Tag: San Jose State

Josh Oliver recognized by the John Mackey Award again

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State senior tight end Josh Oliver has been on a roll, despite what SJSU’s record displays for the masses.

For the third time this season, Oliver was recognized by the John Mackey Award as one of the top tight ends of the week. This was Oliver’s second honorable mention and third overall honor this year.

Oliver caught five passes for 70 yards and a touchdown in the Spartans’ 50-37 victory over the Runnin’ Rebels at CEFCU Stadium on Saturday, October 27.

Previously, Oliver was named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week for games ending the week of Saturday, September 29 when he caught eight passes for a career-best 158 yards and a touchdown in SJSU’s 44-41 five-overtime loss to Hawaii.

Oliver, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound starter, began this season as an honorable mention designee for his eight receptions for 86 yards in SJSU’s season opener versus UC Davis on Thursday, August 30.

For the season, Oliver leads all tight ends in the FBS with 44 receptions and 514 receiving yards. Oliver was ranked 48th nationally in receptions per game at 5.50.

The 2018 John Mackey recipient will be announced on Wednesday, December 5 and then presented live on Thursday, December 6 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.

Other key dates include the 2018 Mackey Semi-finalists on Thursday, November 15 and the 2018 Mackey Finalists on Thursday, November 22, 2018.

All future announcements can be found at www.johnmackeyaward.com, on our official Twitter account @JohnMackeyAward and also on our official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JohnMackeyAward.

The John Mackey Tight End of the Week is an honor distinct from the annual John Mackey Award. This weekly honor was started in 2004 to draw attention to individual play by tight ends during the active season. The Tight End of the Week acknowledgment doesn’t have a direct bearing on the final John Mackey Award selection process. The John Mackey Tight End of the Week honor will run until the announcement of the eight semi-finalists.

The John Mackey Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) that encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 24 awards boast over 750 years of tradition-selection excellence.

San Jose State looks to beat Wyoming again

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans are looking to beat the Wyoming Cowboys again. This time, the Mountain West matchup will be held in Laramie, Wyo. But there will be the same similarity: a Josh Allen-less Wyoming roster, which can be an advantage for San Jose State, who have a great roster as long as they can keep their run game and ground attack in tip-top shape.

In case you missed it, you can watch head coach Brent Brennan’s weekly press conference through the video below.

Anyhow, here are the facts to know before Saturday’s game against Wyoming.

Road game
San Jose State at Wyoming
Saturday, November 3, 2018
War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyo.
11:00 am PT on AT&T SportsNet

San Jose State’s record
1-7, 1-3 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans won for the first time this season defeating UNLV, 50-37, on October 27.

Wyoming’s record
3-6, 1-4 Mountain West. The Cowboys won the Border War over Colorado State, 34-21, on October 26 to end a four-game losing streak.

Radio
KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates San Jose State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play, while Kevin Richardson provides commentary. The Wyoming broadcast begins at 10:30 am PT with a pregame show.

San Jose State’s network affiliate is KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas).

Television
AT&T SportsNet will provide play-by-play coverage of the San Jose State-Wyoming game. Drew Goodman calls the play-by-play, while Sed Bonner provides analysis. Brad Thompson is the sideline reporter. The live telecast is scheduled for 12:00 pm MT.

AT&T SportsNet is available on: DirecTV Channel 684, DISH Network Channel 414, UVerse Channel 757

This game can be seen on the Mountain West Network.

Series history
Wyoming leads the series, 6-4. The Spartans were winners in the last three meetings between these teams including a 20-17 decision to conclude San Jose State’s 2017 season. San Jose State won its last time in Laramie posting a 27-20 overtime victory on October 18, 2014.

The Spartans are 2-2 at War Memorial Stadium. San Jose State’s first win in Laramie, Wyo. was a 26-24 triumph on October 3, 1992. Kicker Joe Nedney, who would have a 15-season NFL career, converted a 60-yard field on the final play of the game for the Spartans. Even after 26 years, the ball never hit the ground.

