San Jose, Calif. - For three-plus quarters, the San Jose State University football team put a legitimate claim to ending the nation's longest win streak. It was not meant to be, however, as 17th-ranked University of Utah scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and held off the Spartans, 24-14, in their home opener at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night, September 12.
With the result, the Spartans drop to 0-2. Utah, a member of the Mountain West Conference and the undefeated 2009 Sugar Bowl champion, improves to 2-0 with its 16th straight triumph.
The game, broadcast to a live national television audience on ESPNU, marked San Jose State's first football contest on the new FieldTurf inside Spartan Stadium. The announced attendance of 23,684 was the ninth-largest college football crowd in stadium history.
Utah took the opening kickoff and began the first drive of the night at its own 23. On the first play from scrimmage, senior Spartan defensive tackle Aonis Davis got to junior Ute quarterback Terrance Cain for a sack and seven-yard loss. Cain then hit David Reed over the middle, but the senior wideout was knocked down almost immediately by sophomore safety Tiuke Tuipulotu. Facing a third down and 12, Cain took off for a 30-yard rush across midfield to the Spartan 49.
Later in the drive, Matt Asiata took a direct snap on third-and-goal from the one and was thwarted by Travis Jones and Duke Ihenacho. The Utes went for it on fourth down, however, and another direct snap to Asiata resulted in a one-yard touchdown run up the middle by the senior tailback. A Ben Vroman extra point gave Utah a 7-0 early advantage with 8:30 left in the first period. Cain was responsible for 67 of the 77 Ute yards on the 11-play drive.
The initial Spartan possession last just three plays, with senior punter Philip Zavala's first attempt of the night going a season-long 55 yards to put Utah at its own 12.
Cain found Reed on the right sideline for 11 yards on third and 10 early in the ensuing Utah possession. Cain hit fellow junior Jereme Brooks for 16 more yards. Two plays later, Cain's pass was caught by senior John Peel, but Tuipulotu caused him to fumble, and the bouncing ball was ultimately recovered for San Jose State by senior defensive Carl Ihenacho at the Spartan 41. It was already the third fumble forced by the SJSU defense in five quarters.
San Jose State was unable to capitalize, as Utah went back to work. Asiata's 15-yard carry, again up the middle, put the Utes at their 41. On third and seven, Cain connected with Reed for an eight-yard gain and new set of downs. On the next play, Asiata carried over the left side and went down after appearing to possibly have fumbled, but the play was not called as such. Following an officials' review, that judgement was overturned, giving Pompey Festejo credit for a forced fumble, and sophomore cornerback Alex Germany the recovery at the SJSU 41.
The new set brought on a new quarterback for the Spartans, with junior Jordan La Secla taking over for senior Kyle Reed. On the first play, which brought the first quarter to a close, La Secla aired it out down the left sideline, and senior wideout Kevin Jurovich leapt high over his defender to expertly haul it in for a 33-yard gain to the Utah 26. It was the Spartans' longest play to that point of the season, and earned them their inaugural first down and foray into opposing territory on the night.
On a third-and-nine play from the Utah 43, Cain was pressured by Justin Willis but dumped it off just in time to Asiata for 24 yards. On the next play, Tuipulotu shadowed Peel perfectly down the left sideline and broke up a pass into the end zone. Jones tripped up Cain for no gain to set up another third and 10, and again it was Tuipulotu with the big play, as the Menlo Park native slapped away Cain's pass. Vroman's 50-yard field goal attempt fell well short to keep it tied.
A nifty 31-yard pass-and-catch by La Secla and Jurovich down the right sideline, despite the senior wide receiver being interfered with, was negated by offsetting penalties, and the Spartans eventually were forced to punt.
Senior linebacker Justin Cole was in the right spot in the center of the field to knock away a Cain throw on third and 10 from the Spartan 38 on the next Utah sequence, to give San Jose State the ball back at its own 20 via a punt and touchback, with 6:41 left in the half.
An early penalty doomed that possession, before Cain led an efficient second-to-last Ute drive heading into the intermission. The Spartan defense stuffed the middle to deny Asiata the end zone on a third-and-goal play from the one. Following a timeout, Utah opted to go for it, and Asiata took yet another direct snap and lofted his pass entirely too deep for a wide-open Cain in the right corner of the end zone.
