1. The San Jose Earthquakes announced their 2018 Club Award winners on Friday night, which included forward Danny Hoesen as Most Valuable Player, defender Nick Lima as Defensive Player of the Year and goalkeeper Matt Bersano for the Andrew Bedard Spirit of the Game Award/Humanitarian of the Year. These awards recognize players that have made a positive impact with the Quakes.
2. The Quakes honored 12 recipients of a Devotion Scarf at halftime of Sunday’s match at Avaya Stadium. Those recipients include Dorene Bolanos, Terry Cotting-Morgan, Curtis Hisao, Jacquie and Jeff Hofmann, Colin McCarthy, Kevin Moore, Raul Peralez, Cezar Popovici, Joe Santos Sr., Susan Silveira and John Wondolowski.
3. San Jose State Spartans cheerleader Anjela Jose died after being ejected from a car in an accident on Sunday, October 14. Jose was from South San Francisco.
4. The Spartans lost a heartbreaker 16-13 to the Aztecs on Saturday, October 20. Brent Brennan hasn’t matched or surpassed the two wins that he earned last year. What do the Spartans need to do in order to win games?
San Jose State is gearing up for their Saturday game versus UNLV. This Mountain West match-up will count as the Spartans’ eighth game of the season. The Spartans are hoping for a win, and in case you missed it, you can watch head coach Brent Brennan’s press conference below.
Now, let’s get to the fun stuff. Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s home game.
Saturday Funday
SJSU vs. UNLV
Saturday, October 27, 2018
CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, Calif.
3:30 pm PT
AT&T SportsNet
SJSU’s record
0-7, 0-3 Mountain West. Most recently, SJSU lost at San Diego State, 16-13, on October 20. The Spartans’ last win was a 20-17 victory over MW member Wyoming on November 25, 2017.
UNLV’s record
2-5, 0-3 Mountain West. The Rebels lost their fourth in a row to Air Force, 41-35, on October 19.
Series history
SJSU leads the series, 15-6-1. The Rebels won for the first time in eight meetings last year in a 41-13 triumph in Las Vegas. The Spartans posted a 30-24 MW victory in 2016 when the teams last met in CEFCU Stadium.
Television
AT&T SportsNet will provide play-by-play coverage of the SJSU-UNLV game. The live telecast is scheduled for 3:30 pm PT.
AT&T SportsNet is available on: DirecTV Channel 684, DISH Network Channel 414 and UVerse Channel 757.
Radio
KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates SJSU football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. The UNLV broadcast begins at 3:00 pm PT with a pregame show.
SJSU’s network affiliate is KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas).
KSJS (90.5 FM, San Jose) also will broadcast the UNLV game. The pre-game show begins at 3:15 pm PT.
Family affair
UNLV fullback Daniel Godfrey is the son of former SJSU linebacker Dan Godfrey, a two-time All-Big West Conference linebacker during the 1993 and 1994 seasons, respectively.
UNLV defensive backs coach Al Simmons was a graduate assistant on the 2005 SJSU staff led by Dick Tomey.
UNLV director of athletics Desiree Reed-Francois was SJSU’s director of compliance from 1999 through 2002.
SJSU’s defense turns in strong performance at SDSU
SDSU scored only one touchdown in its 16-13 victory over SJSU. The last time the Spartans limited an opponent to a single six-pointer in a game was a 13-0 loss to Hawaii on November 15, 2014 at CEFCU Stadium.
SJSU kept the SDSU offense in check yielding a season-low 293 yards–the first time since the November 26, 2016 win at Fresno State that the defense kept an opponent under 300 yards of total offense.
Improvements in pass defense
In SJSU’s last three games, opponents are completing just over 50% of their passing attempts (23-of-45) for five touchdowns. In the team’s first four games of the season, the Spartans gave up 13 passing touchdowns and no less than 309 passing yards per game.
