By Jose Trujillo – Editor
A back-and-forth thriller that needed a fifth overtime ended when Bryce Crawford’s 47- yard field goal attempt sailed wide right of the north upright.
The missed field goal also ended all hopes for a Spartans homecoming win, as they fell to the Rainbow Warriors 44-41 Saturday night.
“Bryce Crawford is the best kicker in our conference,” head coach Brent Brennan said during the postgame press conference. “He might have missed a couple of kicks tonight [but] I’m not worried about Bryce … he will comeback better than ever.”
This will be a game to forget for the senior from Plano, Texas. He finished two of six on field goals, missing all attempts deeper than 30 yards.
It was the first time SJSU played in a five OT game and while it ended in heartbreak, its performance showed improvement and consistency.
Coming into the game, it was hard to find someone who believed that SJSU (0-4, 0-1 MW) would be able to keep up with Hawaii’s (4-1, 2-0 MW) high-powered run-and-shoot offense.
But the Spartans did just that.
SJSU junior quarterback Josh Love made his name known Saturday night. The 6-foot-2 signal caller broke out for a monster performance.
His line: 28-49, 451 yards and 3 TDs was good for a 154.7 QB rating, which is almost perfect.
The perfect—and highest—score a quarterback can receive is 158.3. The Mission Viejo product set career game-highs in passing yards, touchdowns, rating and longest completed pass.
“First off, great play-call and great protection. I was able to identify who I wanted to throw to,” Love said. “Coach McGivens had a great game plan and today we showed what we can do.”
McGivens game plan must have emphasized spreading the ball because Love hit nine different receivers, eight of which had at least two catches and three targets.
But only one Spartan received double-digit targets — senior Josh Oliver.
Covering Oliver proved troublesome for the Hawaii defense. He truly was a mismatch for any Rainbow Warrior defender.
There were very few times he was tackled but instead pushed out of bounds on the way to eight receptions, 158 yards and one touchdown.
By far, this was Oliver’s best game in a Spartans uniform. The tight-end’s 70-yard catch and run in the second quarter was the longest of his career and he topped the century mark in receiving yards for the first time.
Junior receiver Bailey Gaither also left his imprint. The Spartan leading receiver caught two passes for 97 yards and one touchdown before sustaining an injury on his lone scoring play.
He was last seen grimacing on the sideline with a towel over his head before completely exiting the game in the second quarter.
On the defensive side of the ball, San Jose State played very well, especially against the run. Hawaii ran the ball 42 times and managed only 134 yards, good for 3.2 yards per carry.
The Spartans did a great job of clogging up the running lanes and winning the battle at the line of scrimmage.
“Last year, teams would pick on us because they knew we had freshman out there,” senior defensive linemen Boogie Roberts said. “But now everyone is a year older and more experienced, so we know what to expect.”
Hawaii did get its yard through the air. NCAA Division I passing leader Cole McDonald continued his stellar season, throwing for 341 yards and 4 TDs.
McDonald’s favorite receiver, John Ursua, showed why he leads the country in receiving touchdowns (12). Ursua was targeted 19 times, catching 13 balls for 148 yards and 3 TDs.
“They’ll do three wide sets and try to spread us out to open the box,” Roberts said. “It was also a lot of little stuff, trickery stuff that they didn’t ever run, but ran last week just to have us work on it and get our mind off their tendencies.”
The Spartans did snag an interception when McDonald underthrew Ursua on a deep post route. SJSU sophomore safety Jon Lenard undercut the throw for his first pick of the season and in his career.
McDonald’s only interception was just his second of the season to go alongside 24 TDs.
While the Spartans remain winless, one thing is for certain: they are improving. Of course, this will only be validated with winning, but for the Spartans, competing and staying in games until the fourth quarter must be the start.
If Saturday night is any indication, then San Jose State is doing it just right.
Follow Jose on Twitter @jAy_Ay_T