By Richy Zajic — Content Editor
San Jose State (1-0) could not have started its season off in a better way, as it matched its win total from a year ago.
The Spartans beat the Northern Colorado Bears (0-1) of the Football Championship Subdivision at CEFCU Stadium on Thursday night with a final score of 35-18.
Head coach Brent Brennan spoke on the importance of the win post-game.
“With what we’ve gone through to open seasons the last two years, and how hard the losses have been,” Brennan said. “This is a really exciting win for us.”
Senior quarterback Josh Love carved up the Bears’ defense all night long.
He finished the game 21 for 31 for 224 yards with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.
Love emphasized the value of the offensive line’s performance after the game.
“They played really well tonight, I think we’re on the same page,” said Love. “It really pays off.”
The running backs for SJSU certainly made an impact on the victory as well.
Both senior running back DeJon Packer and junior Tyler Nevens had at least eight carries and they both ended up rushing for 40 or more yards on the game.
The Spartans had not seen this much success in the ground attack in a game since 2017.
SJSU’s receiving on the night was not too shabby either and contributed to securing the win.
Freshman wide receiver Isaiah Hamilton had himself a game to start off the season.
He caught five passes for 91 yards, and even broke off one of those receptions for a 32-yard play.
10 different Spartans caught a pass on the night, and this spread of attack allowed the Spartans to keep mixing it up and throwing off the Bears’ defense.
If the Spartans’ offense can perform at this level for the majority of the season, they should be in good shape as they were putting up points in many different ways.
The game started off with a Packer touchdown giving SJSU an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Bears would answer with a field goal to keep the game close.
The next score came from freshman wide receiver Jermaine Braddock, which UNC also responded to with a field goal.
After already having that eight-point advantage, SJSU opened up a 21-6 lead over UNC in the second quarter behind a three-yard Love rushing touchdown.
The Bears finally put their first touchdown on the board in the third quarter, with a seven-yard touchdown catch from sophomore wide receiver Dontay Warren.
With 6:05 left in the third quarter, the Spartans tacked on another touchdown with the first career touchdown catch for junior tight end Derrick Deese Jr. on a terrific grab on an end-zone fade.
After this score though, the Bears started to show some life and the comeback seemed possible. Their defense caused Love to intentionally ground the ball from his own end zone leading to a safety.
Down 13 with an entire quarter left in the game, UNC was gaining momentum.
To start the final quarter, the Bears cut the lead down to 10 with another field goal.
UNC could not capitalize on its opportunity to come back though, as there were eight scoreless minutes for both teams after that field goal.
The game was then sealed by Nevens with an eight-yard touchdown run with 5:21 left to put the Spartans up 35-18.
While allowing fairly solid rushing and receiving numbers and being called for eight penalties for 75 total yards, SJSU’s defense still had a solid performance overall.
Senior linebacker Ethan Aguayo was the star of the show on that side of the ball, picking up 20 total tackles along with a sack. The defense had four total sacks for the game.
Aguayo credited his fellow defensive teammates for keeping pressure on UNC’s quarterback post game.
“I think our DB’s did a great job,” said Aguayo. “Our D-Line got some pressure on him and got him out of the pocket.”
SJSU also won the turnover battle on the night, with timely interceptions coming from sophomore defensive back Nehemiah Shelton and junior safety Bobby Brown II.
Going into next week against Tulsa, the Spartans will be without senior linebacker Jesse Osuna for the first half of the contest, as he was disqualified late in the fourth quarter of this game for roughing the passer with targeting.
SJSU will look to start 2-0 for the first time since 1987 when they face Tulsa on Saturday, September 7 at 6 p.m. at CEFCU Stadium.
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