Winning streak, maybe?
San Jose State seeks its first two-game winning streak since the 2014 season when the Spartans defeated the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels at home, 33-10, and topped Wyoming, 27-20, in overtime two weeks later.

Time for a conference win on the road
San Jose State is 0-1 in Mountain West road games this season prior to the Wyoming game and winless in its last five conference road contests. The Spartans’ last road win in conference play was the 2016 victory at Fresno State, 16-14, on November 26. The Fresno State game in 2016 also was San Jose State’s last road victory against a conference or non-conference opponent in 10 outings.

Lots of points
San Jose State’s 50 points versus UNLV are its most points in a game against a FBS opponent since its 62-52 win over #16 Fresno State in 2013. The Spartans did have a 66-35 triumph over FCS member Portland State on September 10, 2016.

Rushing effort for real
San Jose State produced a season-high 157 net rushing yards in its win over UNLV. It was the second time this season the Spartans rushed for more than 100 yards in a game.

The last time San Jose State rushed for more than 157 yards in a game was a 173-yard effort at Nevada on November 11, 2017.

Four passing touchdowns
For the first time since the 2013 win over Fresno State, San Jose State passed for four touchdowns in a game in the UNLV triumph. The Spartans passed for six touchdowns in the Fresno State game. to end the 2013 season.

Big-play potential
For the first time this season, San Jose State had six offensive plays in a game of 20 or more yards against UNLV.

Previously, the Spartans’ best big-play production in a game was five plays of 20 or more yards against UC Davis and Hawaii.

Three interceptions again
The UNLV game marked the second time this season San Jose State intercepted three passes in a game. The Spartans did it the first time this season at Washington State.

San Jose State has 12 interceptions for the season and is tied for eighth nationally. The last time the Spartans more than 12 interceptions in a season was in 2012 with 15 in a 13-game season.

Crawford is the real deal
For the second time this season, senior Bryce Crawford is the only FBS kicker nationally-ranked in the top-25 in field goals per game (19th) and punting average (23rd). There is no other combination kicker ranked in the top-50 in both categories.

Spartan nation, don’t forget you can watch the San Jose State at Wyoming game with your fellow Spartans at Stanley’s Sports Bars at Solar4America Ice on 1500 10th Street, San Jose, CA 95112.

San Jose State football: Dakari Monroe named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State cornerback Dakari Monroe was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. This nomination occurred just days after Monroe intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown to lead the Spartans to a 50-37 victory over the Rebels last Saturday.

Monroe’s two interceptions led to 10 Spartan points in their victory over UNLV. Monroe’s first interception led to a 50-yard field goal by kicker Bryce Crawford, who gave the Spartans a 17-7 lead over the Rebels. Moreover, Monroe is one of the most productive defensive backs in college football this season.

Monroe’s second interception happened near the start of the fourth quarter. Monroe’s 50-yard return was capped by a dive at the end zone pylon and increased San Jose State’s lead to 47-28 and was also the first time this season a Spartan returned an interception for a touchdown.

Monroe, a senior cornerback from San Jose, Calif., added two pass break-ups and six tackles in the home field win at CEFCU Stadium Saturday.

For the season, Monroe has four interceptions and 12 pass break-ups. Monroe ranks tied for third nationally in passes defended with two per game and tied for fifth nationally in interceptions per game with four in eight games.

San Jose State looks to make it two wins in a row on Saturday, November 3 at Wyoming. AT&T SportsNet has the television coverage beginning at noon MT. KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) has local radio coverage beginning at 10:30 am PT.

San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan breaks down the latest on the Spartans

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Photo credit: @XTRA1360

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State was no longer winless after defeating UNLV 50-37 inside CEFCU Stadium on Saturday night.

So what’s next for the Spartans? Spartans head coach Brent Brennan went over last Saturday’s win vs. UNLV, previewed this Saturday’s road game against Wyoming, and much more in his weekly press conference at Simpkins Stadium Center on Monday afternoon.

