Nov. 23, 2014
Upcoming game: San José State at San Diego State
Saturday, November 29, 2014,
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California,
12:30 p.m. (PT)
CBS Sports Network
San José State record: 3-8, 2-5 Mountain West. The Spartans have a five-game losing streak after a 41-7 loss at Utah State on November 21.
San Diego State record: 6-5, 4-3 Mountain West. The Aztecs defeated Air Force, 30-14, on November 21. Since an October 18 win over Hawaii, San Diego State alternated wins and losses over a five-game span.
San José State-San Diego State series: The Spartans lead the series, 19-16-2. The road team emerged victorious in the last two contests.
San Diego State won last year's game, 34-30, in San José to end the Spartans' three-game win streak in the series that originated on November 28, 1935, in San José.
San José State's last visit to San Diego was a 38-34 victory on September 21, 2012. The Spartans' win ended a nine-game, 60-year winless drought in the city of San Diego.
This year's game is the third time the two schools are concluding regular-season play against each other. The most recent was 1977 when San Diego State quarterback Joe Davis completed a 32-yard TD pass to Rick Garretson with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter for a 37-34 victory in Spartan Stadium.
The 1964 game also was decided in the fourth quarter. San José State's Bob Bonds, a brother of former Major League Baseball star the-late Bobby Bonds, caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Ken Berry for a 20-15 Spartan victory.
Ron Caragher & Rocky Long, once together, on opposite sides again: Ron Caragher and Rocky Long will be opposite sides of the field for the third time as coaches in this year's San José State-San Diego State game. In the first two meetings, Long's teams came out on the winning end. In 1994, Caragher was in his first year as a graduate assistant at UCLA and Long was the defensive coordinator at Oregon State whose team emerged with a 23-14 victory. A year ago, the Aztecs came from behind for a 34-30 win over the Spartans.
The two head coaches were on the Bob Toledo-led Bruin staffs of 1996 and 1997. UCLA was the Pac-10 co-champion in 1997 and went to play in the Cotton Bowl. Long was the defensive coordinator and Caragher was the wide receivers coach.
Toledo, too, is tied to San José State. The San José native was a member of the 1964 San José State freshman football team. After leaving the Spartans, he went on to a stellar career as the quarterback for San Francisco State University.
Play-by-Play Radio Coverage: KLIV (1590 AM, San José) originates San José State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri is the play-by-play voice. Kevin Richardson offers commentary. The San Diego State broadcast begins at 12:00 p.m. (PT).
Television: The San José State-San Diego State game will be televised live by CBS Sports Network. Rich Waltz calls the play-by-play. Adam Archuleta is the analyst. Cassie Gallo is the sideline reporter. The telecast begins at 12:30 p.m. (PT).
Season enders: San José State has wins in its last three season-ending games. A year ago, the Spartans out-raced #16-ranked and unbeaten Fresno State, 62-52. The last Spartan loss to close a season was a 26-23 overtime contest to the University of Idaho. The San Diego State also marks the final game for possibly as many as 17 San José State seniors.
Possible third starting quarterback in 2014: With injuries to Blake Jurich and Joe Gray, sophomore Mitch Ravizza could become the third starting quarterback for San José State in 2014. Jurich was the most recent starter starting the November 21 Utah State game. On the first play of the game from scrimmage, Jurich, making his first start since the Minnesota game on September 20 and fourth of the season, suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Ravizza, who would finish the game completing 13-of-21 passes with no interceptions for 61 yards and rushing for 64 yards on 18 carries.
Gray, who had started games four through 10, had shoulder and foot injuries from the November 15 Hawaii game that forced him to the sidelines for the Utah State contest.
If Ravizza starts against San Diego State, the Spartans would finish a season with three players as a starting quarterback for the first time since 2008. Myles Eden (three games), Kyle Reed (eight) and Sean Flynn (once) were San José State's starting quarterbacks that season.
No turnovers at Utah State: The November 21 Utah State game marked the second time this season and first since the August 28 opener with North Dakota that San José State played a game without a turnover and finished with a positive turnover margin. The Spartans came up with the game's only takeaway when cornerback Jimmy Pruitt intercepted a second-quarter Utah State pass attempt.
In games this season, San José State has two games with a positive turnover margin, two at 0.00 and seven with a minus turnover margin.
Sharing the ball: Four San José State players head into the San Diego State game with 30 or receptions. Wide receiver Tyler Winston (72) leads the team. Hansell Wilson (37), Tim Crawley (35) and Jabari Carr (30) also are the 30-reception plateau. For Winston, Wilson and Crawley, each has a personal single-season best.
Running back Tyler Ervin (28) is a possible fifth San José State player who can finish the season with at least 30 receptions. A year ago, three Spartans had 30 or more catches and eight had 20 or more receptions.