College Football: San Jose State Tops UNLV; Sacramento State, UC Davis Fall

Nov 2, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Jose State Spartans running back Jarrod Lawson (40) evades the tackle of UNLV Rebels linebacker Roscoe Kalilikane (57) during an NCAA football game at Sam Boyd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The San Jose State Spartans won their fourth straight game Saturday, improving to 5-3 and 4-1 in the Mountain West Conference with a 34-24 win at UNLV.

The Spartans trail No. 16 Fresno State by a game in the Mountain West’s West Division and control their own fate—San Jose State hosts the Bulldogs on Nov. 29 to close the regular season.

It was an unfamiliar script for the Spartans—who are looking to go to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1986-87. Quarterback David Foles threw for a career-worst 150 yards and was intercepted twice. But San Jose State gashed the Rebels for 312 yards on the ground—the team’s best single-game rushing mark in seven years.

Freshman Jarrod Lawson carried 28 times for 187 yards and fellow frosh Thomas Tucker had 94 yards on eight totes—both runners established new career highs for yards in a game—and Tucker had a 37-yard touchdown burst in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans got off to a fast start, leading 24-3 at halftime, and then hung on for the win. Fales opened the scoring by connecting with Chandler Jones on a 13-yard scoring pass and San Jose State took a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter with a little bit of trickery.

Tight end Billy Freeman took an end-around handoff and tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Nunn with 4:21 left in the opening quarter. Lawson added a 31-yard scoring run in the second quarter and Austin Lopez booted a 20-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half.

The Spartans host San Diego State (4-4, 3-1 Mountain West) next Saturday night.

Sacramento State Falls To Montana In OT

The Sacramento State Hornets went toe-to-toe with 13th-ranked Montana for 60 minutes Saturday, but the Grizzlies (7-2, 4-2 Big Sky Conference) escaped with a 51-48 overtime win when Jordan Johnson hit Ellis Henderson with a 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime.

The Hornets tied the game with 23 seconds left on a five-yard scoring pass from Garrett Safron to Cole Hikutini. Brad Cornish gave Sacramento State a 48-45 lead in overtime with a 25-yard field goal before Montana struck for the game-winning touchdown on their first play.

Safron had a big day, throwing for 412 yards and four touchdowns while completing 41-of-58 and he also ran for 93 yards and two scores on 20 carries. DeAndre Carter had 12 catches for 165 yards and a score and Morris Norrise caught 10 balls for 100 yards.

UC Davis Loses To Cal Poly

Chris Brown ran for 195 yards and three touchdowns and the Cal Poly Mustangs stopped the UC Davis Aggies in Davis Saturday night, 34-16.

Brown, the Mustangs’ quarterback, only completed 1-of-5 passes for 15 yards, but Cal Poly piled up 414 yards on the ground.

Gabe Manzanares rushed for 141 yards on 29 carries for UC Davis while Randy Wright was 18-for-31 for 188 yards and a touchdown. He was picked off twice. Cal Poly improved to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big Sky. The Aggies are 3-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Taylor Sloat had the lone touchdown for UC Davis, a 16-yard reception in the second quarter.

Manzanares topped 1,000 yards on the season with his fifth 100-yard game of the year, the first UC Davis runner with more than 1,000 yards rushing since Matt Massari in 2002. Brady Stuart kicked three field goals for the Aggies.