Stanford, Calif. - Playing its best season opener in years, the San Jose State football team pushed No. 21 Stanford to the final minute, but lost 20-17 in the 2012 Bill Walsh Legacy Game at Stanford Stadium on Friday night.
San Jose State outgained the Cardinal 288-to-280 including 216-to-125 in the air. Quarterback David Fales effective in his Spartan debut throwing for 217 yards on 24-for-35 passing with a touchdown and one interception. Noel Grigsby had seven catches for a game-high 92 yards and Blake Jurich rushed for 32 yards on six carries.
THIRD QUARTER SURGE FOR THE SPARTANS
Tailing 17-3 at the beginning of the third quarter, Fales led San Jose State (0-1) on successive touchdown drives of 78 and 82 yards to tie the game at 17-17.
The Spartans took the kickoff to start the second half and drove 71 yards to the Cardinal seven-yard line. From there, Jurich ran the ball twice, the second, a three-yarder up the middle for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown for the Spartans in a season opener in four years and cut the Stanford (1-0) lead to 17-10. On the drive Fales was 3-of-4 through the air for 60 yards.
On the next drive, Fales tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Grigsby, which capped off a 12-play, 82-yard drive. Fales accounted for 62 yards on the ground and through the air.
After a fumble recovery on the Spartans 38 on the last play of the third quarter, Stanford drove the ball to the San Jose State three-yard line. The Spartans defense held on third down and forced a field goal giving the Cardinal a 20-17 lead with just over 13 minutes to play.
Six minutes later, on a fourth and one from the Spartans 15-yard line, Vince Buhagiar broke through the line and made the initial hit on Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor. Cullen Newsome finished the tackle and forced Stanford to turn the ball over on downs. Buhagiar was one of three Spartans with eight tackles on the night. Travis Johnson and Derek Muaava had eight and Keith Smith led all defenders with 13.
STANFORD OPENS QUICKLY
The Cardinal controlled the first quarter outgaining San Jose State 127-to 32 overall and 81-to-1 on the ground. They had touchdown drives of 81 and 50 yards and build a 14-0 lead.
Taylor, who rushed for a game-high 122 yards, scored Stanford's first touchdown on a one-yard run in the middle of the first quarter. It capped a 13-play, 81-yard drive. Four minutes later Josh Nunes hooked up with Drew Terrell on an 11-yard scoring play putting staking Stanford to a 14-0 lead.
Building momentum on each of their first two offensive possessions, the Spartans got on the scoreboard on their third time with the ball. They drove 41 yards on eight plays, capped off by a 38-yard field goal from freshman kicker Austin Lopez.
Spartans stopped the Cardinal on two straight drives in the second quarter, but with one minute and 23 seconds to play in the half, the Cardinal drove the ball 40 yards in eight plays and kicked a 46-yard field goal to go to the locker rooms with a 17-3 lead.
The Spartans play their home opener next Saturday, September 8, in Spartan Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.