Special Teams & Defense Key 31-14 Win At NMSU

Las Cruces, N.M.----- Two interception returns for touchdowns and four special teams plays keyed a San Jose State 31-14 win over New Mexico State in a Western Athletic Conference football game.

The Spartans’ victory, their third in a row, sets up a showdown between San Jose State (5-2, 3-0 WAC) and #15-Boise State (6-0, 2-0 WAC) for first place in the conference.

Safety Kyle Flynn’s 90-yard return and linebacker Duke Ihenacho’s 43-yard runback capped 21 unanswered Spartan points to open the game’s scoring.

San Jose State’s special teams got a 59-yard kickoff return from Brandon Rutley on the opening kickoff, a Ralph Johnson fumble recovery after New Mexico State’s Chris Williams lost a fourth-quarter punt in the lights, a 33-yard Jared Strubeck field goal four plays after the fumble recovery and a 54-yard punt return by Yonus Davis near the end of the game figured prominently.

The Spartans who came into the game allowing just 270.7 yards a contest kept the Aggies (2-3, 1-1 WAC) to a season-low 284 yards. The week before in its 48-45 win at Nevada, New Mexico State gained 513 yards. The San Jose State defense finished the night with three interceptions and came up with six quarterback sacks for the second time in the three conference contests.

Rutley took the game’s opening kickoff and returned the ball to the New Mexico State 38-yard line. Two Yonus Davis runs, the last a 32-yard scamper to the end zone gave San Jose State a 7-0 lead.

Both starting quarterbacks, Kyle Reed for San Jose State and Chase Holbrook for New Mexico State, were intercepted twice in the first half. The difference was San Jose State scored on its takeaways while New Mexico State did not.

Reed was intercepted, first, by linebacker Nick Paden on the Spartans second possession who returned the ball to the San Jose State 15-yard line. Two plays after a Spartan personal foul that moved the ball to the 8-yard line, Holbrook attempted to hit running back Marquell Colston in the right flat, but Flynn jumped in front of Colston and weaved his way 90 yards in front of the New Mexico State bench for San Jose State’s second touchdown of the game.

Throughout the evening, the Spartans were able to consistently pressure Holbrook who passed for 206 yards and one touchdown. At the start of the second quarter, the New Mexico State quarterback was flushed out of the pocket on a 3rd-and-9, badly missed his intended receiver, but found a waiting Duke Ihenacho who ran 43 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

Two big plays helped New Mexico State cut into the Spartan lead. A 73-yard reception by Aggies’ wide receiver Chris Williams preceded Holbrook and Williams connecting on a 7-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone with 11:50 left in the second quarter.

Then in a third quarter controlled by New Mexico State, a 33-yard run around left end by punter Kyle Hughes on a 4th-and-11 was the key play in an 83-yard, 19-play possession that ended with a Holbrook 2-yard run. Besides Hughes’ 4th-down run, Holbrook and Williams also hooked up on a 4th-and-7 from the San Jose State 25-yard line for an 11-yard gain and fourth first down of the scoring drive.

Williams, who had 12 receptions for 146 yards, fumbled a Philip Zavala punt that Johnson recovered at the San Jose State 21. The Spartans were unable to move the ball, but Jared Strubeck came on to make a 33-yard field goal to stretch San Jose State’s lead to 24-14.

After the defense stiffened again forcing a New Mexico State punt, Davis, who took over the punt return duties for just the second game this season took a 52-yard Hughes punt, gave up ground on the right side to find his blockers on the left for a 54-yard return. Rutley closed out the scoring with a 12-yard run over left guard on the next play.

The Spartans won the game with a season-low 201 yards of total offense. Reed was 8-of-18 with three interceptions for just 50 yards. Davis accounted for more than half of San Jose State’s offense with 107 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown.