By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012):
San Jose State is now 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Mountain West play as it fell to UNLV 41-13.
It is the fourth consecutive game the Spartans have lost by at least thirty points and in all of those games, they’ve been limited to under two touchdowns.
“Obviously I’m disappointed with the outcome,” said head coach Brent Brennan. “It’s not anywhere near where we want to be, and it’s not good enough.”
Although the result was the same, the flow and feel to the offense seemed to have a different taste to it.
Spartan wide receiver Bailey Gaither played enough to return two kickoffs, but was seen stretching upside down on the SJSU bench during the first quarter. He did not return.
In a way, the subtraction of Gaither helped Josh Love get the rest of his receivers involved in the catching game.
The Spartans had four receivers over 50 yards including true freshman Tre Walker and redshirt freshman JaQuan Blackwell with eight receptions. Walker broke the century mark with 104 yards.
“It builds a lot of confidence,” Blackwell told SJSU athletics postgame. “It just shows what we can do.”
Love finished the game 30/48, threw for 315 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Running the ball, the Spartans rushed for 147 yards using four different running backs, with the majority of the load on true freshman Tyler Nevens. Nevens led the team on the ground with 94 yards on 17 carries.
“When we have a good running game, you open the pass, it counters itself,” Love said after the game.
On defense, it was the same story. Linebacker Frank Ginda led the team with 14 tackles, setting him with 50 solo and 87 total this season. Ginda only cares about the numbers on the scoreboard though.
“We just got to keep playing for one another,” Ginda told SJSU athletics after the game. “We just can’t go out there with our head’s cut off and just run around. We have to do our assignments.”
After next week, with the exception of the bye week on October 21, four of the following five games will be away from home for the Spartans.
Already looking ahead, Brennan, who was caught off guard about the October schedule says even though the team is struggling, he’s keeping his next-game, next chance-to-win mindset.
“Four of our next five are on the road?” Brennan asked his reporter. “How does that happen in scheduling?” he continued.
“It’s a must-win because it’s the next game,” Brennan said.
The Spartans host the Bulldogs next week for the annual homecoming game at CEFCU Stadium.
