Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
SJSU football head coach Brent Brennan took the podium with eyes flush crimson.
His voice sounded froggy, and as defeated as his Spartans (7-5, 5-3) after the 41-27 loss to Eastern Michigan (9-4, 5-3) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
“The hardest part is just saying good-bye to these guys that have been with us for so long,” said Brennan. “A lot happens in those five years as a college athlete.”
A day before, he was adamant that the game was for the triumphant and resilient members of the 2018 recruiting class.
The joyous final ride off into the sunset was replaced with a rapid unraveling instead.
The Spartans had gone up 13-0 seven minutes into the game following two touchdowns from fourth-year quarterback Chevan Cordeiro.
His first – a 27-yard scramble – which put SJSU on the board one minute into the game and his second – a dime to Justin Lockhart.
And then came the sequence from hell which started with a Taren Schive blocked extra point returned 90 yards the other way for two points.
Cordeiro, who amassed four total touchdowns and 416 yards of offense said, “It was only two points. So it wasn’t really a big deal … that didn’t really do anything to us.”
Through the tacitly clear lens of hindsight – it did do something.
Eastern Michigan ripped off 31 unanswered points on four touchdowns and a field goal. It was the third time in its last four games SJSU football allowed at least 21 unanswered points.
Three of EMU’s four touchdowns came on drives of at least seven plays and 74 yards. 416 total yards were allowed.
SJSU’s defense was flat-out beat.
It was the Eagles first bowl game win since they defeated the Spartans 35 years ago in the 1987 California Bowl.
Eagles’ quarterback Taylor Powell finished with 298 passing yards, two touchdowns and running back Samson Evans led EMU with 82 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
His first of the pair capped off a breezy seven-play 74-yard touchdown drive following the blocked extra point, making it 13-9.
Unfazed, SJSU football drove the length of the field on its next drive and set up shop on first and goal from the EMU’ six yard line. Propelled by two 20-plus yards completions to wide receiver Isaiah Hamilton and an EMU facemask on what would’ve been a nine-yard sack.
Hamilton ended with a touchdown, career-high 137 receiving yards on five catches, after entering with six catches for 91 yards on the season.
After three unsuccessful attempts to get in, SJSU rolled the dice on fourth down from one yard out.
They crapped out – in painful fashion – as running back Kairee Robinson was stopped three yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Robinson was stuffed on a similar fourth down one yard to go situation in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles sunk their talons into the Spartans and took off with the game after the goal line stand, going 96 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Wide receiver Darius Lassiter capped it off with a one yard touchdown reception and amassed 66 yards and three catches on the drive. He finished with six catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
“We knew they were a really good team,” said linebacker Kyle Harmon. “We knew they were physical up front. We knew that they wouldn’t beat themselves.”
Down 19-13, SJSU was circling the drain, but fell down the pipe following consecutive drives which ended in an interception. Thrown by two different signal callers.
Cordeiro threw the first (one of two on the day) and wide receiver Elijah Cooks launched the second on an ill-advised heave to the end zone on a trick play.
The Eagles answered both interceptions with touchdowns, outscoring SJSU 21-0 in the second quarter to enter the half up 30-13.
In the second half, SJSU football out gained EMY by 100 yards, outscored EMU allowing a field goal and shut them out following Jaylon Jackson’s rushing touchdown at the end of the third quarter.
But it was too little too late.
“We just got out of our own way really,” said Harmon. “We weren’t shooting ourselves in the foot too much in the second half.”
The 33 unanswered points stretch was curbed with a nifty touchdown grab from former SJSU quarterback Nick Nash.
Nash added 26 yards on the ground and finished third on the team with four catches for 51 yards. Cooks led all receivers with six catches and his 93 yards were second-most.
Fans most likely won’t remember the positives outputs on offense in the second half.
Their minds will be busy stewing over the two failed fourth down attempts, three interceptions, plus Schive’s blocked extra point and missed field goal.
Schive’s miss came on the backend of a three-and-out after Harmon stripped Powell and recovered the fumble on EMU’s first offensive possession.
Powell was picked off in the fourth quarter by true freshman Michael Dansby, but SJSU gave it right back via Cordeiro’s second interception of the day. The Spartans scored zero points on two turnover opportunities.
The bevy of shortcomings on Boise’s blue rug shouldn’t paint the 2022 season in a negative light. Making a bowl game for the second time in three years is incredible considering SJSU won a total of three games from 2017-18.
2018 defensive standouts like Mountain West Defensive Players of the Year Cade Hall and Junior Fehoko, Harmon, Nehemiah Shelton and Tre Jenkins turned coal to a memorable diamond. A bowl win would’ve been a fairytale ending.
Unfortunately football is rooted in reality and not narratives.
Reality only cares about who was better.
On Tuesday Dec. 20, SJSU football was unequivocally not the better team.