Spartans left out in cold in loss at Wyoming

LARAMIE, WYO. >> San Jose State’s bid for back-to-back wins — something it hasn’t accomplished since October 2014 — was snuffed out Saturday in Wyoming.

The Spartans lost 24-9 on a snowy afternoon, unable to muster even half the offense they showed in their previous game, a 50-37 win over Nevada-Las Vegas.

The temperature was 34 degrees at kickoff with gusts over 40 mph, yielding a 21-degree wind chill. The sun made a brief appearance early but light snow showers, driven by strong wind, swirled most of the afternoon. Meanwhile, 1,152 miles to the west, it was 80 degrees in San Jose.

“Man, that was the first time I’ve ever seen snow in my life,” said SJSU nose tackle Boogie Roberts, a Los Angeles native. “But at the end of the day it’s still football. It’s still 11 guys on offense and 11 guys on defense.”

Spartans coach Brent Brennan agreed the weather was not much of a factor.

“I’m sure there’s kids in our locker room that didn’t like playing in that,” Brennan said, before referencing Wyoming coach Craig Bohl. “I was talking with Coach (Bohl) before the game. He said last year, Thanksgiving weekend, his players didn’t like the 85 degrees in San Jose, California. Home-field advantage is what homefield advantage is.”

San Jose State (1-8, 1-4 Mountain West) never led, but made it a one-score game at 17-9 with a fourthquarter touchdown pass from Josh Love to Tre Walker. Wyoming (4-6, 2-4) answered with a 14-play, 75yard drive that took 7:39 off the clock and resulted in a touchdown. The Spartans allowed 424 yards on the ground.

Offensively, they were almost as bad. SJSU had only 39 yards and two first downs in the first half and didn’t cross midfield until the third quarter. The Spartans finished with 244 yards; they had rolled up 506 a week earlier.

Love was 19-of-32 passing for 173 yards for San Jose State, while Tyler Nevens rushed for 70 yards on 17 attempts. Bryce Crawford’s 26-yard field goal moved him into second place on the Spartans’ alltime list with 44. Austin Lopez made 61 field goals for SJSU from 2012-15.

Wyoming was involved the last time the Spartans won back-to-back games. SJSU beat the Cowboys 2720 in overtime in Laramie on Oct. 18, 2014. That followed a 33-10 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas.

The Spartans play at Utah State on Saturday. The Aggies were 7-1 and ranked 18th entering Saturday night’s game at Hawaii. — —