Oct. 26, 2015
Upcoming game: San José State vs. BYU
Friday, November 6, 2015,
Spartan Stadium, San José, Calif., 8:30 p.m. (PT)
CBS Sports Network
San José State record: 4-4, 3-2 Mountain West. The Spartans used a victory to reach the .500 plateau for the third time this season. San José State posted a 31-21 conference win over New Mexico on October 24.
BYU record: 6-2. The Cougars won their fourth in a row with a 70-6 triumph over Wagner on October 24. Like the Spartans, BYU has a bye the week of October 31. The Cougars' next opponent is San José State.
Series history: The Spartans lead the series, 10-6. The home team has a win in the six meetings between these teams. San José State won the most recent game, a 20-14 outcome on November 17, 2012. BYU's last win in the series was a 29-16 victory on October 8, 2011 in Provo. The last time the road team won in this series was a 19-9 Cougar victory in Spartan Stadium on September 24, 1966.
Spartans exceed 2014 win totals:  San José State's win over New Mexico gave the Spartans a 4-4 overall record and 3-2 mark in Mountain West play. In 2014, San José State had a 3-9 overall win-loss record and was 2-6 in conference action. Since joining the Mountain West in 2013, the Spartans' best single-season win total is six by the 2013 team.
Last of three consecutive home games:  The November 6 BYU game is the last of three consecutive San José State home games over a four-week span. The Spartan hosted Mountain West conference opponents San Diego State on October 17 and New Mexico on October 24. The last time San José State played three consecutive home games was in the 2007 season when the Spartans posted a non-conference win over UC Davis, beat Idaho and lost an overtime game to #16-Hawai'i.
Final regular-season non-conference game: The BYU game marks the last of four regular-season non-conference contests for San José State. Presently, the Spartans are 1-2 with a win over New Hampshire and losses at Oregon State and Auburn. The last time San José State won at least two non-conference games in a season was in 2012 when the Spartans were 5-1 with victories over UC Davis, Colorado State, San Diego State and Navy in consecutive games and BYU in the 11th game of the season.
Season-high rushing vs. New Mexico: For the third time this season, San José State rushed for at least 200 yards in a game with a season-high 317 yards in its 31-21 win over New Mexico on October 24. The Spartans are 3-0 this season when rushing for at least 200 yards. San José State gained 285 yards in its win over New Hampshire and 291 in the conference victory over Fresno State (9/26).
Most rushing touchdowns in a season since 2004: After eight games, San José State has 18 rushing touchdowns. This year's Spartans already surpassed the team's 11 rushing touchdowns in 2014, 12 in 2013 and 17 in 13 games in the 2012 season. The last time a Spartan team scored 20 or more rushing touchdowns in a season was in 2004 with 22.
College football's busiest player: Tyler Ervin heads into San José State's bye week with more opportunities to handle the football either by rushing, receiving, punt return, kickoff return or interception return than any Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) player this season. Twice in the team's last five games, he had the football more than 40 times. When the 177-pound senior ran for a school record 300 yards against Fresno State (9/26), he accumulated 345 yards of all-purpose running on 42 rushes and four pass receptions. In the recent New Mexico victory, he handled the ball 41 times (36 rushes, two pass receptions, three kickoff returns).
Equality after eight games: San José State's 221 points scored matches the 221 points allowed after eight games. Offensively, the Spartans have 83 rushing first downs and 84 passing first downs. West Virginia is the only other Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team with a similar ratio and balance of 67 first downs by rushing and 68 by passing.
Team passing completion percentage:  San José State enters its bye week with a team passing completion percentage of 67.9 percent - tops in the Mountain West. In the New Hampshire (9/3) and Fresno State (9/26) wins, the Spartans completed 85.7 percent and 86.9 percent of their passes, respectively, and did not throw an interception in either game.
Interceptions factor into equation: In each of San José State's four losses, the Spartans were on the short end of two intercepted passes per game. In San José State's four wins, the Spartans were intercepted just once. San José State enters the New Mexico game with a minus-5 turnover ratio.
Punting stays up:  San José State enters its bye week the national leader in net punting with a 43.5 yard figure. The Spartans are second for the third week in a row. Punter Michael Carrizosa continues is the individual national leader among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players with a 49.0 per punt average.
Penalties stay down:  San José State is among the least penalized teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in games played through October 24. The Spartans rank second in fewest penalty yards per game (32.5), tied for fourth in fewest penalties per game (4.13) fifth in fewest penalty yards (260).