San Jose, Calif. - Three rushing touchdowns offensively by quarterback Kyle Reed and three sacks defensively by fellow junior Carl Ihenacho helped lead San Jose State University to a 35-10 victory over San Diego State University in non-conference football at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, September 13.
The Spartans piled up 293 yards rushing as a team, to just six by San Diego State, with all five touchdowns coming on the ground. In addition to Reed’s three, fellow Oakland, Calif., product Yonus Davis ran for a score and finished with 143 yards on 18 carries, the first 100-yard effort by any Spartan since Davis went for 177 yards on 25 rushes in a 31-21 win at New Mexico State on November 4, 2006. The senior tailback had a trio of 30-plus yard efforts.
With its 14th triumph over its last 16 home games, San Jose State improves to 2-1 on the year. San Diego State of the Mountain West Conference remains winless at 0-3.
The Spartans dominated virtually all facets of the game, totaling 476 yards of offense over 82 plays while limiting the visiting Aztecs to 146 on just 46 snaps from scrimmage and doubling them up in time of possession, 40:10-19:50. San Jose State held SDSU to a one-of-12 success rate on third down and went 7-of-17 itself. The Spartan defense produced four first-half sacks.
In his second collegiate start, Reed was 20-of-25 passing for a career-high 178 yards and one interception. He completed his first 13 attempts and added 15 rushing yards on 13 carries. Reed’s favorite target in the absence through illness of top wideout Kevin Jurovich, was David Richmond, who wound up with game highs of eight catches for 83 yards.
Eight different Spartans registered rushes for San Jose State’s 293 yards. Brandon Rutley, a freshman out of Martinez, Calif., narrowly missed joining teammate Davis in the 100-yard club, gaining 95 yards on only 10 carries, including a long of 50 in the third quarter.
After one first down on a 12-yard rush by Brandon Sullivan, San Diego State was forced to punt on its initial possession. Jeff Schweiger batted away a Ryan Lindley pass attempt on first down following the Sullivan run, and Ihenacho brought the redshirt freshman quarterback down for his first sack and loss of seven yards on a third-and-eight play.
On its first offensive set, San Jose State drove to the Aztec 27 mainly on the strength of two completions from Reed to junior wideout Jalal Beauchman for 12 yards, and rushes of eight yards by Reed and 13 by Rutley. An Aztec sack this time, however, by Andrew Preston, helped stall the drive and forced a Philip Zavala punt.
Following a second SDSU punt, the Spartans got the ball back on their own 44-yard line. A season-long run of 32 yards down the left side by Davis put San Jose State into good position to open the scoring, and after a 20-yard completion from Reed to Richmond on the right sideline on a third-and-five play, the Spartans did just that, with Reed running two yards up the middle and into the end zone. Jared Strubeck’s point-after made it 7-0 at the 2:45 mark of the first period, with the drive going for 56 yards and 2:36 on six plays.
Lindley completions of 18 and 23 yards up the middle to tight Matthew Kawulok got the visitors across midfield, but Ihenacho’s second sack on third and seven ended the drive at the SJSU 37.
A 24-yard reception by Richmond on third and two sprung the Spartans out to the 43-yard line. Redshirt freshman Josh Harrison’s first collegiate catch went for 15 more yards across midfield to the SDSU 41. After a six-yard gainer by Reed, Davis took it the rest of the way on the very next snap, going around the right side this time to make it 14-0 with Strubeck’s kick, at 11:38. The seven-play sequence went for 89 yards and 3:22 off the clock.
The Spartans got the ball right back on the heels of a fourth failed third-down conversation attempt by the visitors, and went right back to work. Big plays were the order on the San Jose State possession, with Reed throwing 16 yards to Dominique Hunsucker and 11 yards to Richmond around a Davis rush of 14 more yards across the 50. Richmond then ran for 20 yards to get the Spartans inside the 10. Two plays later, Reed rolled to his right, tucked the ball in and plunged into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon. Strubeck put the Spartans in command at 21-0 at the 6:37 mark. The nine-play drive went for 76 yards and 3:49.
A 41-yard pass play from Lindley to Sullivan put the ball at the San Jose State 13 on the ensuing Aztec possession. On third and 12, however, from the 15, Ihenacho got to Lindley again, for a third time in the half, and forced a fumble which eventually was recovered by Spartan junior linebacker Justin Cole.
The teams then traded punts without the benefit of a first down, and the Spartans got the ball back at their own 27 with 1:22 showing on the scoreboard. It looked like the teams would go into the break with San Jose State holding a 21-0 advantage, but junior Aztec cornerback Aaron Moore stepped in front of the receiver on Reed’s throw on the first play, intercepted it and raced 28 yards into the end zone to give the visitors an improbable score. Duke Ihenacho, Carl’s younger brother, then blocked Lane Yoshida’s initial point-after effort, but a face mask penalty gave him a second attempt, which the junior placekicker converted for 21-7 at halftime.
The Spartans had multiple standout performances during the first half, led by Reed completing his first 13 pass attempts, Davis running for 93 yards and Ihenacho producing his three sacks.
The San Jose State offense began the second half where it left off in the first, moving the ball both in the air and on the ground. A seven-yard completion on fourth and two from Reed to senior tight end Brian Elledge put the ball at the SDSU 23. The Aztecs finally forced the field goal, however, and Strubeck was wide to the left from 41 yards. Key plays earlier the sequence included a 14-yard run by Davis on the first play to put him over the 100-yard mark on the day, and a 22-yard catch by Richmond.
The teams traded punts before the Aztecs got three points closer on a 36-yard field goal by Yoshida. The seven-play, 35-yard drive featured Lindley passes of 12 and 20 yards to wide receivers Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson.
Two more punts followed as the Spartans regained the ball at their 20 on a touchback with 2:17 left in the third quarter. On a second-and-11 play, Rutley burst off right tackle and carried 50 yards to the SDSU 31. A 26-yard completion to Beachman on third and 10 put the ball at the Aztec 5. Back-to-back carries by freshman Ina Liaina, and a run by Reed, netted the Spartans three yards, but Reed rushed over the right side on fourth and goal from the two for his third touchdown of the night and a 28-10 Spartan lead.
Junior Myles Eden, in at quarterback for Reed on the final Spartan possession of the evening, capped the scoring with a one-yard plunge with 25 ticks left on the clock. The first-year duo of Rutley and Ina Liaina each carried four times on the 12-play, 42-yard drive that ate up 5:29.
Defensively, junior linebacker Travis Jones and the Ihenacho brothers led the way with five tackles each.
One other highlight for the Spartans was the inspirational return to the field from injury of leader Justin Paysinger in a reserve role at center during the first half. Paysinger, now a graduate student at San Jose State, had not appeared in a game since a home date with Idaho on October 6, 2007. Sophomore Isaac Leatiota also made his first appearance of 2008 on the line.
Lindley was 10-of-29 for 140 yards for the Aztecs. Sullivan netted 22 yards on six carries and had the 41-yard catch, with Kawulok adding 55 yards on four receptions. SDSU freshman Brian Stahovich punted nine times on the day, with a long of 65 yards.
San Jose State now faces back-to-back road contests for the first and only time this season, beginning with the second Bill Walsh Legacy Game at Stanford (1-2) next Saturday, September 20. Kick-off at Stanford Stadium is set for 6:00 p.m.