SJSU defensive back Justin Stearns pressures quarterback Jayden Mandal (Photo courtesy of SJSU athletics)
By Lucas Quick
SAN JOSE–Offensive struggles and turnovers haunt San Jose State (2-2, 0-0 MW) in a 26-10 defeat to Fresno State on Saturday night.
Down 16-10 late in the fourth quarter, the Spartans had multiple chances to take the lead. They would throw every chance away, with quarterback Luke Weaver getting intercepted on back-to-back drives and having four on the night. Fresno State would capitalize and score ten unanswered points.
“It’s just bad decisions by me,” Weaver said. “Bad football, a couple of careless decisions also, just leaving the ball so other guys can get it. I got to make it so my guys can make plays on the ball and I didn’t do that tonight.”
It was a defensive dogfight opening up the game, with both defenses holding down the ground in the first half, having a combined nine punts.
Down 6-3 coming out of halftime, the Spartans couldn’t have come out to a worse start to open the second half. They went three and out, allowed a 68-yard punt return by wide receiver Jordan Malau’ulu that was eventually capped off on a 18-yard touchdown by wide receiver Josiah Freeman.
Freeman stepped up when the Bulldogs needed it, capping his night off with 6 catches, 91 yards and a touchdown, including multiple third down receptions that helped keep the Bulldogs extend drives.
Trailing by ten in the fourth quarter, SJSU’s offense was finally able to move the ball down the field. A 15 play, 92-yard drive was capped off on a fourth and goal, as Weaver rolled to the right to find an open wide receiver Carson Clark for a touchdown.
Outside of that drive it was a rough night for the offense overall for SJSU, failing to create many opportunities to put points on the board.
When they had opportunities, it would result in zero points. Running back Jabari Bates had broken free for a 66-yard touchdown but was called back from penalty. Penalties and mental errors have been a problem the past few weeks for SJSU, and it continued tonight, having seven of them.
Defensively, it was a strong effort from the Spartans. They continued with their momentum from the past few weeks and kept the game from slipping away.
“To the credit of our defense, we were still in that game which is crazy,” SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “When you got that many turnovers and penalties and we’re still in the game was a testament to the defense.”
Wide receiver Anthony Ivey stepped up for what was a struggling night for the passing game. He headlined SJSU’s offense, with 7 catches for 150 yards. Prior to this game, he only had two receptions all season.
What has been an efficient season for the rushing attack, the Spartans weren’t able to exploit their run game as much. It was the first time of the season where they failed to eclipse 100 yards on the ground and averaged 2.8 yards per run.
It’s now the third consecutive year where SJSU fails to beat its rivals for the Valley Trophy and Niumatalolo is now 0-3 against Fresno State.
SJSU now sits at 2-2 approaching its bye week and conference play. They’re not in a bad position compared to last season, but the offensive miscues continue to pile up and Niumatalolo will have a handful of things to clean up ahead of its next game.
“We have to get this sour taste out of our mouths,” Niumatalolo said. “We got to look at the film, we see it in real times that we’ve got to fix.”
Conference play will begin for SJSU, as they take on the University of Hawaii at 9 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
