SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José State junior quarterback Josh Love threw for 335 yards and a season-high four touchdowns to lead the Spartans to their first win of 2018 as SJSU defeated UNLV, 50-37, at CEFCU Stadium. It is the Spartans' first win since a 20-17 victory over Wyoming on November 25, 2017.
UNLV struck first as Rebels' quarterback Max Gilliam scored from six yards out on a quarterback keeper. However, it was all SJSU from there. The Spartans answered on the ensuing possession as Love connected with Thai Cottrell for a career-long 60-yard reception, setting up Tyler Nevens' 4-yard rushing score with 6:16 to play in the first quarter.
The following possession saw Love connect with Josh Oliver in the back of the endzone for his first touchdown pass of the day and Bryce Crawford nailed a season-long 50-yard field goal for the 17-7 lead. UNLV answered with a pair of touchdown passes by Gilliam and took a 21-17 lead with just 1:36 to go in the second quarter, however the Spartans answered in the waning moments of the half as Love hooked up with Tre Walker, who led SJSU with 104 yards receiving, on a beautiful 37-yard touchdown pass down the sideline to give the SJSU a 24-21 lead at the half. It is the first time the Spartans have held the lead at the half since the Wyoming win in 2017.
San Jose State came out firing on all cylinders in the second half as Love tossed a pair of short touchdowns to Brett Foley and Tre Hartley to extend the lead to 38-21 with 2:56 to play in the third. The Rebels looked to stage a comeback after Gilliam hooked up with Tyleek Collins for a 46-yard score on the ensuing possession to narrow the gap to 38-28. That was as close as UNLV would get.
Senior cornerback Dakari Monroe put the exclamation point on the game early in the fourth quarter, returning an interception 50 yards for a score to make it 47-28. It was Monroe's second interception of the game and fourth of the season. John Touissant added another fourth-quarter interception as the Spartans defense finished with three interceptions and held the UNLV rushing attack, which came into the game averaging 240.3 yards on the ground, to just 167 yards.
Crawford nailed a 45-yard field goal, his third of the game, with 7:11 to play to give the Spartans 50 points, the most scored since September 10, 2016 in a 66-35 win over Portland.
Tyler Nevens led all rushers with a season-best 103 yards rushing and a touchdown. Malik Roberson added 63 yards on the ground to pad the stats as the Spartans finished with a season-high 160 yards rushing.
For the Rebels, Gilliam finished with a game-high 387 yards passing with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Collins was on the receiving end of each touchdown as he finished with 170 yards and four scores.
With the win, the Spartans improve to 1-7 overall and 1-3 in Mountain West play while UNLV dropped to 2-6 and 0-3. SJSU will look to extend their winning streak at Wyoming on November 3.
(10/27/2018) SJSU Football vs. UNLV