San Jose State Bowl Hopes On Life Support After 3OT Loss To Navy

Nov 22, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Navy Midshipmen cornerback Parrish Gaines (2) intercepts a pass from San Jose State Spartans quarterback David Fales (10) during the third overtime at Spartan Stadium. Navy won 58-52 in triple overtime. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

San Jose State Spartans quarterback David Fales was intercepted in the end zone in the third overtime and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds made the Spartans pay with a  25-yard touchdown run on the Midshipmen’s next possession as Navy eked out a 58-52 win in a thriller at Spartan Stadium Friday night.

The loss puts the Spartans’ bowl hopes in jeopardy as they fell to 5-6 with one game remaining against unbeaten Fresno State. Navy improved to 7-4.

Reynolds set an NCAA record by rushing for seven touchdowns, the most for a quarterback in a single game, and he also threw a touchdown pass. He finished with 240 yards on the ground on 36 carries and was also 4-for-6 passing for 46 yards and a score. Navy’s option attack piled up 432 rushing yards.

Fales, meanwhile, became the Spartans’ all-time career leader in passing yards and touchdown passes after going 42-for-56 for 440 yards and throwing five touchdown passes. The interception in the third overtime was his only blemish.

San Jose State also ran for 160 yards, piling up 600 yards of total offense in a losing effort. Chandler Jones became the school’s all-time leader in receptions, with seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. He has now caught 240 passes as a Spartan.

In just two seasons, Fales has thrown for 7,835 yards and 60 touchdowns.

The Spartans led 3-0 after one quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Austin Lopez and went up 9-0 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Fales to Thomas Tucker. The point-after failed. Reynolds’ first touchdown from 12 yards out pulled Navy to within 9-7. Jarrod Lawson’s two-yard run made it 16-7 and with 3:05 left in the half, Nick Sloan booted a 37-yard field goal for the Midshipmen and San Jose State went into the locker room with a 16-10 lead.

Hardly the stuff of a 110-point night.

Navy took the lead early in the third quarter on a three-yard run by Reynolds and went up 24-16 on a three-yard pass from Reynolds to Darius Staten. With a little more than two minutes left in the quarter, Fales hit Jones on a 23-yard touchdown pass, with a failed two-point conversion leaving Navy with a 24-22 lead.

The Spartans took the lead on a four-yard pass from Fales to Tyler Winston and Fales ran in the two-point conversion to give San Jose State a 30-24 lead with 9:31 remaining. With 7:06 to go, Reynolds scored on a 38-yard run to put the Middies back on top 31-30 and it appeared Reynolds applied the dagger with a 20-yard scoring run with 2:38 left that gave Navy a 38-30 lead.

The Midshipmen gave Fales just enough time. He connected with Kyle Nunn for a two-yard touchdown pass as time expired and then hit Jones for the game-tying two-point conversion to send the game to overtime.

In the first overtime, Fales and Nunn combined for a 10-yard touchdown pass and Reynolds scored on a 25-yard run. The second overtime saw a seven-yard touchdown run for Reynolds and a five-yard scoring scamper by Tucker.

Lawson finished with 98 yards rushing for the Spartans on 26 carries, while Tucker ran it 11 times for 62 yards. Tucker also caught nine passes for 107 yards and Tyler Winston snagged 10 passes for 86 yards.

The Spartans finale is next Friday at Spartan Stadium against the unbeaten Fresno State Bulldogs. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. Pacific.