Spartans Surprise the Cowboys, 20-17
San Jose State snapped a 10-game losing skid with a 20-17 victory over the Wyoming Cowboys Saturday in California.
The Spartans stopped Wyoming on a key fourth down at midfield with 2:25 left in the game. Two plays later DeJon Packer raced 44-yards for a touchdown that gave San Jose State a 20-10 lead. After a Cowboys TD, the Spartans recovered an onside kick that sealed their victory.
San Jose State (2-11, 1-7) won their first game against a FBS school this season. It was their third consecutive win in the series against UW.
Wyoming (7-5, 5-3) lost its second straight to conclude the regular season.
In a release from the university after the game Saturday, Cowboys' head coach Craig Bohl said,
“I think San Jose State played a hard fought game. We left some opportunities on the field and we are disappointed. Our slow start put us behind the eight ball. We were hoping to create more takeaways, but tip the hat to San Jose State they exposed some things today.”
The Spartans led 10-0 early in the second quarter. Quarterback Montel Aaron scored on a five-yard TD run midway through the first. Bryce Crawford added a 44-yard field goal with less than 11 minutes left in the second.
The Pokes finally got on the board after an Austin Conway 55-yard punt return. Nick Smith capped the 23-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
San Jose State responded with a Crawford 52-yard field goal and led 13-7 at halftime.
UW had a chance to score at the end of the half. After a 35-yard pass to C.J. Johnson, Smith was intercepted on an under-throw by Dakari Monroe at the Spartans’ 14-yard line.
Wyoming scored on its opening possession of the second half. Cooper Rothe made a 28-yard field goal that got the Cowboys within 13-10. Rothe missed a 49-yard attempt, when he hit the cross-bar midway through the fourth quarter.
The score remained 13-10 until the last few minutes. After the San Jose State TD run, Smith found Johnson for a 53-yard catch and run for a touchdown with 1:07 remaining. That’s when the Spartans got the onside kick and ran out the clock.
The Pokes finished with 357 yards of offense. Kellen Overstreet ran for a career-high 139 yards on 17 carries. Smith was 17-37 for 171 yards, one TD and two interceptions. Andrew Wingard led the defense with 10 tackles. Carl Granderson added seven tackles with two tackles for loss and one sack.
San Jose State had 320 yards on offense. Packer led the ground game with 75 yards and the one TD. Aaron went 15-29 passing for 174 yards and one interception.
Bohl added in the release from UW, “We have opportunity to make some progress with a couple weeks of practice before the bowl game. We will find out where we are going and put one foot in front of the other and move forward.”
They will learn their fate for a bowl game Dec. 3.