San Jose, Calif. - San Jose State University rode three Kyle Reed touchdown passes and more suffocating defensive play to a 30-7 romp over Utah State University in its Western Athletic Conference football home opener on Homecoming at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, October 11.
With a 15th victory over its last 17 home contests, San Jose State improves to 4-2 overall and is now a perfect 2-0 to start the WAC season for the second straight year. Utah State drops to 1-5 overall and an even 1-1 in league play with its third successive loss to the Spartans.
Reed finished with a collegiate-best 300 yards on 28-of-40 passing, the three touchdowns to three different targets, and one interception. Senior wideout David Richmond got his hands on one of those scores among his eight catches, which totaled a season-high 89 yards.
Both offenses sputtered early. Utah State’s sophomore quarterback Diondre Borel fumbled the ball on the game’s first play from scrimmage, but was able to recover for a two-yard loss. A half-the-distance, personal-foul penalty on a late hit pushed the Aggies further back on the second play, before an incomplete pass.
On third and six on the Spartans’ first set, Reed broke loose for 13 yards and what would have been a first down, if not for a holding penalty which ultimately forced them to punt.
The initial first down of the night by either team did not come until the 2:54 mark of the period, when Aggie tailback Curtis Marsh rushed for three yards up the middle on a second-and-two play, and even then, fumbled the ball, only for teammate Doug Barbour to fall on it seven yards further down the field at the Utah State 36.
San Jose State produced a first down with just over a minute left in the opening quarter, when Reed hooked up with redshirt freshman Josh Harrison for an 11-yard gain on the first snap of its fifth possession. That play was followed immediately by a 12-yard connection between Reed and Terrance Williams across midfield to the USU 49.
In the first quarter, the teams combined for three first downs, two by the Spartans, 69 yards of total offense, 49 by San Jose State, and nine punts. The Aggie quarterback duo of Borel and senior Sean Setzer each went 0-for-3 in pass attempts.
On third and eight on the first play of the second quarter, Reed found Richmond down the middle of the field for a 19-yard gain to the Aggie 28. A four-yard catch by Williams three plays later required a measurement, but resulted in another Spartan first down.
A 13-yard gainer shortly thereafter from Reed to tailback Yonus Davis put the Spartans first-and-goal at the six. Reed then immediately picked out senior tight end Brian Elledge open on the right side for the touchdown. Jared Strubeck’s extra point made it 7-0 at the 12:19 mark. The 11-play drive covered 72 yards in exactly four minutes.
Less than one minute later, the lead doubled for San Jose State, as Borel’s pass went off the hands of Barbour and into those of sophomore linebacker Duke Ihenacho, who took his team-leading third interception 43 yards down the left sideline for his first college score at 11:23.
On its next offensive possession, the Spartans faced third and five at midfield with 7:23 left before the intermission, and after a timeout, Reed hit Davis on a screen pass, with the senior weaving his way for 19 yards to the Aggie 31. Rutley then caught a 12-yard pass to the 19 for another first down. A five-yard keeper by Reed and a four-yard catch by Jeff Clark were followed by an incompletion, leading to a 27-yard Strubeck field goal, which was good. A running-into-the-kicker penalty, however, gave the Spartans a first-and-goal at the five.
Two plays later, Reed rolled left and connected with Richmond in the front corner of the end zone for the eight-yard touchdown, with Strubeck making it a 21-0 game with 4:06 remaining in the half. The drive went 11 plays for 69 yards over 4:55.
San Jose State threatened to increase the lead further after getting the ball back one more time at its own seven-yard line with 2:34 left. A second 19-yard Reed-to-Davis pass, combined with a sideline interference penalty against Utah State, quickly moved the ball out to the Spartan 36.
On third and six, Reed had a wide-open and streaking Richmond at his disposal down the center of the field. The signal-caller floated the ball a little too deep, but his receiver made an incredible one-handed catch with his right hand, losing his balance as a result and falling at the Aggie 23 on the spectacular 42-yard play. Back-to-back short completions of two and three yards to Richmond set up third and five at the 18. Richmond caught another six-yard pass for the first down, but the play was negated by a holding call. The Spartans had to settle for a field goal, which Strubeck sent wide to the left from 39 yards as time expired.
The San Jose State defense allowed just 48 yards of total offense before the break, with Utah State not running a single one of their 26 plays in Spartan territory, and going 0-for-7 on third-down conversions. Borel and Setzer were 0-for-9 passing with the key interception.
Rutley had the Homecoming crowd electrified from the get-go in the second half, taking the opening kick on the left and expertly working his way all way to the right sideline for 36 yards to the Spartan 47. On the very first play of the quarter, Reed hit Williams in stride down the middle again for a 53-yard touchdown. Strubeck’s extra-point attempt banged off the upright, leaving the score at 27-0 in San Jose State’s advantage.
San Jose State’s next possession started with rushing gains of 11 and 17 by Davis and Richmond, respectively, but ended with a Roy Hurst interception at the USU 33.
At the end of Utah State’s ensuing offensive set, the Aggies tried a fake punt on third and 10 from their 38, but Pompey Festejo tackled De’von Hall for no gain to give the Spartans the ball in great field position.
Michael Avila’s 24-yard catch on third and 10 moved the ball to the 14. Reed could only scramble and run for 12 yards on third and 17, but Strubeck was good with his attempt from 27 yards to make it 30-0 at the 4:39 mark.
Having forced the Aggies into a third and 35 from their own four, the Spartans soon regained the ball at their 41. That brought on Sean Flynn at the quarterback spot for San Jose State, marking the senior’s first appearance of 2008. His first two pass attempts were complete, to Khalil Paden for six yards and Elledge for 10, as time ran out on the third period.
The first snap that Utah State took in San Jose State territory took place early in the fourth after a 10-yard pass from Borel to wideout Otis Nelson to the Spartan 41. That drive stalled four plays later, when Borel was tackled by Carl Ihenacho after only a one-yard gain on fourth and two.
Duke Ihenacho helped keep Utah State off the scoreboard later in the fourth, stepping right in front of Aggie wideout Omar Sawyer on the right sideline for his second interception of the night.
The Ihenacho Show continued on the next Aggie possession, as older brother Carl produced the fourth and final Spartan sack of the night, for a seven-yard loss on Borel, to bring about a 10th and final punt by Peter Caldwell.
The visitors would finally find their way into the end zone with 1:50 left in the game, as Setzer connected with Ronald Scott for a two-yard score.
In addition to Reed and Richmond’s offensive numbers and the defensive contributions of the Ihenacho brothers, senior safety Kyle Flynn, the younger brother of Sean, collected the first three sacks of his major college career.
Davis wound up with 92 all-purpose yards, returning his first three punts (16) as a collegiate player in addition to his rushing (11-24) and receiving (5-52) exploits. Williams caught three passes for 69 yards and his long touchdown, with Harrison adding a career-high five for 26. Justin Cole had a game-high nine total tackles, 1.5 of them for loss.
Borel finished 8-of-21 passing for 66 yards and two interceptions, while also rushing 17 times for 43 yards. Utah State was out-gained as a team, 401 yards to 190, and also committed eight penalties which cost the Aggies 59 yards.
San Jose State heads to Las Cruces, N.M., next week, continuing WAC play at New Mexico State (3-2, 1-0 WAC) on Saturday, October 18.