San Jose State’s dream season ends in defeat
Team crushed by Ball State in Arizona Bowl after five starters and two coordinators unavailable for game.
San Jose State’s historic football season was defined by everything breaking right amid a relentless series of unprecedented challenges.
Thursday, the magic ran out in epic fashion.
With five starters and both the defensive and offensive coordinators suddenly “unavailable”
for the game — news the school confirmed minutes before kickoff — San Jose State was crushed by Ball State 3413 in the Arizona Bowl.
The Spartans’ bid for their first perfect season in 81 years ended in the first quarter as Ball State, which had never won a bowl game, charged to a 27- 0 lead against its deflated opponent.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of disappointment in our locker room right now with our players and our coaching staff,” Spartans coach Brent Brennan said. “We just let them
get out too far, and we couldn’t make it up.”
It is unclear when San Jose State learned that it would be without six players, including Mountain West defensive player of the year Cade Hall, and offensive coordinator Ryan McGiven and defensive coordinator Derrick Odum.
Their absence was announced on the team’s pregame radio show. In addition to Hall, the Spartans were without receiver Bailey Gaither, safety Tre Jenkins and offensive linemen Kyle Hoppe and Tyler Stevens — all starters.
Kick returner Shamar Garrett also was unavailable.
A San Jose State spokesman
said shortly before kickoff that he could acknowledge who was “unavailable” once the game started and added, “It would be inappropriate to attribute ‘not available’ strictly to COVID-19 issues or protocols.”
San Jose State never issued a follow-up statement.
The absence of those players and coaches came on the heels of the team’s return to the Bay Area.
After winning the Mountain West championship
game on Dec. 19, San Jose State elected to return to San Jose so the players could spend Christmas with their families. Because of that decision, San Jose State did not practice until Monday in Tucson.
The Spartans (7-1) lost a sixth starter on the first offensive snap when tight end Derrick Deese Jr. landed on his head after catching a short pass and being upended.
Deese spent time in the medical tent before walking back to the locker room while holding his neck. The tight end was out of uniform when he returned to the sidelines in the second quarter.
Without much of its core, San Jose State looked like an entirely different team.
By the end of the first quarter, the Spartans trailed 27- 0.