San José State dropped its fourth game in five weeks, losing 45-20 to Air Force Saturday night at CEFCU Stadium in the team’s Mountain West Conference opener.
The Falcons rushed for 400 yards, scored 6 touchdowns and won the possession battle by nearly 20 minutes.
Senior running back Kairee Robinson rushed for 82 yards on 7 carries and 2 touchdowns. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro completed 24 of 35 passes for 239 yards, scored a rushing touchdown and threw an interception.
“It's heartbreaking for me and for our team because we played so well in the first half,” Brennan said. “There was just a lot of excitement and a lot of energy, and to not be able to capitalize on that momentum is devastating.”
The Spartans jumped out to a 20-10 lead late in the second quarter after Robinson scored his second touchdown of the half on a one-yard plunge near the goal line.
The Falcons cut the deficit to 20-17 when they scored on their last possession of the first half to go into the halftime break down just 3 points.
Air Force got the ball back to start the second half and capped off a 15 play, 75 yard possession with a rushing touchdown from John Lee Eldridge III. That possession took nearly 9 minutes off the clock in the third quarter.
SJSU’s first possession of the second half saw the Spartans hold the ball for just 50 seconds. On the second play of the possession, Cordeiro threw a ball to junior wide receiver Malikhi Miller on the left sideline that Miller couldn’t haul in.
Brennan became furious on the sideline, believing Miller was held on the play.
“I thought there was a tricky situation on the sideline where Malikhi kind of got tangled up,” Brennan said. “Some of those things kind of caused us to sputter.”
After the Spartans punted, Air Force proceeded to score 21 unanswered points. SJSU failed to garner any momentum in the second half, leading to its worst start since 2019.
SJSU will have a bye week before heading to Boise State on Oct. 7 — a game that could ultimately decide if the Spartans reach six wins. In November, SJSU faces San Diego State and Fresno State in back-to-back games which could become must-wins for the Spartans.
“I think we all know we can get it done,” Cordeiro said. “We just have to keep our heads up and focus on Boise.”
