Spartans Seek To Retain Valley Trophy & Stay Unbeaten

SAN José STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL FACT SHEET (Game #5)
San José State at Fresno State
Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, Calif.
Saturday, November 21, 2020, 4:00 p.m. (PST)
CBS Sports Network

San José State record: 4-0, 4-0 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans defeated UNLV, 34-17, in a Mountain West game on November 14. San José State has wins in its last five games dating back to the 17-16 victory over Fresno State to conclude the 2019 season.

Fresno State record: 3-1, 3-1 Mountain West. Most recently, the Bulldogs Defeated Utah State, 35-16, on November 14.



Play-by-Play Radio Coverage: KDOW (1220 AM, Palo Alto; 95.3 FM, San Francisco) will broadcast the Fresno State game. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. The Fresno State broadcast begins at 3:30 p.m. (PT) with a pregame show.

Television:  The CBS Sports Network will provide broadcast coverage.  Rich Waltz calls the play-by-play. Aaron Murray serves as the analyst. Sherree Burress is the sideline reporter. The CBS Sports Network telecast begins at 4:00 p.m. (PT).

Series history: Fresno State leads the series, 42-38-3. The Spartans have won four of the seven games played since San Jose State joined the Mountain West in 2013 and five of the last eight contests in this series since 2011. A year ago, San Jose State posted a 17-16 win over Fresno State in CEFCU Stadium to conclude the 2019 season. Fresno State's last win in the series was a 31-13 decision in 2018.
The San Jose State-Fresno State series is the Spartans' longest running one with 83 games played dating back to 1921. For San Jose State, it has played only two other schools as many as 60 times. The Spartans' series with Stanford started in 1900 with 67 games played through 2013. San Jose State's original traditional rival in many sports, the University of the Pacific discontinued football in 1995 after the two teams had faced each other 68 times starting in 1921.

Playing for the Valley Trophy: Since 2013, San Jose State and Fresno State have played to possess the Valley Trophy signifying San Jose State's location in the high tech based Silicon Valley and Fresno State's location in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley. The two California State University system schools are separated by approximately 145 driving miles.
Since the inception of the Valley Trophy with its large "V" attached to a base, San Jose State has wins in four of the seven contests. The home team has wins in five of the seven Valley Trophy games including each of the last two.

Winning at Fresno's Bulldog Stadium: Since 1987, San Jose State has a 3-13 record against Fresno State in Fresno. In their three wins, the Spartans' margin of victory was by less than a touchdown in each game.

Both sides now: Defensive backs coach J. D. Williams is the one current coach to coach at San Jose State and at Fresno State. Williams was at San Jose State during the 1999 season. He stints at Fresno State include serving as a graduate assistant in 1997, and as an assistant coach during the 2000 and 2001 seasons and from 2017 to the present.
The late Darryl Rogers (1934-2018) was a successful head coach at both schools and continues as a finalist for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame as a head coach. Rogers coached the Bulldogs from the 1966 through 1972 seasons posting a 43-32-1 win-loss record. He was San Jose State's head coach from 1973 through 1975 leading the Spartans to a 22-9-3 record and a 1975 Pacific Coast Athletic Association championship.
Others to coach at both schools include former Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers head coach Dennis Erickson and former St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz.

Aiming for a 5-0 start to the season: The last time a San José State team began a season with a 5-0 record was in 1939 when the Spartans completed a perfect 13-0 season. One of San Jose State's wins was a 42-7 victory at Fresno State to improve its record to 12-0.
That year, San Jose State reached 5-0 win a 28-0 win over Nevada on October 7 for its fourth shutout in its first five games.

One of 21: San José State heads into the Fresno State game as one of 21 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams with an undefeated record in games played through November 14. Twelve (12) teams, including San José State, have records of 3-0 or better.

National poll votes: For the first time since 2012, a San José State team received votes in a national poll. The Spartans head into the Fresno State game receiving votes the Associated Press and/or Amway coaches' poll powered by USA Today.

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