At mid-season, San Jose State’s football team was in deep trouble.
After blowing a 20-point lead to Boise State on the road, the Spartans stood 1-5 and needed to win five of their remaining six games to qualify for a bowl game. Instead, they won all six to mark one of the greatest in-season comebacks in school history.
The season didn’t end in storybook fashion. The Spartans, a 10 1/2-point favorite in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night, were shut out for three quarters and lost 24-14 to Coastal Carolina.
That’s not what coach Brent Brennan will remember about this season.
“A lot of 1-5 teams end up being 2-10,” Brennan said Saturday night. “The fact that these guys finished the season tied for the lead in the Mountain West after where they were, speaks to the quality of their character and the quality of their work ethic. This is a special group of guys.”
The Spartans finished 7-6 with all the losses coming to bowl teams and an opening schedule among the most imposing in the country.
A 56-28 loss at USC, then ranked No. 6 in the nation, was followed by a 42-17 to Oregon State, then ranked 18th. After beating Cal Poly, the Spartans lost to Toledo, Air Force and Boise State. The Spartans led all three games at halftime.
But there was never a sense of panic from the Spartans, even at 1-5.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” quarterback Chevan Cordeiro after the loss at Boise State. “What can we do to beat our next opponent? That’s our motto right now.”
SJSU beat its next five opponents — New Mexico, Utah State, Hawaii, Fresno State and San Diego State. But the real test would come in the regular season finale at UNLV, which was leading the Mountain West with a 6-1 record.
SJSU won 37-31 to join a three-way tie for first place with UNLV and Boise State. The latter two were selected to play in the conference championship game, at UNLV no less — a decision based on rankings from five independent services.
“Everyone was surprised with the way it played out, especially because we had just beaten UNLV,” Brennan said at the time. “But it was out of our hands. I think the hard part was the players and really no one understood because we had the same record and we just beat them head to head, and now they get to host. That just didn’t didn’t make sense to them.”
That, unfortunately, will be a lasting memory for Brennan and his players.
Just the same, the six-game resurgence from 1-5 will always be a touchstone. And there are others.
Cordeiro ended his career fourth on the Mountain West all-time list for touchdown passes with 88, breaking a tie with Derek Carr. In two seasons after transferring to SJSU from Hawaii, Cordeiro passed for 6,024 yards and 43 touchdowns.
Senior running back Kairee Robinson broke the school record for rushing touchdowns with 18. He finished the season with 1,194 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns.
“What this senior class did at San Jose State hasn’t been done in forever,” Brennan said. “Back-to-back winning seasons, back-to-back bowl games, three bowl games in four years. That stuff has never happened before.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com