San Jose, Calif. - San Jose State University piled up a season-best 507 yards offensively, including 233 yards receiving by Kevin Jurovich, with quarterback Adam Tafralis breaking the school record in total offense, to coast past New Mexico State University, 51-17, in a Western Athletic Conference football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, November 10.
With the victory to snap a three-game slide, San Jose State improves to 4-6 overall and evens its conference ledger at 3-3. New Mexico State drops to 4-7 overall and 1-5 in league play. The Spartans have now won four straight in the series and move to 13-2 all-time against the Aggies.
Tafralis completed 19 of 31 throws for 317 yards, with two passing and one rushing touchdown. His 316 yards of total offense moved him ahead of Jeff Garcia for first on the all-time list, now with 7,363 for his career. He also moved up in three other categories. Jurovich finished with 10 catches for a career- and Spartan season-high 233 yards, and two touchdowns.
San Jose State benefited from good starting field position throughout the first half to take a 30-10 lead into the locker room at intermission. Dominique Hunsucker took the opening kickoff 30 yards to the SJSU 48, but the Spartans could only manage two yards before punting from midfield. New Mexico State then went 79 yards in eight plays and 2:44 to produce the first points of the afternoon on a 27-yard field goal by Paul Young. Key plays were back-to-back completions by junior quarterback Chase Holbrook to Derek Dubois for 50 yards to the SJSU 35, and Brandon Allen for 26 yards to the SJSU 9, with a nifty one-handed catch by Allen.
Hunsucker took the ensuing squib kick to the Spartan 46. On the first play of the offensive set, Tafralis found Jurovich for a 49-yard gain to put San Jose State first and goal at the Aggie 5. Two plays later, Dante Collins went two yards off right tackle for his first touchdown of the season, with Jared Strubeck’s point-after giving San Jose State its first lead at 7-3 at 9:59.
Strubeck then capped a nine-play, 49-yard drive with a season-long 42-yard field goal to make it 10-3. Tafralis hooked up with David Richmond for 14 yards across midfield to the NMSU 48 early following a 12-yard run by senior tailback Jacob French, and later hit Jurovich for gains of 19 and 12 yards to set up the scoring opportunity.
Early in the second period, New Mexico State went for it on fourth and two from the 50, but redshirt freshman cornerback Devin Newsome turned around at the right time and made a nice play on the intended receiver, Dubois, to give the Spartans the ball back in great position.
Again Tafralis connected with Jurovich for a big chunk of yards on the very first play, 22 yards to the Aggie 28. The drive stalled from there, with Strubeck tacking on a 41-yard field goal for 13-3.
New Mexico State got into the end zone for the first time with 9:24 left in the half when Holbrook found Allen for 46 yards. Holbrook and tight end Nick Cleaver had connected on a 24-yard gain on a third-and-10 play to the SJSU 44 to keep the drive alive.
The Spartans did not waste any time in answering, taking just 1:59 and five plays over 63 yards before Tafralis and Jurovich hooked up again, this time on fourth down and six for 36 yards down the left side. Tafralis hit Richmond for 23 yards on the opposite side early in the set.
Jurovich stepped on the scene again in a monster first half for the junior wideout, keeping his eyes on the ball coming off the hands of an Aggie defensive back down the left sideline, catching it in stride and galloping free to the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown for 27-10. Tafralis had key first-down runs of three and 13 yards on third and three and second and 12, respectively, breaking free on the latter using an effective pump fake.
Following a Hunsucker interception of Holbrook at the SJSU 45 with 1:19 left, Strubeck added a 38-yard field goal with two ticks remaining. Tafralis had throws of 14 yards to Richmond and nine and seven yards to Jurovich on the drive. Jurovich ended the half with eight receptions for 199 yards.
With New Mexico State driving on its first possession of the second half, All-American cornerback Dwight Lowery out-leapt an Aggie wideout for his fourth interception of the season on the left sideline to end the threat at the SJSU 27.
Later in the period, Lowery weaved his way to a 37-yard punt return to the NMSU 35, with the drive resulting in a one-yard quarterback keeper by Tafralis, right after a 29-yard catch by Jurovich at the one. Strubeck’s extra point made it 37-10 with six minutes left in the third. Lowery would later add a pass break-up on a solid hit as the ball was arriving.
After converting on fourth and four through a 12-yard pass from Tafralis to Elledge, Collins culminated an 11-play, 64-yard drive with his second touchdown of the day, from two yards.
New Mexico State closed to within 44-17 on a 24-yard touchdown toss from Holbrook to Wes Neiman, but a later drive was stopped by Christopher Owens’ team-best sixth interception.
Myles Eden took over for Tafralis at quarterback late and rattled off a 41-yard scamper up the middle of the field to the NMSU 38, the longest run by a Spartan in 2007. Eden carried five times for a team-high 64 yards on the day. Jordan LaSecla also saw action under center.
At the end of the 10-play, 86-yard drive that took 5:26, Cameron Island’s 14-yard touchdown run and Strubeck’s kick with 1:29 showing on the scoreboard, determined the final score.
On top of his huge receiving day, Jurovich took three snaps from center on running plays in the second half, and also was credited with a three-yard rush for a first down on the last play of the third quarter, as well as producing a nine-yard gain on a quarterback keeper after taking the snap.
In addition to the three interceptions, Jarron Gilbert and David Lomu each had sacks on the defensive end for San Jose State. Gilbert had two, for losses of five and eight yards, while Lomu’s sack pushed the Aggies back nine yards. Demetrius Jones led the way with nine total tackles, with fellow senior linebacker Matt Castelo adding eight.
Waylon Prather matched his season long with a 62-yard punt in the first quarter, one of four kicks for the senior punter, including two inside the Aggie 20. Hunsucker, a sophomore and local product out of Valley Christian High School, contributed 50 yards on kick returns, 14 more on three rush attempts and also played in the defensive backfield.
Holbrook wound up 30-of-49 for 318 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions for New Mexico State, completing passes to nine different receivers.
San Jose State heads to Ruston, La., next Saturday, November 17, to take on Louisiana Tech University in its road finale.