Here’s my Q&A with Brennan:

1. Tyler Nevens led all rushers with a season-best 103 yards rushing and a touchdown. How great was it to see Nevens return to his original form?
I’m really excited for Tyler. I think coming back from the injury at the Davis game. I think it just took him some time to get his legs underneath him and get comfortable and his reads have been clearer and his pass protection was cleaner. I thought he just did a great job–running hard, breaking tackles.

I also think Tyler and Malik are becoming a nice combination because they’re both kind of different backs and bring us something else so I think having both those guys doing the things they did…Malik averaged over 10 yards per carry so there’s a lot of good stuff from our run game and I was really excited. I thought coach Bernardi did a great job with getting the o-line ready and they came together to provide some good running for Tyler and for Malik.

2. The Rebels looked to stage a comeback in the third quarter, but the Spartan defense prevented the Rebel offense from doing damage. Would you say that was a team effort or just the efforts of a few players?
It’s absolutely a team effort. It’s always a team effort in football. That’s what makes it the greatest game ever in my opinion.

There were some spectacular individual plays there, but there were also a lot of loss of yardage plays or we were getting pressure on the quarterback–you gotta get the ball out of his hands quickly.

I thought our defense came up huge. We had really big moments in that third quarter. We kind of stopped that momentum, and obviously, Dakari’s interception for a touchdown was game-changing and in the right terms of when it happened during the sequence.

3. The Spartans head to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Cowboys. Last year, San Jose State beat Wyoming at home, so what are three things they need to do to get a win against the same team on the road?
I think first and foremost we need to win the turnover battle. That’s been a very, very important part of our process in terms of playing good football.

We need to do a good job with the quarterback that they’re playing. He’s a big, strong kid. We watched him play in high school. He was a good player and it looks like he has been playing good football for them so we need to get ready for a real physical kind of run attack and rush attack that includes a really good tailback, a really good offensive line and also a quarterback who’s a big, strong kid who can throw.

The other part is that we gotta handle their defensive front. They’re really physical. They have a great presence. They got a rushers who are off the edge. It’s really one of the best defenses we’ve played this year so we got our work cut out for us.

Spartan nation, don’t forget you can call/text (408) 924-7589 for tickets to the Spartans’ final home game of the season versus the Wolf Pack on November 17th at 2:00 pm PT.

NCAAFB podcast with Michelle Richardson: Georgia moves up to first in the SEC; FSU suffers worse loss in school history 49-0, Wazoo seals deal in closing seconds

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espn photo: Jake Fromm threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns against Florida

On the NCAAFB podcast with Michelle:

#1 Georgia (7-1) topped Florida (6-2) to move into first place in the SEC. A close game but the Bulldogs ran 41 times in the game and held on in the end got some offense and beat Florida 36-17. Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm threw 17-24, 240 yards, and three touchdowns.

#2 Florida State University #49 (4-4) suffered their worse loss in FSU history as No. 2 Clemson (8-0) destroyed FSU 49-0. Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence went 20-37, 314 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

#3  With the game tied at 31-31 between Washington State and Stanford with 1:25 left in the game K.J. Costello threw a touchdown pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who scored a 25-yard touchdown. Jet Toner kicked in the extra, game-tying point to make it a 31-31 contest. The game would’ve gone into overtime, but the Cougars grabbed a 41-38 lead with just 19 seconds left in the fourth. Blake Mazza kicked in a 42-yard field goal to seal the Cougars’ 41-38 win over the Cardinal.

Michelle does the NCAAFB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Three takeaways from San Jose State’s first win of the season

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans won’t be writing a Cinderella story this season, but they finally came through on Saturday night with a 50-37 rout of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. That far-fetched victory sparked a wide range of exhilarating emotions in the Spartans’ locker room at CEFCU Stadium. This was the Spartans’ first win since November 27, 2017 versus the Wyoming Cowboys 20-17.

Now, SJSU has something to build upon, as they’ll head to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Cowboys on Saturday, November 3 at 11:00 am PT. The Spartans claim that they’re just getting started, so let’s see what’ll happen next.

Here are my three takeaways from SJSU’s first win of the season.