Spartans end touchdown drought
SJSU’s third-quarter TD with 0:50 remaining on a Malike Roberson 1-yard run was the Spartans’ first TD since Thai Cottrell caught a 1-yard pass from quarterback Josh Love in the Colorado State game. SJSU was 13 seconds short of two complete games (1:59:47) of not scoring a TD.
Crawford’s field goals
Placekicker Bryce Crawford has made his last three field goal tries in the Army West Point and SDSU games. He’s 9-of-14 for the season with a season-long 49-yard FG against Army.
Papazian’s short punts
Punter Brian Papazian specializes in short punts. Of his seven punts in the three games he played, six landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Fresno State punter Blake Cusick is the only MW punter in games played through October 20th to have at least 50% of his punts land inside the 20-yard line (18-of-30).
If you’re also a San Jose State basketball fan, you should make plans for the upcoming season by checking out the tweet below.
Basketball season is near! Single games are officially in presale mode for season ticket members until tomorrow at midnight! Snag yours now, Spartans! 🔥🏀 #SpartanUp
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan held his weekly press conference inside Simpkins Stadium Center on Monday afternoon. Obviously, Brennan–and the Spartans–weren’t happy with their seventh straight loss of the season. The Spartans haven’t won a game since November 25, 2017 when they squeaked past the Wyoming Cowboys 20-17 at CEFCU Stadium to close out the 2017 season.
Here’s my Q&A with Brennan:
1. The Spartans got off to a good start, thanks to Bryce Crawford. The Spartans, however, lost a close game in the end. How disappointing was it for the players and coaches on Saturday night? I think everyone was devastated. To go in there and go toe-to-toe with their great defense and just what they do as an offense running the football. The success they’ve had over the years. The respect that we have for their program to go in there and play as well as we did and not finish it and not come out with a win was really disappointing. The challenge for us now is how can we get rid of that game and move on to get ready for our next one. To me, this is the most important game of the year.
2. The Spartans’ run game was clearly broken. What changes can be made to make sure the Spartans capitalize on their opportunities and gain yards? I think it was broken, but I think it made a big step last week against San Diego State even though the numbers weren’t big. I think we ran for more yards than everyone they played so far–maybe outside of Stanford. So I think that’s something we can feel really good about. We were playing the 12th-ranked defense in the country last week and I thought our offensive line and coach (Joe) Bernardi did a good job at the game plan there. I thought Tyler Nevens and Malik Roberson did a nice job running the ball and I felt like that run game was one of the things that kind of helped us sustain drives and change that game a little bit in the second half so obviously we’re going to put a lot of work into it and hopefully we can get an even better performance this weekend.
3. The Spartans committed costly penalties at the worst times. What are your thoughts on the horse-collar flag and roughing-the-passer call that allowed San Diego State to get ahead and avoid a huge upset? The roughing-the-passer call…I thought that was a tough one! We got pressured in there and it was his first college football game. He hasn’t played yet at all. And I’m so proud of Junior Fehoko; he went in there and played his tail off. He did a lot of good stuff in that game. It was his first college game against an outfield like that. That’s a big time accomplishment. He’s not trying to rough the passer; he’s trying to play as hard as he possibly can. So that’s a real teachable moment, a real learning moment for him. The frustrating things are our penalties that stop the drive on offense or extend the drive on defense and those are the things that we need to eliminate. But in terms of penalties overall, that game, they were very low.
Spartan nation, don’t forget that you can call or text (408) 924-7589 for San Jose State football tickets.
photo mercurynews.com Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garber (7) had lots of room and lots of time throwing against the Oregon State University Beavers on Saturday
On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:
#1 How much of relief is it for Cal (4-3) to get back into the conference road win column after 14 straight road tries?
#2 Cal made it no doubt in their 49-7 win in a huge win over Oregon State University (1-6). Was it because Cal came out fired up and prepared or they beat a club who were worse than them?
#3 Changing quarterbacks from Cal Brandon Mcllwain to Chase Garbers. How much did that electrify the offense and why did head coach Justin Wilcox make the change?
