San Jose State earns blowout win over Western Michigan
San Jose State showed more electricity Saturday night than it had flashed in either of the previous two games in the Spartans’ young season, earning a 34-6 home win over Western Michigan.
No play was more electric than wide receiver Justin Lockhart catching a Chevan Cordeiro pass in the first quarter and jetting 82 yards, setting up a Taren Schive field goal to open the scoring for the Spartans (2-1). That play was the biggest chunk of a 116-yard day for Lockhart and a 17-of-27, 250-yard showing by quarterback Chevan Cordeiro.
It was the longest offensive play of the year for San Jose State, sparking a rout in the Spartans’ final game before Mountain West play kicks off.
The Spartans’ two other wide receivers to transfer from Nevada, Elijah Cooks and Charles Ross, also scored touchdowns in the blowout win.
The Spartan defense did its part, too.
The Broncos had two drives in the first half traversing deep into Spartan territory, but came away with nothing both times, thanks to fourth-down stops by San Jose State. First, cornerback Kenyon Reed curbed a 78-yard drive on the SJSU 8-yard line by tackling WMU quarterback Mareyohn Hrabowski for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-2. The second came courtesy of linebacker Kyle Harmon on a handoff up the middle at the Spartans’ 23-yard line.
Western Michigan only mustered 71 passing yards — and 206 yards of total offense.
The first of Kairee Robinson’s two touchdowns came on a powerful five-yard rush to put the Spartans up 10-0 in the second quarter, trucking a Bronco defender along the way. Robinson later scored on a 23-yard run early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach after another fourth-down stop by the Spartans.
The Spartans’ first drive of the third quarter ended with an acrobatic, bobbling catch by Ross for a 39-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 24-0. WMU’s only points came on the ensuing kickoff when running back Sean Tyler returned the kick 99 yards to make the score 24-6 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
CHARLES ROSS TOUCHDOWN
39 yard touchdown pass
Watch on @CBSSportsNet
24-0 SJSU#AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/I2rN24uWvt
— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) September 25, 2022
The Spartans will fly to Laramie, Wyoming for their first conference game to take on Wyoming (3-1, 1-0) next Saturday, Oct. 1. The Spartans won last year’s matchup 27-21.
New threads
SJSU debuted its new black “408” themed jerseys in the win. Head coach Brent Brennan said that the jerseys are part of an effort to deepen connections with the city of San Jose. Earlier this week AD Jeff Konya and assistant AD of football operations Ben Thienes presented a framed jersey to the mayor of San Jose Sam Liccardo.