State Beavers and SJSU is coming off a loss last week from USC. Even though the score of that game wasn’t close, it was a big moment for the Spartans to put up four touchdowns on a top 10 ranked team. This game being their first home game of the season in their beautiful revamped facility that would be sure to impress a lot of recruits. A packed house with both Oregon State fans and hometown Spartan fans as we prepared for kickoff.

The first drive for SJSU went the distance, but they were stopped trying to convert on 3rd & 8, but Oregon State had a completely different tune to it. The Beavers went 11 plays and 82 yards for a touchdown to take the first lead of the game plus an extra point, 7-0 Oregon State.

In his second drive SJSU QB Chevan Cordeiro faced pressure from Oregon State’s defense and was rattled as they couldn’t convert on another drive, but they pinned the Beavers with a great punt. The first quarter closed out with Oregon State in the lead 7-0.

SJSU’s opening second quarter drive was way better than anything they strung together in the first with Cordeiro getting yards in the air and on foot, but once they got to the red zone, a penalty and an incompletion caused them to attempt a field goal for their first points of the game and they got it, 7-3. Oregon State’s quarterback DJ Uiagalelei gets his second touchdown, this one in the air with a 14 yard pass play and Oregon State goes up 14-3.

SJSU followed it up with another drive that didn’t result in a touchdown, but another punt and the Beavers received the ball with two minutes left in the first half. In those two minutes, Oregon State scored again on six plays going 60+ yards, which ended the first half with the Beavers up 21-3 on the Spartans. SJSU only converted on one third down in the first half, but the positive for the Spartans was that they had zero turnovers.

The second half started with the Beavers with the ball and it looked like they picked up right where they left off, but even after trying to convert on fourth down, SJSU finally stopped them and took over possession.

Oregon State’s scoring was right back on schedule with six minutes left in the third quarter, when QB Uiagalelei completed a 31 yard pass in the end zone and after the extra point was converted, Oregon State was up 28-3.

The rest of the third quarter was a combination of solid defense and effective offense by SJSU, even utilizing the clock while they were on offense. The third quarter ended with SJSU having the ball in the red zone after stringing together 20 yards with four plays.

The fifth play of that drive was the opening play of the fourth quarter and Chevan Cordeiro ran 2 yards into the end zone making the score, 28-10. The Spartans needed to cool down this Oregon State offense or else this game would be over before the fourth was even halfway done and Oregon State wasn’t going to be stopped.

The Beavers scored again after seven plays and 65 yards with Uiagalelei throwing his third touchdown pass, this one received by Anthony Gould for 28 yards, 35-10 Oregon State. San Jose State found themselves in a terrible spot where on the drive in the fourth quarter that would be the part where they can strike a comeback, but Cordeiro was sacked and then with 6:26 left in the game, the Beavers had the ball, seemingly ending the chance of the Spartans coming back and stealing a win.

Oregon State wasn’t done yet, they scored another touchdown with 3:13 left making the score 42-10, but the cut was deep and the majority of fans left in CEFCU stadium were in black and orange representing Oregon State.

The Spartans didn’t want to end this game without one more touchdown for their own confidence and backup QB Jay Butterfield completed a 19 yard pass to Brandon Alvarez with four seconds left in the game. The final seconds ticked and the horn blew for the end of the game and the Spartans lost 42-17 in their home opener. Chevan Cordeiro went 18/32 for 143 yards, but no passing touchdowns.

The Spartans lose back to back games to PAC-12 teams and start off 0-2. The next game for SJSU will be at home against Cal Poly, September 9th and San Jose State is hoping they can get their first win of the season, especially against a non PAC-12 team.