The real Tyler Nevens stood up
Okay, the Spartans’ run game has been far from one of the best in the Mountain West conference, but sophomore running back Tyler Nevens had a bounce back game. Nevens went for 103 yards and a touchdown.

If you watched the game, you saw the Rebels were able to pick up a few first downs through the air before Max Gilliam ran one in from 6 yards out. Josh Love completed a deep ball pass to Thai Cottrell for a gain of 60 yards on the next possession. Nevens pounded it in from the 4-yard line on the next play. The Spartan defense then forced a turnover on downs after the Rebels were unable to convert a 3rd and 2 and then a 4th and 1.

Tre Walker got a good feeling
Sophomore wide receiver Tre Walker went for 104 yards and a touchdown on 5 receptions. Josh Love threw a 37-yard touchdown to Walker to put the Spartans up 24-21 at halftime. That, my friends, was 37 yards of perfection.

Walker has been making spectacular catches week after week, and Saturday’s game was yet another example to prove his greatness. Walker led the Spartans with 104 yards receiving and helped the Spartans maintain a halftime lead for the first time since the win last November versus the Cowboys.

Josh Love proved the naysayers wrong
Senior quarterback Josh Love redeemed himself with 25 completions on 36 attempts, 335 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Love has proved that he has been able to make big plays happen and read the Rebel defense. Yes, I know the Rebel defense was weak and ranked 120th in S&P+, but Love was able to get the ball out of his hands and into his fellow teammates’ hands for the much-needed touchdowns.

Of course, the Rebel committed 3 turnovers, so that also helped the Spartans out to a 50-37 win at home. Moreover, Love was named the Spartans’ player of the game, which was well-deserved.

The Spartans’ record hasn’t shown excellence, but the team’s character has spoke volumes to the general public. Whether or not you follow the team, their Saturday victory was well-deserved and there’ll be more good news coming in your direction.

No longer winless: San Jose State overcame adversity with 50-37 win over UNLV

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Next stop for San Jose State? Home sweet home. In the Spartans’ case, however, they weren’t just tweeting out “#BeatUNLV” but were also filled with feelings of terror. To be fair, UNLV was one of SJSU’s assumed victories, but SJSU previously lost to Colorado State 42-30, despite putting up 30 unanswered points in the second half. That being said, SJSU not only had to put their foot on the pedal, but also keep it down…and that was exactly what they did on Saturday.

The Spartans wore customized helmet decals with the initials “AJ” in honor of the late SJSU cheerleader Anjela Jose, who died in a single car accident on October 14, and held a moment of silence for Jose prior to the kickoff inside CEFCU Stadium. After that, fireworks lit up the clear blue sky and the Spartans took the field.

Josh Love was the starting quarterback for the Spartans. The kickoff shocked a lot of fans in attendance as a UNLV returner called for a fair catch, caught it and ran through the defense for a long return. As a result, the officials whistled it dead and spotted the ball back at the 15.

“I’m a fighter and I always try to put in my input” Love said. “I’ll continue to fight for this team…We’re going to continue to fight for this team.”

Unfortunately, UNLV got on the board first to open the scoring 7-0 with 7:39 left in the first quarter. Max Gilliam scored a 6-yard rushing touchdown for his first rushing touchdown of the season and Evan Pantels kicked in the extra point for the Rebels.

But SJSU quickly evened the score 7-7 just 1:23 later as Tyler Nevens scored a 4-yard rushing touchdown and Bryce Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans. Nevens’ game-tying score came just moments after Love threw to Thai Cottrell, who recorded a 60-yard reception for a career-long reception.

The Spartans and Rebels were tied 7-7 at the end of the first. SJSU had a season-high 179 total yards in that span.

The Spartans took a 14-7 lead at the 12:28 mark of the second quarter. The Josh effect was in full effect as Love threw to Josh Oliver, who scored a 2-yard passing touchdown for his third touchdown of the season. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans.

“Everything on the offensive end showed up,” Oliver said. “I think part of our success was the o-line. They played really hard. They played really good.”

