Sept. 28, 2014
Upcoming game:
San José State vs. UNLV (Homecoming)
Saturday, October 4, 2014,
Spartan Stadium, San José, Calif.,
5:02 p.m. (PT), ESPNews
San José State record: 1-3, 0-1 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans lost their conference opener to Nevada on September 27. San José State is in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
UNLV record: 1-4, 0-1 Mountain West. The Rebels are in the midst of their own three-game losing streak after dropping their Mountain West opener at San Diego State, 34-17.
San José State-UNLV series: The Spartans lead the series, 12-5-1. San José State has wins in the last four meetings between these teams including a 34-24 victory on November 2, 2013 in Las Vegas. The last time the Spartans and the Rebels met in Spartan Stadium, San José State posted a 31-28 triumph on November 23, 1996 to close out the regular season and the head coaching career of College Football Hall of Fame enshrinee John Ralston.
Homecoming Record: San José State has a 46-29-2 win-loss record in Homecoming games dating back to 1933 when Spartan Stadium first opened. The Spartans are 3-3 in their last six Homecoming games after defeating Wyoming, 51-44, a year ago. UNLV is San José State's Homecoming opponent for the third time. Previously, San José State defeated UNLV, 52-14 and 55-12, respectively, in the 1995 and 1991 Homecoming contests.
Pass defense doing its job: In the last two games against Minnesota and Nevada, neither opponent gained 100 passing yards. Minnesota gained seven while Nevada passed for 64. Four schools (San José State, Stanford, Temple and New Mexico State) yielded less than 70 yards of passing twice in the first five weeks of the season. San José State and Temple are two of the four to do in back-to-back games.
Pass defense clamping down: For the first time since the 2004 season, San José State recorded back-to-back games in which the opponent failed to pass for 100 or more yards. In 2004, Rice passed for 64 yards in a 70-63 loss to the Spartans. The next week, Washington topped the Spartans with 75 yards in a 21-6 victory.
Stingy defense vs. Nevada: In the 21-10 loss to Nevada, San José State limited the Wolf Pack to a season-low 256 yards of total offense. The 256 yards are the fewest allowed by the Spartans in a game against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent since the 2012 Military Bowl when Bowling Green gained just 264 yards of total offense. San José State heads into the UNLV game ranked 39th nationally in total defense allowing 345.0 yards per game.
Looking for point production: In each of its last three games, San José State was limited to one touchdown in losses at #5-ranked Auburn (59-13), at Minnesota (24-7) and to Nevada (21-10). The Spartans had a streak of 12 consecutive quarters scoring at least one touchdown (the longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision at the time) until the second quarter of the Auburn game on September 6.
Total offense high: San José State's 446 yards of total offense against Nevada (9/27) was a season-high. The Spartans opened the season gaining 406 yards in the North Dakota win, but dropped to a season-low 254 yards against Minnesota (9/20).
Eleven first-time starters: With quarterback Joe Gray and defensive back Maurice McKnight making their first major college starts for San Jose State in the Nevada game (9/27), eleven Spartans started a game for the first time in 2014. Eight of the 11 are on offense and defensive end Adrian Blake, safety Akeem King and McKnight account for the defensive players starting for the first time this season.