The San Jose State football team waited until 1:32 left in the second quarter to score its first touchdown of the home opener, a 5-yard run by De'Leon Eskridge, but then scored on each of their next six drives en route to a 45-13 win over the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday night in Spartan Stadium.
The Spartans (1-1) outgained the Aggies 503-to-252, including 216-to-52 on the ground. They were led by 130 yards and three touchdowns from Eskridge.
On the opening possession of the game the Aggies (1-1) took a 7-0 lead, scoring in just 55 seconds on a 45-yard pass from Randy Wright to Alex Cannon. UC Davis controlled the quarter outgaining the Spartans 102-to-45, with 98 of those yards coming through the air.
San Jose State was held scoreless until it took the ball on its 48-yard line with 3:21 left before halftime and in 1:49 drove 52 yards to tie the score at 7-7 on Eskridge's first of three touchdown runs.
RAPID FIRE SAN JOSE STATE SCORING
Just 28 seconds later, San Jose State struck again. Bené Benwikere picked off a pass at the Spartans' 40 and danced 43 yards down the sideline to the UC Davis-17. Two plays later, Eskridge ran around the right side for a 17-yard score and the Spartans went to the half up, 14-7.
In the third quarter, San Jose State got touchdown drives of six, seven and 10 plays covering 52, 56 and 79 yards. Chandler Jones caught 10-yard touchdown strikes from David Fales, who was 23-for-32 for 277 yards, and Blake Jurich. The third touchdown was Eskridge's third of the game on his longest run of the game - a 27-yard dash to the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, the Aggies scored on a 3-yard run and Spartan scores on an Austin Lopez 25-yard field goal and 11-yard run from Jurich made the final score, 45-13.
Defensively, end Travis Johnson was in on eight tackles and matched a career-high four quarterback sacks and six tackles for loss. The Spartans had 12 tackles for loss, six quarterback sacks and intercepted UC Davis three times.
San Jose State returns to action Saturday, September 15, facing the Colorado State Rams in Spartan Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.