#4 The Bears got great held from running back Patrick Laird–a 53-yard run, 193 yards rushing, three touchdowns instrumental in the first half for Cal to take a 21-0 lead.
#5 The Bears host the Washington Huskies on Saturday the Huskies first in the Pac-12 at (6-2). Do the Bears have a chance?
It’s that time of the year folks. It’s NCAA basketball and NCAA basketball has all the drama that you could ask for in college basketball. It’s coming. The NBA is talking about paying players who don’t want to go to college and come out of high school and come into the G-League and give them $125,000 to play in the G-League.
That sounds really great, doesn’t it? But wait a minute, what about the WNBA? When will the NBA start paying the WNBA players? In case you didn’t know, WNBA players can’t go into the league until after four years of school. So basically the women players have to play all four years.
#1 No. 3 Clemson (7-0) took out No. 16 NC State (5-1) a huge night for Clemson in the 41-7 win. Clemson one of the last undefeated teams.
#2 Michigan (7-1) head coach Jim Harbaugh called out Michigan State (4-3) head coach Mark Dantonio after Michigan players were staying on the field as the Spartans were doing a pregame walk. Two Michigan players were clothes lined by two Michigan State players. It was reported in the view of those who witnessed the pregame fiasco as the worst exhibition of poor sportsmanship in recent memory.
#3 WSU (6-1) head coach Mike Leach texted that he doubts the Pac-12 is committed to player safety, favoritism towards other teams in the Pac-12, and more targeting in no calls against USC (4-3).
Oh where do I begin? Saturday night was a time for the San Jose State Spartans to redeem themselves, which they did against the San Diego State Aztecs, but fell short 16-13 at SDCCU Stadium. The Aztecs avoided an upset, thanks to their senior kicker John Baron II, who finished with a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, including his late, go-ahead field goal that sealed the deal for his team.
Here are my three takeaways from San Jose State’s heartbreaking 16-13 loss at San Diego State.
Second week in a row
Senior kicker Bryce Crawford helped the Spartans to an early 6-0 lead after the first quarter. Crawford converted field goals of 42 and 24 yards, respectively.
This was the second week in a row where the Spartans scored first on a Crawford field goal. The Spartans gave everything the Aztecs were able to handle, and while their record hasn’t shown dominance, Crawford’s one heck of a kicker who’s one of the bright spots on the Spartan roster.
Not a great return Quarterback Josh Love returned to the field following a concussion sustained against the Army Black Knights at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, October 13.
Love was intercepted once on a fourth quarter pick by the Aztecs’ sophomore safety Tariq Thompson, who returned the ball to midfield. As a result, 15-yard penalty was assessed for a horse collar tackle, which placed the ball on the Spartan 35-yard line.
Limited amount The Spartans limited the Aztecs to just 293 yards of total offense. This was the fewest yards the Spartans have given up to a FBS opponent since their 16-14 win over the Fresno State Bulldogs to close out the 2016 season.
Even though the Aztecs had three time consuming possessions that turned into scores and squeaked out a win in the end, the Spartans had almost nothing to be ashamed of. The Spartans simply have to watch the tape and prepare to host the UNLV Rebels inside CEFCU Stadium this Saturday at 3:30 pm PT.
The San Jose State Spartans left for sunny San Diego on Friday. Of course, the main reason behind their most recent business trip was to take on the San Diego State Aztecs at SDCCU Stadium in a lopsided Mountain West matchup on CBS Sports Network on Saturday night.
San Jose State, however, has to win the turnover battle. Last week, San Jose State fumbled the ball over four times and each one of those fumbles gave Army great field position and one fumble resulted in a scoop and score. San Jose State also had to improve their running game by bolstering their blocks and pass protection.
Enough about the San Jose State’s needs (and wants). Let’s get to the game recap, which has been written below.
