San Jose State’s Jaime Navarro (54) helps Quali Conley celebrate the touchdown that gave the Spartans a 21-14 lead at Spartan Stadium in San Jose on Sat Oct 21, 2023 (Bay Area News Group photo)
Saturday, October 21st, 2023
By Troy Ewers
San Jose, CA – CEFCU Stadium is the setting of this Mountain West matchup between the San Jose State Spartans (3-5) and Utah State Aggies (3-5). It’s Homecoming week for San Jose State and the Spartans last week picked up their first league victory of the season against New Mexico on the backs of their running backs Kairee Robinson and Quali Conley, who each had 100 plus yards and it was the first time since 2020 two SJSU backs each had 100 yards in a game.
Utah State is coming off a close loss to Fresno State despite their QB Cooper Legas throwing 363 yards and three touchdowns. This matchup pits San Jose State’s 22nd nationally ranked pass defense against the Mountain West leading offense of Utah State.
SJSU started with the ball and quickly marched down the field on Utah State and in seven plays went 75 yards into the end zone off a ten yard Conley rushing touchdown. 7-0 Spartans. SJSU didn’t have a third down on that drive and it was Conley’s fourth rushing touchdown of the season and on the very next kickoff the Spartans forced a fumble and recovered it in their own red zone and it was set up for them to score again.
That didn’t happen though when Spartans QB Chevan Cordeiro was hit by Devin Dye and the ball popped out and this time the Aggies recovered the ball in opposing territory. Utah State was on the verge of going three and out on this opportunity after the fumble, but a pass interference by DJ Harvey continued the drive.
The Spartans recovered a couple plays later and was intercepted by Jordan Pollard and now SJSU has two takeaways early in the game. Plays later, so did Utah State as SJSU committed their second turnover and it’s the fourth turnover already in the first quarter. During Utah State’s next drive, the Spartans completely stuffed the Aggies and forced them to punt, but the punt was shanked and again SJSU had great field position.
The Spartans capitalized on this field position with a 39 yard drive that was led by Cordeiro and resulted in a touchdown after he hit Kairee Robinson with a four yard pass and this is Cordeiro ninth TD pass of the season. 14-0 SJSU.
The second quarter started with the Aggies having the ball and they converted on fourth down which kept them alive enough to score a touchdowns. The drive went 12 plays and when Rashul Faison punched in a five yard run and the extra point was good, it was 14-7.
The next drive for the Spartans was another example of their explosive offense led by Cordeiro and the two running backs Conley and Robinson, but no score for the offense, not even a field as they missed that chance as well. Capitalizing off the missed field goal, Utah State’s efficient offense went eight plays and 69 yards in under three minutes.
They wouldn’t end this drive empty handed as McCae Hillstead completed a deep 25 yard pass to Micah Davis to tie the ball game 14-14. The tied score halted momentum for SJSU and after a the third sack for Utah State on Cordeiro, it forced SJSU to punt and a little over two minutes left in the half, the Aggies had the ball and a chance to take the lead.
That chance was squashed for a three and out, which forced Utah State to punt and with 1:24 left in the half, the Spartans had the chance to take the lead. Another three and out forced the Spartans to punt, but the punt was gorgeous and pressed the Aggies in the opposing red zone with 40 seconds left and the clock would run down and that was the end of the first half. Both teams showcased great defense, but also great offense, it just that this canceled out for both teams, they were as equal as equal could be at half.
The second half started with Utah State having the ball, but after moving the ball down the field a punt was forced and SJSU now was in the driver’s seat. Cordeiro once again was leading the charge as he marched his way down field and then the exclamation point was Conley getting his second rushing touchdown of the night to give SJSU the lead, but on top of that Kairee Robinson achieved 2,000 career rushing yards on that drive.
21-14 Spartans and the three headed monster of Cordeiro, Conley, and Robinson clicked on all cylinders to get that lead. The SJSU defense was also clicking on all cylinders after they shut down the Aggies defense and prevented them from converting on fourth down and Cordeiro was back with the ball in his hands with five minutes left in the third.
In six plays Cordeiro and the Spartans were right back in the endzone, this time after Cordeiro hits linebacker who checked in as full back, Charles Rogers for a 10 yard touchdown pass, 28-14 SJSU and the game was beginning to firmly be in SJSU’s hands as we were approaching the end of the quarter.
The fourth started with SJSU just running the clock down, but when Utah State had the possession, the chance at a comeback went up in smoke when Jay’Vion Cole picked off Hillstead and now up two touchdowns, SJSU had the ball right outside the red zone.
Cole got his first interception against New Mexico a week ago and now earned his second interception here at such a crucial part of the game. Cordeiro was having a magnificent game already, but on this drive after the pick, he took it up a notch with a 29 yard touchdown pass to Nick Nash that was a dot and the score was now 35-14 after a successful extra point for the Spartans and to the 15,028 in attendance were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the game seemed to be well in hand.
The Aggies weren’t done though as with five and a half minutes left, Hillstead and Jalen Royals connected for a 20 yard touchdown pass and the game was 35-21. It looked like the game was put to bed, but it was up to the Spartans to tuck the Aggies in. Kairee Robinson did exactly that! The man who achieved 2 thousand career rushing yards punched in a one yard touchdown and the game was 42-21 with two minutes left, but the game was clearly over.
The game ended and the Spartans got their third win of the season and these three wins SJSU outscored their opponents 136-62, but still with five losses and a 2-2 Mountain West record, SJSU’s season wasn’t looking like it was headed to a College Football Playoff game anytime soon. San Jose State’s next game is against Hawaii at Hawaii and the Spartans intend to have a winning conference record after next weekend.
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