By Jose Trujillo — Editor
You can finally chalk one up in the win column for San Jose State.
It took nine weeks, but SJSU (1-7, 1-3 MW) exploded for its highest point total of the season in a 50-37 throttling of UNLV (2-6, 0-4 MW) Saturday night.
The Spartans played the most complete game of the season. Special teams were stellar, the defense played physical and aggressive, and the Spartans finally established a run game, helping the offense to its most balanced showing of 2018.
SJSU finished with 506 total yards of offense, 157 of which coming on ground. Sophomore running back Tyler Nevens looked healthy, powering his way to 102 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. Senior Malike Roberson rushed 6 times for 63 yards, an average of 10.5 yards per carry.
Through seven games in the season, the Spartans rushing attack has been nonexistent ranking last in Division I football at 52 yards per game.
But against UNLV, the offense showed it’s capable of running the ball.
“I think a big part of it is having Tyler Nevens back,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan. “He has got a couple games under his belt and is in the flow and our offensive line is coming together which is good because we’ve had some moving parts.”
The second-year head coach also acknowledged that having a change of pace back in Roberson created greater opportunities for the offense.
The power and strength of Nevens combined with the speed and shiftiness of Roberson is sort of like “thunder and lightning” as Brennan put it.
It was the first time all season the Spartans rushed for over 100 yards as a team, and the first time an individual player hit triple digits as well.
The defense forced a quick three-and-out on UNLV’s first possession, and then found themselves back on the field after a Josh Love interception, setting up the game’s first score, a six-yard run by UNLV quarterback Max Gilliam.
On the next Spartan drive, the offense continued to show its big play ability with a 60-yard pass from Love to wide receiver Thai Cottrell leading to a Nevens four-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the season.
Even after going down early in the first quarter, the defense continued to play physical and rarely looked surprised at what UNLV was showing them. The defense snagged three interceptions and allowed 167 rushing yards to a team that averages 231.1 yards on the ground per game.
“We knew they were going to hit the edges on us,” said senior defensive end Bryson Bridges. “A lot of outside zone, RPO’s and quick passes, so we knew that we were going to run a lot.”
Senior cornerback Dakari Monroe had a game to remember finishing with six tackles, two interceptions, two pass-breakups, and one touchdown.
“I just try to be aggressive,” Monroe said. “When the ball comes my way, I want to catch it and not just bat it down.”
In the second quarter, Monroe baited the quarterback to an outside throw and managed to keep one foot in bounds for a toe-tapping interception, his first of the day.
The second came in the fourth quarter as he undercut a curl route and just barely tipping over the pylon as he flipped out of bounds for an electrifying 50-yard pick six.
The Spartans now have 12 interceptions on the year.
For quarterback Josh Love, the junior looked comfortable, calm and collected. He took command of the offense and had his best performance since week five against Hawaii.
On the night, the Mission Viejo product ended with a 178.7 passer rating and completed 25 of 36 attempts for 335 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Love did a good job of spreading the ball around hitting seven different receivers and all four scores were by different players.
Sophomore wide receiver Tre Walker led all pass catchers with five receptions, 104 yards and a touchdown. NFL prospect tight end Josh Oliver continued his stellar season ending with five receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown. Senior Tre Hartley added seven receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown.
Love’s expressed the admiration for his teammates high level of play.
“I think we have some of the best skill players in the Mountain West, if not the country,” Love said. “If you give those guys a chance, whether Josh [Oliver] putting high on his body, or both Tres [Walker, Hartley] they are really fast. Those guys make great plays, just have to give them a chance.”
And they will have plenty more, four to be exact.
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