For the third time in four seasons, the San José State football team reached bowl eligibility as the Spartans defeated San Diego State 24-13 at home on Saturday night.
Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro passed for 174 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Junior running back Quali Conley rushed for 155 yards in 13 carries and scored a touchdown.
The Spartans not only reached bowl eligibility, but Saturday’s win has the potential to put them in the Mountain West Football Championship game if they beat the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this Saturday.
“This was a huge night for us and a huge night for Spartan football,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan.
SJSU got off to a slow start offensively as the Spartans totaled just 155 yards of total offense in the first half.
SJSU’s lone touchdown in the first half came when Cordeiro found junior tight end Dominick Mazotti in the back corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 in the second quarter.
A Kyler Halvorsen field goal toward the end of the first half tied the game at 10 a piece going into halftime.
The Spartans struck first in the second half after Conley found a hole on the left side of the offensive line as he rushed in for a 20-yard touchdown to give SJSU a 17-10 lead at the end of the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway, a heavy amount of rain and high winds suddenly covered the field.
San Diego State had its shot to tie the game late, but couldn’t convert. Aztecs’ running back Jaylon Armstead rushed in for a 2-yard touchdown, but the score was called back after a holding penalty. SDSU eventually settled for a field goal to cut the SJSU lead to 17-13 with under nine minutes left in the game.
On the ensuing possession, a 57-yard rush from Conley set up the Spartans in enemy territory. Running back Kairee Robinson finished off the drive by scoring on a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give SJSU a 24-13 lead.
The score gave Robinson 16 touchdowns on the season, breaking the SJSU single-season TD rushing record held by Johnny Johnson (1988) and Deonce Whitaker (2000) who each had 15.
On San Diego State’s final offensive possession, SJSU safety Tre Jenkins intercepted Jalen Mayden to ice the game for the Spartans.
The Spartans who started the season 1-5, have rattled off five-straight wins to get to the six-win bowl eligibility mark. The last time the Spartans beat both rival San Diego State and Fresno State was in 2006.
“It feels good,” Cordeiro said about Saturday’s win. “We finally get to show people what kind of team we have. We worked really hard in the offseason, went through the grind and it's showing.”
The Spartans are scheduled to play at noon Saturday against UNLV at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. A win could give SJSU the nod to enter the Mountain West title game if things around the conference break their way.
To the surprise of many within the SJSU athletic department, the game was not flexed to be on Fox or CBS — the two Mountain West Television partners. Instead, the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
