Spartans inch closer to bowl eligibility after win
For the first time since 2013, San Jose State sits at .500 eight games into the season as the Spartans have their eyes set on bowl eligibility — another first under head coach Brent Brennan.
Traveling across the country to West Point, New York, San Jose State avenged a 2018 blowout loss against the Army Black Knights with a 34-29 nonconference win at Michie Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With four games left in the season, the Spartans (4-4) have to earn just two more victories to qualify for their first bowl game since 2015.
“This is an incredible win for our team. Coming on the road like this with such long travel for an early game,” Brennan said. “There was so much to be excited about with our football team. We are going to enjoy our plane ride back to California.”
Here are three takeaways from San Jose State’s fourth win of the season. BOWL GAME BOUND? >> San Jose State may have redeemed itself after a 52-3 loss to Army last season, taking out the Black Knights nearly 3,000 miles away from home, but Saturday’s win keeps the Spartans in the hunt for their first bowl game under Brennan. The last time San Jose State appeared in a postseason game was in 2015 when Spartans toppled Georgia State, 27-16 in Orlando, Florida, in the Cure Bowl.
Since then, San Jose State has seen a three-year postseason drought, including Brennan’s first two years at the helm as the Spartans amassed just three total wins. Eclipsing that total just eight games into this season with four victories, San Jose State has four more chances to secure two more wins in order to stay eligible. According to the NCAA, teams with a number of wins equal or greater to their number of losses qualify for a bowl game.
In addition to a home matchup against No. 22 Boise State next weekend, San Jose State still has Hawaii, UNLV and Fresno State on the docket. Its best chances to achieve the pair of wins coming against the Rainbow Warriors and Rebels. Last season, the Spartans fell in triple overtime to Hawaii and have won eight of the past nine games against UNLV, which has just two wins this season.
“Our thing is always win the next game — that’s all you can do,” Brennan said. “Our guys know what they have to do.”
OSUNA LEADS WAY SLOWING THE TRIPLE OPTION >> It wasn’t hard to notice Spartans junior linebacker Jesse Osuna, who was seemingly involved in every defensive stop. Osuna finished the game leading San Jose State with 16 tackles — nine of which were solo — as well as two sacks and a pair of tackles for loss. The Morgan Hill native also forced and recovered a Black Knights fumble in the second quarter in a strong showing against the triple option.
“We spent a lot of time working on the run and we had a bit of experience with the triple option having played Air Force earlier in the season,” Spartans defensive lineman Cade Hall said. “We were looking forward to this one because we knew we had another shot at that type of offense. I think we were really eager to play against that offense and that went into our preparation this week.”
The last time San Jose State saw the triple option was against Air Force four weeks ago as the Falcons rushed for 382 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-24 loss for the Spartans.
Learning from its shortcomings, San Jose State held Army to 326 yards on the ground on 70 rushing attempts. The Spartans also forced two turnovers on downs in short yardage situations as the Black Knights lined up with just a yard to gain.
“I thought we tackled well which was big because a week ago we missed a lot of tackles,” Brennan said. “We put a huge emphasis on that in practice this week. I thought that was really good.”
Leading this charge was Osuna, who was ejected late in the fourth quarter for targeting as he tackled Army quarterback Christian Anderson. As a result, Osuna will be forced to sit for the first half of San Jose State’s matchup against Boise State next weekend.
GAITHER’S WILD CATCH HIGHLIGHTS OFFENSE >> Reaching around his defender’s body, Bailey Gaither tipped a pass from quarterback Josh Love into the air. Sliding on his knees, Gaither narrowly stayed in bounds to haul in a fourth-quarter touchdown, highlighting a strong passing day from San Jose State’s offense that accumulated 314 yards and three touchdowns through the air.