Taking over deep in their own territory, the Spartans did require one more punt of Zavala, with Utah going for a 53-yard field goal on its very next play, and Vroman missing wide and short. One tick still showed on the scoreboard, however, and La Secla flung a hail mary pass toward the left sideline that junior Marquis Avery got under and caught for a 42-yard gain as time finally ran out and the half ended with the 7-7 deadlock.
The Spartans went three and out coming out of the locker room. On Utah's first offensive set, Cain eluded Carl Ihenacho and scampered into San Jose State territory. On another second-and-seven play, Ihenacho again pressured the Ute quarterback, this time foricing an completion. Peyton Thompson then successfully defended a pass up the middle to Shaky Smithson, setting up another Vroman attempt. This time, the senior was wide left from 36 yards.
On second and nine from the 21, La Secla threw back across from right to left to Lamon Muldrow, who broke through a tackle and gained 11 yards for the first down. Jurovich's five-yard catch on a curl on third and four picked up another first down as the Spartans inched closer to midfield. A seven-yard Avery reception pushed them into Ute territory. An offensive penalty was followed by a pass interference infraction by Utah on sophomore receiver Josh Harrison, putting the ball at the 39. The drive finally stalled.
A quarterback pressure by Duke Ihenacho, followed by a stop on Asiata by his older brother, Carl, and Tanner Burns, forced Utah to give the ball back up with 6:12 remaining in the third.
Another well-timed route and hook-up between La Secla and Jurovich resulted in a 30-yard reception down the left sideline again, to the Spartan 39. On a third-and-six play, Avery had a defender draped all over his back to draw an interference penalty. He still managed to catch the ball for a first down, but the Spartans accepted the penalty across midfield and to the Ute 46. The next play saw Jurovich make another catch on a curl route for 19 more yards on the right sideline. Three plays later, however, La Secla was sacked, and Zavala had to punt.
A personal-foul face-mask penalty spurred the ensuing Utah possession. The third quarter ended with the score still tied and the Utes on their own 44-yard line. Asiata's plunge gave Utah a new set of downs on third and one to open the final stanza. Moments later, Cain hit Brooks in stride down the middle, with the junior weaving toward the right sideline and into the end zone for a 51-yard score. Joe Phillips' extra point made it 14-7 in favor of Utah with 13:44 to go.
After a three-play possession by the Spartans, Utah drove again, getting a key conversion from Reed of 12 yards across midfield on third and 10. Duke Ihenacho and Thompson converged to deny Smithson of a big gain, setting up another third-down play, but Cain found Peel for 11 more yards. A rush around right end by Eddie Wide accounted for 15 yards to the Spartan 15. Wide then produced a second straight 15-yard carry across the goal-line, and it was 21-7 with 9:03 remaining.
On four successive plays on the next San Jose State offensive set, La Secla connected with Jurovich, Avery and redshirt freshman tight end Ryan Otten, and Jurovich drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone, to give the Spartans the ball at the Ute 13. La Secla then found Jurovich on the right flat, and took a roughing-the-pass infraction, for first and goal at the three. Three plays after another interference flag drawn by Jurovich in the end zone, La Secla put one up from the one just as he was being hit, that Avery corralled for his first touchdown as a Spartan. Cope's kick closed the deficit back to one score at 21-14 at the 5:03 mark.
San Jose State was denied an opportunity to play for overtime due in large part to a 46-yard burst down the left side by Sausan Shakerin. Duke Ihenacho finally pushed him out of bounds at the four. A 25-yard field goal by Phillips determined the final score with 13 seconds showing.
La Secla finished 21-of-33 passing for 242 yards, one touchdown and an interception on the last play of the night. Jurovich had game highs of seven catches for 113 yards, while Avery wound up with seven receptions for 85 yards.
For Utah, Cain was 18-of-31 for 248 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 76 yards on 10 attempts. Asiata carried 20 times for 94 yards, both game highs. The Utes racked up 251 yards of rushing offense in all. In the air, Brooks and Reed had five catches apiece for 98 and 62 yards, respectively.
The Spartans next play at Bay Area rival Stanford (1-1, 1-0 Pac-10) on Saturday, September 19. Kick-off at Stanford Stadium is slated for approximately 6:00 p.m. for the third Bill Walsh Legacy Game.