By Caleb Ramos — Managing Editor
San Jose State (1-0, 0-0 MW) dominated Southern Utah (0-1, 0-0 BSC) 45-14 Saturday night.
The reigning Mountain West champions put on a potent football performance in its season opener. Temperatures reached a high of 100 degrees fahrenheit, but that didn’t stop fans from filling the seats of CEFCU stadium.
Saturday night’s victory marked the first time Spartan fans were able to attend a home SJSU football game since November 30, 2019 when the Spartans took home the battle of the valley trophy.
The total attendance of 16,204 fans was the largest crowd for a home opener SJSU has seen in ten years. Both Spartan players and coaches connected with the charismatic and friendly chaotic crowd erected in rows of seats and bleachers above the playing field.
“Tonight was an awesome night,” head coach Brent Brennan said. “The fans in the stands, parents in the stands, the student section was rockin’. Tonight was as good as it gets.”
Senior running back Tyler Nevens described the atmosphere of running out to the field pregame as “mesmerizing.”
“With me being a senior, a veteran on this team I’m forever grateful to witness it.”
Noise wasn’t only being made in the stands. The Spartans made a loud impression on the field with a lopsided victory over the Thunderbirds.
Graduate student and returning starting quarterback Nick Starkel began the offensive barrage with a one yard rushing touchdown just over two minutes into the game.
Junior wide receiver Jermaine Braddock, sophomore tight end Sam Olson and freshman wide receiver Charles Ross all scored receiving touchdowns before halftime. Nevens also joined the touchdown party with a rushing touchdown of his own as SJSU finished with 38 points in the first two quarters combined.
While the Spartan offense finished with over 500 total yards of offense, the defense shut down Southern Utah, holding the Thunderbirds to just one offensive touchdown.
SJSU will look to secure another victory next Saturday as it travels to southern California to face off against the University of Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Kickoff will take place at 2 p.m. PST and can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.
Follow Caleb on Twitter @a1caleb