San Jose State had one thing on their mind tonight and that was to beat San Diego State. That, of course, caused most, if not all, Aztec fans to openly laugh. Anyways, San Jose State’s locker room was decked with the players’ signature blue and gold helmets, which has always made a fashion statement. However, San Jose State was there to play San Diego State, not strut their stuff for a fashion show.
Spartans head coach Brent Brennan decided to make Josh Love the starting quarterback. The Aztecs won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
The Spartans wasted no time as Bryce Crawford opened the scoring with a 42-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 8:56 left in the first quarter. Just 2:31 later, Crawford made it a 6-0 game with a 24-yard field goal. Somewhere between those field goals, Jesse Osuna notched a fumble recovery, sparking San Jose State’s offensive prowess.
The Spartans led the Aztecs 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. But San Jose State had to be wary as they held a 3-0 lead over Army at the end of the first quarter last Saturday and then gave up 52 unanswered points.
Things escalated quickly as the Aztecs took advantage of the Spartans early in the second quarter. Chase Jasmin jumped into the end zone for a 1-yard rushing touchdown and John Baron kicked in the extra point to get ahead 7-6 at the 13:11 mark. After that, red fireworks lit up the clear, dark San Diego sky.
Baron kicked in the 36-yard field goal to put the Aztecs up 10-6 with 16 seconds left in the second quarter. The Spartans had a 1st and 10, but they took a knee to conclude the first half. San Diego State took a 10-6 lead to the locker room.
Baron kicked in the 22-yard field goal to expand the Aztecs’ lead 13-6 with 7:09 left in the third quarter. There were a lot of critics who were surprised the game was this close, but the Spartans’ offense and defense was able to tread water this time around.
Before everyone knew it, San Jose State evened the score 13-13 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Malike Roberson ran for a 1-yard rushing touchdown and Crawford kicked in the extra point to tie the game.
The Aztecs, however, went ahead 16-13 with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter. Baron kicked in the 51-yard field goal that sealed the deal.
San Jose State hasn’t won a road game since November 26, 2016 at Fresno State. The Spartans fought in a game that was supposed to be a blowout for the Aztecs, but their efforts simply weren’t enough as the Aztecs won a tight game, 16-13. With the loss, San Jose State falls to 0-7 (0-3 MW), while San Diego State improves to 6-1 (3-0 MW).
Notes
Spartans’ tight end Josh Oliver continues to be the national leader among tight ends. Oliver is #1 in the nation among tight ends with 5.5 receptions per game, #2 in the nation among tight ends with 66.8 yards per game and in the top 10 in the Mountain West Conference among all receivers in receptions as well as yards per game.
Spartans’ defensive end Boogie Roberts isn’t just a talented defensive end. Roberts is also a naturally born leader who is very well-spoken and that’s why he has been able to elevate his team’s performances on and off the field.
Up Next
The Spartans return home to host the UNLV Rebels next Saturday, October 27 at 3:30 pm PT on ATSN and KLIV 1590 AM.
The winless San Jose State Spartans are coming off a tough loss to the Army Black Knights. Their next opponent, the San Diego State Aztecs, likely won’t make it any easier for them unless if they run out of gas. The last time these teams played each other, San Diego State blewout San Jose State 52-7 inside CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s conference game between these teams.
Basic facts San Jose State at San Diego State
Saturday, October 20, 2018
San Diego County Credit Union Stadium, San Diego, Calif., 7:30 pm PT
CBS Sports Network
San Jose State record 0-6, 0-2 Mountain West. Most recently, San Jose State lost to Army 52-3, on October 13. San Jose State’s last win was a 20-17 victory over Mountain West member Wyoming on November 25, 2017.
San Diego State record 5-1, 2-0 Mountain West. San Diego State made it five wins in a row with a 21-17 win over Air Force on October 12.
Series history San Diego State leads the series, 20-19-2. San Diego State has wins in the last five meetings between these teams including a 38-34 triumph in San Diego on September 22, 2012 to end a 60-year winless streak in San Diego.
Play-by-play details KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates San Jose State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. San Diego State’s broadcast begins at 7:00 pm PT with a pregame show.
