Author: Jack Culberson
Coming into this game both the Rebels and the Spartans only had one loss. This Mountain West seemed to be a good one as the teams were playing for first place in the West division. San José State crushed UNLV for first place with a final score of 40-7. Let’s take a closer look into this game.
UNLV received the ball first, and on their first drive they punted after 5 plays. On San José State’s first drive they were able to march 76 yards in 12 plays to score a touchdown. Kairee Robinson’s 9 yard touchdown run put the Spartans up 7-0. The next 3 possessions of the game all ended in punts. The first quarter ended in the middle of a San José State drive.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Spartans finished off their 80 yard 12 play drive with a Chevan Cordeiro 10 yard run for a touchdown. The Spartans were now up by 14. On UNLV’s next possession Doug Brumfield checked out of the game, and Cameron Friel fumbled and it was recovered by San José State’s Noah Lavulo. The next play Chevan Cordeiro ran for 15 yards and a touchdown to put the Spartans up 20-0 (missed PAT). The Rebels offensive struggles continued on their next possession as they turned the ball over on downs. The Spartans were able to capitalize off of this turnover with a 43 yard field goal by Taren Schive. UNLV’s next possession ended in another punt. Then, San José State ran the clock out to halftime.
To start the second half, Taren Schive was able to make a 25 yard field goal to put the Spartans up 26-0. UNLV’s first drive of the second half was a three and out and resulted in a punt. On their next possession, San José State was able to score another touchdown as Chevan Cordeiro completed a 22 yard pass to Dominick Mazotti. On UNLV's next drive, they were finally able to break the shutout as Cameron Friel found Senika McKie for a 14 yard touchdown. The score was now 33-7. The third quarter ended in the middle of San José State possession.
The fourth quarter started with a Spartans punt. The Rebels first drive of the fourth quarter ended with a punt as well. After the UNLV punt, San José State was able to drive 60 yards in 7 plays to score their fifth touchdown of the game. This time it was Chevan Cordeiro who hooked up with Elijiah Cooks for a 20 yard touchdown. The next two possessions of the game resulted in punts. Then, on the last drive of the game UNLV ran out of time before they could score again, and the game ended with San José State beating UNLV 40-7.
UNLV did not look great in this game, but they are still in contention for a spot in the Mountain West Conference Championship game. They are currently second in the West division, and if they are able to play well the rest of the season first place could be theirs. Starting quarterback Doug Brumfield can hopefully lead them to success the rest of the season after he returns from injury.
San José State played great this game. They are currently in first place in the Mountain West Conference West division. They will look to continue their dominance all the way to a Mountain West Conference Championship game appearance. The team is 4-1 and behind quarterback Chevan Cordeiro’s great play, great things are bound to come.