Sept. 27, 2013
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San Jose, Calif - Utah State led the entire way and spoiled San Jose State's Mountain West Conference debut in a 40-12 victory over the Spartans in Spartan Stadium.
Quarterback Chuckie Keeton passed for 260 yards and three touchdowns and ran in another for the Aggies (3-2, 2-0 Mountain West). The shifty signal caller also rushed for 52 yards and kept the San Jose State defense on its toes the entire night.
The Spartans (1-3, 0-1 Mountain West) trailed the entire game. For the third game in a row, San Jose State traded its field goals against the opponent's touchdowns. Keeton put the Aggies on the scoreboard with a 3-yard pass to tight end D.J. Tialavea on Utah State's first possession. San Jose State responded with the first of two Austin Lopez field goals, from 31 yards out.
Utah State, which gained 520 yards, then scored on four of its next six possessions to take a 23-6 lead into halftime. Kicker Nick Diaz booted three of his career-high four field goals and Keeton found wide receiver Keegan Andersen on a 5-yard scoring pass.
Lopez's 26-yard field goal with 5:48 to go in the second quarter was all the Spartans could muster the remainder of the first half.
San Jose State looked like it could cut into the lead at the start of the second half. The Spartans were inside the Utah State 3-yard line. On a second-down play, reserve running back Osirius Burke rushed to the goal line, but was ruled down. On the next play, a bad center snap over the head of quarterback David Fales was recovered at the Utah State 25-yard line by Zach Vigil of the Aggies.
The Spartans' only score of the second half was a 1-yard run to the right pylon by Jason Simpson.
Unlike a year ago when he was sacked 13 times by the Aggies, David Fales was sacked just once. He completed 25-of-48 passes for 314 yards, but was intercepted twice. The Spartans had 101 yards rushing and finished with 437 yards of total offense.
San Jose State finished the game without starters Jabari Carr and Bené Benwikere. Carr, who had six receptions for 47 yards, left the game with a first-half shoulder injury. Benwikere was taken to the hospital for a precautionary evaluation after colliding with teammate Christian Tago in the third quarter.