About a year after San Jose State suffered a loss to Western Michigan 23-3, the rested and hungry Spartans got their revenge and defeated the Broncos 34-6 Saturday night.
The Spartans offense had their best game of the year by far, recording 397 yards of total offense and 4 total touchdowns.
Senior running back Kairee Robinson rushed for 81 yards and recorded 2 touchdowns.
Sophomore wide receiver Justin Lockhart led all receivers with four receptions for 116 yards.
Junior quarterback Chevan Cordeiro completed 17 of 28 passes while throwing for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns.
SJSU head coach Brent Brennan said he was proud the team was able to return the favor after last year’s loss.
“A year ago, we went out there to Kalamazoo and had a really, really tough day,” Brennan said in a postgame news conference. “This was an awesome win for us against a really good, tough football team and I'm excited about what this team is doing right now.”
The Spartans started the game off slow, having to punt on their first possession of the game.
On the very next possession, the Broncos drove the ball down to the Spartan 8-yard line, but were stopped on fourth down when senior safety Tre Jenkins tackled Western Michigan QB Mareyohn Hrabowski in the backfield to turn the ball over on downs.
Jenkins’ tackle set the tone for the rest of the game for the Spartan defense.
SJSU did not allow an offensive touchdown for the entirety of the game and Western Michigan was unable to string together consistent drives that lead to scores.
Defensive lineman Cade Hall said the fourth-down stop in the first quarter gave the team momentum that it would use for the rest of the game.
“The fourth down stop was just huge momentum builders for our whole team, not just for the defense, but also the offense,” Hall said in the postgame news conference. “We knew coming into this game that [Western Michigan] liked going for it on fourth down and we saw that as a great opportunity to try and shift the momentum and shift the game.”
After taking a 10-0 lead on a touchdown by Robinson in the second quarter, the Spartans ended the half scoring on a 13-yard pass from Cordeiro to wide receiver Elijah Cooks.
SJSU went into the half with a 17-0 lead.
The Spartans offense did not let its foot off the pedal, scoring on its first possession of the second half on a 39-yard pass from Cordeiro to sophomore wide receiver Charles Ross, which expanded the SJSU lead to 24-0.
Though Western Michigan was able to get a touchdown on a kick return in the third quarter, the Broncos could not muster enough points to make the game remotely close.
SJSU’s defense and high-powered offense was too much for Western Michigan to handle and the Spartans cruised to a 28-point victory.
The Spartan offense came together in that game after struggling to find its identity in its first two games.
Six different players caught at least one pass from Cordeiro, which he credits to the offensive play calling.
“Every receiver, every tight end and every running back, I believe I can throw them the ball and they'll go get it,” Cordeiro said in the postgame news conference. “That's just a game plan.”
Another big boost to the Spartans play on the field was their new threads.
Saturday’s game was San Jose City night, celebrating the city of San Jose and the people it represents.
To celebrate the special occasion, SJSU wore a new black and blue uniform kit with the words “San Jose” written across the chest of the jersey, which was worn for that game only.
Kairee Robinson said the new uniform was fresh and gave the team some extra juice before the game.
Cordeiro agreed with that sentiment and said he believes part of playing at a high level is being comfortable with what one is wearing on the field.
“I mean, all black. You can't go wrong with that,” Cordeiro said. “When you look good, you play good.”
The Spartans improved to 2-1 on the year with the win.
Their next game will be against Wyoming on Oct. 1 in Laramie, Wyoming for the team’s first conference game of the season.
Brennan said the team will need to refocus and get ready to go on the road to face the Cowboys.
“We have a really good Wyoming team on the road and all the stuff that comes with going to Laramie,” Brennan said.
