By Richy Zajic — Content Editor
A spectacular night for senior quarterback Josh Love and 6 forced turnovers earned San Jose State football (3-2, 1-1 MW) its’ first Mountain West win of the year Friday night, beating the New Mexico Lobos (2-3, 1-1 MW) 32-21.
This is the first time the Spartans have won 3 of their first 5 games since 2012.
Love and the Spartans’ receivers could not be stopped all night.
Love finished the game 24-36 with 405 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. 10 different receivers recorded a catch, with the most productive being junior Tre Walker who finished with 7 catches for 130 yards.
Love spoke on the connection with the receivers after the game.
“Just throwing it to whoever’s open,” said Love. “We have guys that are all capable and can all make plays.”
Defense has been a staple of what head coach Brent Brennan has been preaching all year. Brennan and his team specifically want to stay within the top 25 nationally in turnover margin.
The Spartans have delivered on this goal thus far.
With 6 takeaways against the Lobos, including 4 interceptions, Brennan is excited about the production of his defense.
“Those kids were ready to play,” said Brennan. “Even at the end of the game when they [New Mexico] were trying to make another run at it.”
Junior linebacker Rico Tolefree, who caught one of the 4 interceptions for the Spartans had some comments about the aggression of the Spartan defense.
“We’ve been preaching aggressiveness since last December,” said Tolefree. “Turnovers have been the single most harped on aspect of our game.”
While SJSU did force 3 Lobo fumbles, UNM still rushed for 254 yards including 104 yards from redshirt freshman quarterback Sheriron Jones. Rush defense has been something SJSU has struggled with this season and will still need to improve.
Practically the entirety of the Spartans’ offense on the night came through the air. SJSU only rushed for a total of 52 yards and averaged 1.5 yards per carry.
The Lobos were unable to take advantage of SJSU’s lackluster rush offense and defense, but moving forward the Spartans will need to improve in both of these categories.
The effectiveness of redshirt freshman kicker Matt Mercurio was another key to the Spartans securing this win.
Mercurio went 4-5 on his field goals, and the only one that was missed was blocked by the Lobos’ defense.
Of the 4 field goals was a 49-yard bomb, a career-long kick for Mercurio. He spoke after the game on the mental aspect of his role, and how the defense forcing turnovers makes his job easier.
“It does ease my mind” said Mercurio. “Defense especially helped keep us in this game.”
The Spartans are now halfway to bowl eligibility but their schedule only gets tougher from this point.
With game against teams like Boise State, Fresno State, and Hawai’i still on the horizon, the Spartans have their work cut out for them.
SJSU’s next game will be Saturday, October 12 at 1 p.m. against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Mackay Stadium in Reno, NV.
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