Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB
By Ana Kieu
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans football team earned more than just a 31-24 win over Arkansas inside Razorback Stadium last Saturday. The Spartans were also honored as Mountain West Players of the Week and the Reveal Suits National Team of the Week, respectively.
Here are the respective press releases:
Spartans Honored As Mountain West Players Of The Week
San Jose State quarterback Josh Love and defensive Bobby Brown, II were named the Mountain West Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, by the conference office.
Both players were instrumental in San Jose State’s 31-24 win at the University of Arkansas on Saturday, September 21.
Love completed a single-game career-high 32 pass on 49 attempts with one interception for 402 yards and two first-half touchdowns. With the score tied 24-24 late in the fourth quarter, Love engineered a five-play, 75-yard game-winning touchdown drive for San Jose State’s first win against a SEC opponent in school history.
Brown, II intercepted two passes and was credited with seven tackles in the team’s first road win since the 2016 season. His second interception came on Arkansas’ final offensive play of the game to ensure the Spartans’ victory.
San Jose State Named Reveal Suits National Team Of The Week
The Spartans scored on DeJon Packer’s 19-yard run with 1:13 left to break a 24-24 tie and win their first road game since 2016 and record their first non-conference road win since 2012, posting a 31-24 at Arkansas that superseded a host of other worthy candidates. For winning their first game over an SEC school, San Jose State (2-1) has earned the Reveal Suits National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 21.
The announcement came on “Full Ride” on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM. Each Monday during the season the Reveal Suits National Team of the Week will be unveiled on the network. The FWAA’s All-America Committee selects the weekly winner and all Division I FBS and FCS schools are eligible to be selected.
This is the first time for San Jose State to win the FWAA’s National Team of the Week honor and the first for a Mountain West conference member since Wyoming on October 29, 2016.
The Spartans never trailed and led 24-7 at halftime — their largest lead in any game dating back to the 2016 season — and broke a 26-game losing streak to teams from the Power 5 conferences that dated back to 2006 at Stanford.
San Jose State got contributions in all three phases. Quarterback Josh Love completed a career-high 32 passes in 49 attempts for 402 yards and two touchdowns, his second career 400-yard game. The Spartan defense snagged five interceptions, most since 2008 at Hawaii. Kicker Matt Mercurio hit a career-long 47-yard field goal in the second quarter to extend the lead to 17-7.
“What a night for these players, these coaches and these fans,” head coach Brent Brennan said. “Obviously, when you look at the schedule, this is one of those games that everybody talks about. Sometimes it’s hard to get your team to focus on anything else because you are going on the road to play a SEC opponent like Arkansas with its history, how special this place is, the stadium, the crowd and all that stuff. Coming off a loss two weeks ago, our players just went to work. We practiced during the bye week a lot. I’m sure the players didn’t like that, but I think now they understand why. I’m just really proud of them because this has been a team.”
Here’s the scoop on what’s going on this week:
When asked about how he’s going to prepare for Air Force, head coach Brent Brennan said, “We’re going to get an incredible test of physicality and that’s something that we have to prepare for and be ready for because of who we’re playing, the type of team that we’ll be playing, and of course, the type of football that they’ll play.”
“The difference is that you’re playing an SEC school and they’ve got a bunch of big bodies — big, long, athletic bodies. Now, you’ve come to the Air Force Academy and they have some of those, but they don’t have a team like those. What they got is a bunch of badass dudes that like to play football and they’re going to do it right every time. These guys are being trained to defend our country and I’m pretty sure they’re going to be physical. They’re violent and nasty and we got to be ready for them.”
Up Next: The Spartans open Mountain West action on Friday, September 27 at Air Force in a 5 p.m. PT conference contest.
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