The Spartans got ahead 17-7, thanks to a 50-yard field goal from Crawford with 6:25 left in the second. However, 11 seconds instilled a fear inside SJSU when UNLV pulled within 3 points after Gilliam connected with Tyleek Collins for a 75-yard passing touchdown and Pantels kicked in the extra point for the Rebels.

The Spartans’ excitement decreased as soon as the Rebels snatched a 21-17 lead with 1:36 left in the second. Collins scored the second of back-to-back touchdowns–a 4-yard rushing touchdown–and Pantels kicked in the extra point.

But the Spartans weren’t ready to back down just yet. Love threw a touchdown pass to Tre Walker, who scored a 37-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans, who went back on top 24-21 with just 34 seconds left in the second.

The Spartans carried a 24-21 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Spartans extended its lead 31-21 at the 10:48 mark of the third quarter. Love connected with Brett Foley, who scored a 1-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans.

The Spartans continued to wreck havoc when Love threw a touchdown pass to Tre Hartley, who scored a 9-yard passing touchdown. Crawford kicked in the extra point for the Spartans, who expanded its lead 38-21 with 4:17 left in the third.

The Rebels pulled within 10 points when Collins scored a 46-yard passing touchdown, and Pantels kicked in the extra point. Simultaneously, the Spartans’ penalty for offside was declined.

Crawford attempted a 36-yard field goal–his second field goal of the game–to put the Spartans up 41-28 with just 15 seconds left in the third.

The Spartans held a commanding 41-28 lead at the end of the third.

The Spartans proceeded to rise up for the most part. Dakari Monroe picked up a 50-yard interception touchdown, but Crawford missed the extra point. Still, SJSU got a 47-28 lead at the 13:44 mark of the fourth quarter.

“We could’ve played better,” Monroe said. “We had a lot of yards, but I think the biggest thing for us…we made the big plays when they were needed and that’s always needed.”

The Rebels intimidated the Spartans when Pantels kicked a 23-yard field goal to reduce its deficit 47-31 at the 10:46 mark of the fourth. SJSU responded with a 23-yard field goal by Crawford just 3:35 later. SJSU led UNLV 50-31 with 7:11 left in the fourth.

The Rebels put a scare into the Spartans late in the fourth. Gilliam threw a touchdown pass to Collins, who scored a 4-yard passing touchdown to slice its deficit 50-37 with 2:26 left. UNLV attempted a 2-point conversion, but it failed.

The Spartans defeated the Rebels 50-37.

“It was an awesome night for our team,” head coach Brent Brennan said. “It has obviously been a tough couple of months and I’m just so proud of them because they never stopped working.”

Notes
Spartans’ possible starters
Offense: Tre Walker, Jackson Snyder, Troy Kowalski, Kyle Hoppe, Jake Colman, Deano Motes, Josh Oliver, Josh Love, Tyler Nevens, Thai Cottrell and Tre Hartley.

Defense: Bryson Bridges, Boogie Roberts, Sailosi Latu, Jesse Osuna, Jamal Scott, Ethan Aguayo, Alii Matau, Dakari Monroe, Zamore Zigler, Tre Webb and Jonathan Lenard, Jr.

If you’re into beer, you can get your tickets for the Spartans’ upcoming Beer Fest in their game versus the Nevada Wolf Pack on November 17 at 2:00 pm PT. You can click this link bit.ly/SJSUBEERFEST and use the promo code “BEERFEST” or call/text (408) 924-7589.

If you’re getting fired up about San Jose State basketball, there’s less than two weeks before the boys in Blue and Gold ball it out on the court. The Spartans host the Life Pacific College Warriors on November 7th at 7:00 pm PT.

Up Next
The Spartans travel to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Wyoming Cowboys next Saturday at 11:00 am PT.

San Jose sports podcast with Ana Kieu: Earthquakes’ season almost over; San Jose State cheerleader dies after car accident

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes and kron4.com7

On the San Jose sports podcast with Ana:

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?

Ana does the San Jose sports podcasts each week for SportsRadioService.com

San Jose State gearing up for Saturday’s home game with UNLV

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

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.

San Jose State still searching for first win of the season

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

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.