Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan was deflated following the Spartans’ 17-10 loss in the 85th meeting of the Battle for the Valley.
“I feel awful. I’m disappointed. I let our team down and our school down,” said Brennan.
SJSU (4-2, 2-1 MW) quarterback Chevan Cordeiro was equally deflated and direct after completing a season-low 47% of his passes: “Obviously it feels horrible.”
Feeling “horrible” and “disappointed” is par for the course whenever SJSU loses to rival Fresno State (2-4, 1-1 MW). That’s expected.
But it’s the multitude of opportunities whiffed at on offense that rubs salt in the Spartans’ wounds.
And despite all of the whiffs, Cordeiro had a chance to rally back from a 14-10 deficit and drive the Spartans 80 yards down the field with 3:15 left.
The Bulldogs’ defense crushed those hopes by forcing the Spartans to convert on third down, something they hadn’t been able to do all night.
On third and five, Cordeiro couldn’t evade Fresno State’s David Perales and was sacked for a 10-yard loss. It was Perales’ fourth sack of the night, as the Spartans converted a lowly 3 of 14 third downs the whole game.
“It came down to the last possessions of the game,” said Brennan, who’s now 1-4 against Fresno State since taking over in 2017.
“You have to be able to make the plays in those moments to give yourself a chance to win. Tonight we didn’t.”
The most prominent of missed opportunities was a 1-for-3 showing in the red zone, including a first-quarter interception from Cordeiro searching for Justin Lockhart in the endzone. The ball skipped off Lockhart’s hands and into those of Fresno State’s Bralyn Lux.
“I threw it a little high, tipped ball, got lucky and it went straight to the corner,” said Cordeiro.
It’s Cordeiro’s first interception after 170 pass attempts. Before then, Cordeiro was one of three quarterbacks in the nation with at least 1,300 passing yards and no turnovers.
“They brought it and we didn’t,” said Cordeiro.
In the fourth quarter, down 14-10, SJSU kicker Taren Schive sent his kick wide right on a 32-yard field goal attempt.
He ended the night 1 for 2, his first attempt putting the Spartans on the board in the second quarter. The drive was started after linebacker Bryun Parham forced a fumble on a vicious peanut punch.
The Bulldogs answered Schive’s field goal on the ensuing drive with a six-yard rushing touchdown from senior Jordan Mims to take a 7-3 lead. Mims would lead all rushers in the game with 73 yards.
The missed opportunities went beyond the red zone mishaps. The Spartans’ offense went three and out after Nehemia Shelton snared his first interception of the season.
Possibly the most crushing aspect of the loss was the -8 rushing yards in the second half. The Spartans ended with a season-low 37 yards on the day.
“I think Jaime [Navarro] going out early really impacted that … they also have good players,” said Brennan later adding, “this is the best team we’ve played.”
The lone bright spot of the Spartans’ offense was Elijah Cooks, who went for a team-high seven catches and 140 yards. He also reeled in the Spartans’ only touchdown of the night with 30 seconds left in the first half.
“Chevan threw a perfect ball and we knew that we could take a shot on these guys,” said Cooks, who leads the Mountain West with 548 receiving yards.
Cooks’ electric grab was the first play after Junior Fehoko stripped Fresno State quarterback Logan Fife and snatched the ball from him in one fell swoop.
It gave the Spartans a 10-7 lead going into the half, but the Bulldogs came right back when Fife hit Nikko Remigio for a seven-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter.
Fife, who was filling in for starter Jake Haener, threw for 230 yards and his strike to Remigio was his first touchdown of the 2022 season since taking over the role late against USC three games ago.
He did throw a pick to Nehemiah Shelton, his sixth interception of the season, but the Bulldogs were able to force a three-and-out.
It would be the Spartans’ defense that consistently set the table and kept them in the game.
Kyle Harmon led the team with nine tackles as he became the fifth leading tackler in SJSU history.
“It’s just a byproduct of the work I’ve put in and being coached really well,” said Harmon.
Despite the loss, the Spartans still remain atop the Mountain West and eighth in the nation in points allowed per game with 14.50.
The Spartans forced three total turnovers, the aforementioned sack-and-strip from Fehoko, plus Bryun Parham’s first forced fumble recovered by Kenyon Reed and Nehemiah Shelton’s first interception of 2022.
Brennan labeled the game “A 12-round heavyweight fight for four quarters.”
Unfortunately for Brennan and the Spartans, it was the Bulldogs’ who left the ring with the victory and the Valley Trophy.
The Spartans will hit the road and attempt to bounce back against New Mexico State (2-5) next week.