San Jose, Calif. - San Jose State University compiled a season-high 242 yards of rushing offense, led by Lamon Muldrow with 184 yards, and got two scoring passes from quarterback Jordan La Secla, rallying for 19 unanswered points and a 19-9 victory over Cal Poly at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, September 26.
With the result, the Spartans improve to 1-3. Cal Poly, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Great West Conference, falls to 1-2.
Making his first start as a Spartan, Muldrow reached his major college high yardage total on 20 carries, and produced the final score of the night after a 71-yard gallop to the Mustang 2. La Secla was 18-of-32 passing for 172 yards while also contributing a career-high 35 yards to the ground attack. Senior wideout Kevin Jurovich turned in a third straight 100-yard receiving effort, with game highs of 108 yards on seven catches.
On San Jose State's first offensive play from scrimmage after forcing a Mustang punt, La Secla rolled to his right and hit Jurovich for a 16-yard gain, but the Spartans later were stuffed on a fourth-and-one dive up the middle by Muldrow.
Three snaps later, Cal Poly was in the end zone, as senior tailback Jono Grayson took a pitch to the right and sprinted 53 yards down the sideline. Senior defensive tackle Adonis Davis blocked junior kicker Chris Pinto's extra-point attempt for a 6-0 scoreline at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter.
The Mustangs had the ball back at the Spartan 39 following Scottie Cordier's interception of La Secla. On second down, sophomore cornerback Peyton Thompson upended Grayson for a loss to help the San Jose State defense prevent Cal Poly from capitalizing on the turnover.
On the final play of the first quarter, with Cal Poly facing third and two from the SJSU 46, junior cornerback Devin Newsome jumped the hand-off and forced a fumble which Mustang quarterback Tony Smith recovered for a 14-yard loss, necessitating another punt.
The Mustangs moved just across midfield on their next possession. On third down and eight, Smith completed his first pass of the evening, but junior safety Duke Ihenacho was there on the right flat to tackle the receiver, Grayson, before he could make the required yardage.
To start the ensuing Spartan drive, La Secla threw down the right sideline for Jurovich, with the play first being ruled incomplete, but then reviewed and overturned for a 34-yard completion and an SJSU first down at its own 46. San Jose State was later denied on a second fourth-and-short attempt as La Secla threw incomplete to Ryno Gonzalez under pressure.
Aided by four rushes for 23 more yards by Grayson, and a pair of completions for 27 yards from Smith to Dominique Johnson, and a half-the-distance personal-foul penalty, Cal Poly moved the ball to the SJSU 11. The drive finally stalled, and Pinto's 30-yard field goal made it 9-0 in favor of the Mustangs with 3:25 remaining until the intermission.
With the half winding down, Muldrow's 13-yard run up the middle moved the Spartans into Cal Poly territory. The junior transfer from Sierra College then weaved his way for another nine yards to the Mustang 38. A La Secla keeper netted 13 more for another first down, as San Jose State gained 35 yards on three successive snaps. On third and eight from the 23, La Secla picked out Jurovich over the middle for 15 yards, and first and goal at the 8. Two plays later, La Secla expertly hooked up with Jalal Beauchman over the middle again, between two Mustang defenders in the front of the end zone. Tyler Cope's kick went wide to the right, as the Spartans were within three at 9-6 with 31 ticks left.
They would gain one more opportunity with nine seconds showing, but after a 23-yard completion to Jurovich, La Secla's hail mary pass as time expired was knocked down at the goal line. At the break, Grayson had 113 yards on the ground to Muldrow's 64 for the Spartans.
Jurovich's 12-yard punt return set the Spartans up at the Cal Poly 37 with 8:37 in the third quarter, after they had gained a huge field-position advantage thanks to Burns downing a Philip Zavala effort at the Mustang 1 moments earlier. Zavala had to punt again, however, this time with Thompson catching it on the bounce at the 1. Two plays into the ensuing possession, Burns recovered a Mustang fumble at the 9.
On third and goal, La Secla threw into the back right corner of the end zone, where junior receiver Marquis Avery jumped high above sophomore Mustang cornerback Asa Jackson to haul in the seven-yard score. Cope's kick gave the Spartans a 13-9 edge with 5:07 left.
Cal Poly threatened to regain the lead with a lengthy 15-play drive that took up 7:01 of the fourth quarter, but had to settle for a 27-yard Pinto field goal attempt, which was blocked by senior linebacker Travis Jones with less than six minutes to go to maintain the four-point margin.
On third and three, Muldrow ran left and turned up the field, eluding several defenders before finally getting tackled at the 2 following a 71-yard gain. His two-yard effort into the end zone on the next play made it a two-possession game at 19-9, with the kick wide to the right. Muldrow accounted for all 80 yards on the decisive four-play drive, on three carries.
Smith's incompletion on fourth and 15 from the Spartan 31 turned the ball over with 1:41 left, and time ran out on the visitors. Carl Ihenacho had a sack and Burns an interception in the waning moments of the contest. Burns finished with a game- and career-high 11 total tackles.
Smith was 10-of-25 for 135 yards for the Mustangs, while Grayson wound up with 138 yards on 15 rush attempts. Johnson made six catches for 93 yards.
Next up for San Jose State is the first of two bye weeks for the 2009 season, followed by its Western Athletic Conference opener at home against Idaho on Homecoming on Saturday, October 10. Kick-off inside Spartan Stadium is set for 5:00 p.m.