In one of the biggest games in modern San Jose State football history, the Spartans came close, but could not pull out a win in front of 83,330 roaring fans in Auburn, Ala. as they lost to host Auburn University 24-16 Saturday night.
Quarterback Chevan Cordero went 24/40 and threw for 275 yards and was a factor on the ground, rushing for 23 yards on 13 attempts.
SJSU had a hard time stopping the dual threat of attack of Auburn QBs of T.J. Finley and Robby Ashford, both of whom combined for 168 yards through the air, 79 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
“I thought it was awesome to see how they responded to the ups and downs and to the collective disappointment of last week, even though we won,” said SJSU head football coach Brent Brennan in a postgame Zoom press conference. “I thought they did a great job just handling that and not listening to the haters and the naysayers and coming down here and playing a heck of a football game.”
The Spartans started off the game strong. Senior running back Kairee Robinson scored on a one-yard run on Minute 14 in the second quarter to give the Spartans a 10-7 lead going into the halftime break.
Auburn came out of the break with a score on its first possession, capping off a nine play, 69 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run from junior running back Tank Bigsby. The Tigers took a 14-10 lead after Bigsby’s touchdown run.
After SJSU punted on its first possession of the third quarter, Auburn tacked on three more points on its second possession of the third quarter to take a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans failed to get in the endzone on a 12 play, 65 yard drive on its first possession of the fourth quarter, but sophomore kicker Taren Schive successfully kicked a 27 yard field goal to cut the lead back down to four, 17-13, with 14:49 left in the fourth.
Though SJSU needed a stop, Auburn drove down the field in four plays and put up seven points on a Finley four-yard touchdown.
The Finley touchdown took SJSU’s momentum away and the Spartans did not have enough time to come back. SJSU cut the lead to eight after another Schive field goal, but Auburn ran out the clock in its last possession and iced the game.
The Spartans had their opportunities throughout the game to put more points on the board, but had to settle for field goals in the red zone on three occasions.
“At the end of the day, we got to finish,” SJSU senior QB Chevan Cordeiro said. “Like the two drives in the red zone. They didn't finish and we got to capitalize on that.”
Brennan said that they needed to be better in the red zone and capitalize on opportunities near the goal line.
The Spartans defense held its own throughout the game.
In a hostile Southeastern Conference environment, SJSU held the Auburn offense to just seven points. The Spartans intercepted Ashford and Finley once respectively, forcing Auburn to turn to its run game.
Even in the loss, SJSU players said they enjoyed the experience of playing in front of a rabid SEC crowd.
“It's just a cool and part of the game day experience,” said senior defensive tackle Viliami Fehoko.
Sophomore wide receiver Charles Ross, who led the Spartans in receiving with five catches for 89 yards, said he enjoyed the environment and crowd.
“I love it. I love everything about it, the dark [and bright] lights, that kind of fired me up more and more,” Ross said.
Not only did SJSU give Auburn a run for its money on the field, but it received some of Auburn’s cash off the field as well.
SJSU received $1.8 million to play Auburn on its own turf, according to the contract signed by the two schools.
The Spartans will have a bye and will wait on to Western Michigan after the week ends.
Cordeiro said the focus for the bye week will be to dial back in and get ready for their next game.
“We're probably just going to make sure we stay more focused and dialed in, just so we can elevate more and finish,” Cordeiro said.
SJSU’s next matchup is expected to be on Sept. 24 against Western Michigan CEFCU Stadium.
