Army drops fourth straight to San Jose State
WEST POINT, N.Y. >> Josh Love passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns, Matt Mercurio kicked four field goals, and San Jose State stunned Army 34-29 on Saturday, handing the Black Knights their second straight loss at Michie Stadium.
San Jose State (4-4) was coming off a 27-17 homecoming loss to San Diego State, its second straight setback, but the Spartans managed to do something they haven’t done in four years — win twice in a season on the road. San Jose State scored on all five of its first-half possessions, the first time that’s happened this season, and when the Spartans were stopped Mercurio made sure they came away with points, hitting from 30, 23, 38 and 28 yards.
Love finished 20 of 31 with zero turnovers for the Spartans, who were beaten 52-3 at home last year by Army in the first meeting between the teams.
“This is an incredible win for our team, a collective win across the board,” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said. “Such a long travel. We woke our kids up at 4 a.m. and they handled it incredibly well. We are really excited about this and we are going to enjoy it.”
Army (3-5) suffered is second straight loss at Michie Stadium since reeling off 15 straight wins on its home turf and its fourth straight setback overall. Coach Jeff Monken repeatedly alternated senior Kelvin Hopkins Jr.
and sophomore Jabari Laws at quarterback in the first half and both were eventually knocked out of the game with injuries. Laws left in the second quarter and Hopkins in the third in favor of Christian Anderson. Hopkins did hit Cam Harrison for a 31-yard touchdown in the first half.
“It just seemed like we were playing catch-up the whole game,” Monken said. “They scored just about every time they had it. We’ve got to get them off the field. We didn’t finish drives. When you turn the ball over and the other team doesn’t, your chances go way down.”
The Black Knights moved within 23-17 on the first possession of the second half, going 75 yards on 13 plays in just under seven minutes, with Sandon McCoy scoring on a 4-yard run on the first play after Hopkins was hurt.
The Spartans came back when Love hit Bailey Gaither for a spectacular
21-yard touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter. With the arms of Army defender Javhari Bourdeau wrapped around him, Gaither reached his arms around Bourdeau’s shoulders, the ball deflected up off Gaither’s facemask as the two fell to the turf and he cradled the ball on his knees barely inbounds.
The Black Knights rallied again behind Anderson. Malik Hancock took a pitch right 28 yards to set up Anderson’s 1-yard run to close the gap to eight midway through the final quarter. Anderson’s 31-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left gave Army one last gasp, but the onside kick sailed out of bounds.
San Jose State entered the game tied for second nationally with a plus11 turnover margin (1.57 per game) that included five fumble recoveries. The Spartans made it six when Kyle Harmon recovered Harrison’s fumble at the Army 19. The ensuing drive stalled deep in Army territory and Mercurio converted from 30
yards for a 10-7 lead early in the second. It was the only turnover of the game.
Targeting Target
San Jose State linebacker Jesse Osuna was ejected in the fourth quarter for targeting. He led the Spartans with 15 tackles.
Walking Wounded
Laws was shaken up on a play late in the second quarter and moments later Army center Peyton Reeder was hurt and limped off the field. Hopkins left the game midway through the third quarter after a 10-yard gain deep in San Jose State territory. He lay on the turf for an extended period before getting up and walking
off.
The Takeaway
San Jose State: The road win at a difficult place should give the Spartans a jolt of confidence. They won at Arkansas (31-24) last month for their first road victory of the season. This is the first time they’ve won two road games in the same season since 2015.
“We’re excited for the rest of the season,” defensive end Cade Hall said. “That’s the only thing on our minds.”
Army: The Black Knights gained 326 yards rushing but on defense were bitten often by long gains in the passing game. On the game’s first drive, Love completed 5 of 7 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, completing passes of 23, 20, 12, and 13 yards before hitting Isaiah Hamilton for a 19-yard score on a third-and-7 play. Love also completed a 50-yard pass to Hamilton on a third-and-10 play to set up a field goal early in the second quarter. Gambling didn’t work, either, for the Black Knights. Hopkins was sacked on a fourth-and-6 play midway through the second quarter. With injuries to key players on defense — standout free safety Jaylon McClinton didn’t play — and the offense not performing at a high level with injuries at quarterback, Army has a lot of things to fix as it gets set to begin defense of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. There was no immediate word on injuries.
Up Next
San Jose State: Hosts No. 22 Boise State next Saturday night.
Army: Begins defense of the Commander-inChief’s Trophy it’s held for the past two years when it travels to Air Force next Saturday for its first service-academy rivalry game of the season. The Falcons were beaten 34-25 at Navy three weeks ago and have lost two straight to the Black Knights.
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