The San Jose State football team continued its historic start to the season by dominating the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in its 34-17 win Saturday night at CEFCU Stadium.
The Spartans (4-0, 4-0 MWC) are starting with a 4-0 record for the first time since 1955, according to the SJSU post-game notes.
With the season shortened to eight games because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Spartans are guaranteed to not finish with a losing season for the first time under head coach Brent Brennan.
“[I’m] really excited for our team. Obviously 4-0 hasn’t happened here for a while and so we’re just excited,” Brennan said in the Zoom post-game conference. “I love this team, they love each other and we are excited to see how far we can go.”
Quarterback Nick Starkel, who was knocked out during the first quarter of the game against San Diego State last week, returned to the starting lineup for SJSU. He threw for 274 yards and
two touchdowns while completing 17 of 28 passes against the Rebels (0-4, 0-4 MWC).
However, Starkel had a bit of a rocky return as his throw was intercepted by UNLV defensive back
Tre Caine in the second quarter. In the following drive, Starkel was almost picked off again.
“I would not grade myself very well,” Starkel said after the game. “Not satisfied with how I played. There’s definitely a couple throws that I wish I had back.”
Receiver Bailey Gaither also had a big game as he scored 2 touchdowns and caught 6 passes for
94 yards. Starkel and Gaither connected on a screen pass in the first quarter as Gaither exploded past the Rebels defense to score a 41-yard touchdown.
As dangerous as the receivers were, the running game was what ignited the offense as SJSU rushed for a season-high 176 yards on 29 carries.
The Spartans averaged the fewest rushing yards in the Mountain West Conference this season with 94 yards per game but had 89 rushing yards by the end of the first half against the Rebels.
SJSU running backs Tyler Nevens and Kairee Robinson combined for a total of 86 rushing yards and each scored a touchdown. However, backup quarterback Nick Nash led the team in rushing with 94 yards on 8 carries.
Brennan said constantly switching from Starkel to Nash throughout the game kept the opposition on its toes as both players offered different strengths to the team.
“It forces your opponent to prepare for both,” Brennan said. “They don’t just have to prepare for the drop back guy and they don’t just get to prepare for the dual-threat guy. They have to prepare for both players.”
Even though the Spartans offense was clicking, the defense dominated again with another formidable performance. SJSU had season-highs with 7 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, forcing UNLV to punt 5 times.
Defensive lineman Cade Hall led SJSU with 3 sacks and 4 tackles for loss.
“A lot of it was the mindset of being relentless. That’s what I was trying to do tonight,” Hall said after the game. “We’d seen some other teams in the Mountain West [Conference] get a lot of sacks on these guys. So we knew we would be able to get after the quarterback.”
The Rebels cut the Spartans lead to 24-17 late in the third quarter after UNLV running back Charles Williams scored a touchdown. However, the Spartans responded two minutes later when SJSU running back Kairee Robinson ran the ball for a touchdown. A field goal by SJSU kicker Matt Mercurio in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for UNLV.
Penalties also led to UNLV falling to a 0-4 record as it had 8 penalties for a loss of 84 yards. SJSU, on the other hand, had 5 penalties for a loss of 50 yards.
The game marked the Spartans’ fourth win by 10 or more points, the only team in the Mountain West Conference with that record. SJSU also remains undefeated in the conference along with the University of Nevada, Reno.
“Our team chemistry is just incredible right now, we’re just firing on all cylinders,” SJSU receiver Tre Walker said. “We are a tight unit and it’s really fun to be out there with those guys.”
SJSU will travel to face its rival Fresno State at Bulldog Stadium on Nov. 21 which is the favorite to win, according to ESPN’s matchup predictor.
“We have to just try and keep our head straight honestly,” receiver Bailey Gaither said. “You know, after 24 hours, we will set aside this win and move on forward and get ready for Fresno State.”
