SAN JOSE – San Jose State has 11 days, and one game, to get itself into the postseason.
Beat Fresno State on Thanksgiving Day, and it will be a happy holiday. Lose, and the season is over.
“That’s a real thing for all of our seniors,” said San Jose State quarterback Nick Starkel, a sixth-year SEC transfer from Arkansas and Texas A&M. “It means a lot to us. I know that I’m not just speaking for myself when I say that this game really is the most important game that I’ve ever played in, just because of all the implications behind it.”
The Spartans (5-6) could have locked up a bowl bid Saturday night. Instead, they suffered their most lopsided loss of the season — a 48-17 beatdown from Utah State in front of a crowd of 15,135 that was expecting to party after SJSU jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
“I’m frustrated for our players, I’m frustrated for everybody at San Jose State because this was a really, really important game for us,” SJSU coach Brent Brennan said. “I knew it was going to be hard, but I did not think it would look like that.”
In what can only be described as a total dud, San Jose State admitted to being confused on offense, could only muster 150 yards from scrimmage, and left its defense on the field for an excruciating 37 minutes.
It was as if that 14-0 lead never existed. But it did, aided by two takeaways in the final 70 seconds of the first quarter. First came a 58-yard pick-six by sophomore cornerback Kenyon Reed Then, 58 seconds later, it was defensive end Junior Fehoko with a sack-fumble that fellow bookend Cade Hall recovered on the Utah State 38. SJSU needed just three plays — all runs — to make it 14-0.
Utah State responded like the first-place team that it is. The Aggies (8-2, 5-1), who sits alone atop the Mountain Division standings one game ahead of Boise State and Air Force, scored 24 unanswered points to close out the first half and dominated the second half. Quarterback Logan Bonner set a school record by throwing four touchdowns for a third-straight game.
“When we got up 14-0, they didn’t blink an eye,” said Hall, last year’s Mountain West defensive player of the year. “And as they started to get up, we let it affect us. And you could see that by how we played.”
The offense played just as poorly, if not worse. Starkel, the QB star of the storybook 2020 season, passed for only 138 yards and threw an interception for the sixth consecutive game. He also lost a fumble, as did backup Nick Nash.
“We have to play cleaner,” Brennan said. “We’ve got two weeks to get to work and figure out the best way for us to move the ball.”
“We’re just right at the end of a very long stretch of very tough opponents, so this bye week is much needed,” Hall said. “We’re going to use it to heal up and also get ready for Fresno State.”
It doesn’t get any easier. Fresno State (8-3, 5-2) has beaten UCLA, San Diego State and Nevada and gave Oregon all it could handle. Beat the Bulldogs, and it will be a Happy Thanksgiving for SJSU. Lose, and the most eagerly anticipated season in decades ends with a thud.
“We are ready to do whatever we can to give ourselves the best chance to win and get to a bowl game – whatever that is,” Brennan said.
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