Television CBS Sports Network will provide play-by-play coverage of the San Jose State at San Diego State game. Carter Blackburn calls the play-by-play. Aaron Taylor provides analysis. John Schiffren is the sideline reporter. The live telecast is scheduled for 7:30 pm PT.
Road trip For the first time since the September 22 game at Oregon, San Jose State has a road game. San Jose State recently completed their first three-game homestand in 11 seasons. Recently, San Jose State hosted Hawaii on September 29, Colorado State on October 6, and Army West Point (52-3) on October 13. In 2007, San Jose State hosted UC Davis, Idaho and Hawaii on consecutive weeks.
Road victory, maybe? San Jose State’s last win on the road was a 16-14 victory over Fresno State to wrap up the 2016 season. Since then, San Jose State has been 0-8 on the road.
Feast or famine In its last two games, San Jose State outscored its two opponents, Colorado State and Army, 30-24, in the third quarter. Against Colorado State, San Jose State overcame a 28-0 halftime deficit to take a 30-28 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Against Army West Point, a 14-3 halftime deficit mushroomed into San Jose State trailing 38-3 after three quarters.
Interception streak ends San Jose State’s six-game streak intercepting a pass, which began with the 2017 regular season finale against Wyoming ended following the Army West Point loss. Army was 2-of-5 passing for 54 yards and a touchdown. San Jose State has nine interceptions in the first six games this season and are tied tenth nationally in pass interceptions.
Three offensive lines so far After six games, San Jose State has used three different starting offensive line combinations. Although Jackson Snyder, Troy Kowalski and Jake Colman have started in every game this season, none of the three have started every game at the same position.
Snyder opened the season at right tackle and has been the starting left tackle since the Washington State. Kowalski moved from left tackle to left guard and Colman moved from left guard to right guard in the same game.
Trevor Robbins had started each of the first five games at center. Kyle Hoppe replaced Robbins in the starting lineup against Army West Point. Deano Motes now has five starts at right tackle. Jesse Chamberlain started the opener at right guard.
Spartan nation, don’t forget you can call or text (408) 924-7589 for San Jose State football tickets. Enjoy Saturday’s game on CBS Sports Network and/or KLIV 1590 AM.
By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, October 18, 2018
A late Arizona State Sun Devils’ rally fell short on Thursday, as the Stanford Cardinal held on for a 20-13 Pac-12 football victory at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devils quarterback Manny Wilkins drove the ASU offense into the red zone in the last two minutes and 20 seconds of the fourth quarter. But with no time outs available, ASU could not stop the clock. All of ASU’s losses this season have been by a touchdown.
After the Cardinal (5-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) built a 20-6 lead with a big third quarter, ASU (3-4, 1-3) bounced back with seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter when Wilkins capped a 64-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, cutting the Stanford lead to 20-13.
Stanford snapped a 6-6 deadlock with 7:55 left in the third quarter when quarterback K.J. Costello connected with JJ Arcega-Whiteside for a 28-yard score. Five minutes later, Cameron Scarlett’s one-yard plunge put the Cardinal up 20-6.
Costello completed 22 of 29 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Scarlett ran nine times for 54 yards and a touchdown. Bryce Love ran 11 times for 21 yards.
Arcega-Whiteside and Trenton Irwin each snared seven passes for the Cardinal. Arcega-Whiteside gained 91 reception yards and a touchdown; Irwin gained 79 reception yards. Jet Toner booted field goals of 21 and 31 yards in the first half.
Wilkins threw for 353 yards and a TD while completing 26 of 43 passes. Wilkins also led ASU in rushing with 41 yards on 11 carries. Eno Benjamin gained 38 yards on 11 attempts for the Devils.
Arizona State’s top pass catcher was K’Neal Harry with eight receptions for 91 yards.
The Cardinal return home on Saturday, October 27 for a 3:00 p.m. Pac-12 game against Washington State (5-1).
Sports Radio Service 