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Sports | September 19, 2023

Rockets Escape Spartans

Photo Courtesy of SJSU Athletics

San José State allowed 229 rushing yards and blew a 10-point second-half lead in its 21-17 loss to the University of Toledo on Saturday night at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio. 

The Spartans (1-3) had a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but gave up 14 second-half points while the offense failed to score in the fourth quarter. 

Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro surpassed 10,000 career passing yards in Saturday’s game, but the milestone was overshadowed by him throwing what would be the game-losing pick-six in the third quarter.

“We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch to get it done and that's just devastating,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan. 

The Spartans’ defense shut down Toledo (2-1) in the first quarter. The Rockets’ offense mustered up 15 first-quarter yards and went three-and-out in both of their possessions.

After SJSU recovered a muffed kickoff return, Cordeiro found junior tight end Dominick Mazotti for a 20-yard touchdown pass to put the Spartans up 10-0 with just under 7 minutes left in the second quarter.

Toledo’s offense showed life in its final possession of the first half. Rockets’ quarterback Dequan Finn capped off an 18-play, 98-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jerjuan Newton to close the gap to 10-7 going into halftime. 

SJSU looked to have turned the corner early in the third quarter after senior running back Kairee Robinson bulldozed his way for a 15-yard touchdown rush to take a 17-7 lead. 

On the ensuing possession, Finn drove the Rockets 63 yards on eight plays ending with a 15-yard touchdown rush from Finn to cut the deficit to 17-14. 

Later in the third quarter, Rockets’ cornerback Chris Mcdonald returned an interception for a touchdown off of Cordeiro to put Toledo up 21-17. Cordeiro, who refused to comment on the interception after the game, broke a streak of 117 consecutive passes without an interception.

The Spartans’ offense struggled in the fourth quarter after the interception, failing to put points on the board. On SJSU’s last possession, Cordeiro was sacked on third-and-10 and Brennan elected to punt with 1:58 left in the game.

“We had three timeouts and I thought our defense was playing well,” Brennan said about the decision to punt. “We didn’t want to give them the ball inside our 40-yard line and give them a short field.”

Toledo ran out the clock on the next possession and sealed its second consecutive win.

SJSU has now lost three of its last four games. The Spartans’ 1-3 start is the worst start under Brennan since 2018 when the team went 1-11. 

SJSU will start conference play on a short week as the Spartans are scheduled to play Air Force at 7 p.m. on Friday at CEFCU Stadium. The Falcons are undefeated and beat Utah State 39-21 in their Week 3 matchup.