SAN JOSE — San Jose State completed its recovery from a 1-5 start Saturday night, gaining bowl eligibility with a 24-13 victory over San Diego State on a wet and windy night at Spartan Stadium.
With six wins, the Spartans (6-5) have met the requirement to be invited to a bowl game. Usually, that’s enough, but with five other Mountain West teams also eligible and two more in contention, an invitation is not guaranteed. In 2013, the Spartans won six games and were left out in the cold.
A victory next week in the regular-season finale would surely seal the deal. SJSU plays at UNLV, which moved into first place Saturday by knocking off Air Force 31-27. The Rebels (8-2, 6-1) have won eight of nine since losing to Michigan.
San Jose State (5-2 Mountain West) has won five straight.
Running back Quali Conley was the leading man, rushing for 155 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Chevan Cordeiro completed 15 of 20 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. Kairee Robinson closed the scoring with a touchdown, his 16th of the season, breaking the school record shared by Johnny Johnson (1988) and Deonce Whitaker (2000).
The Spartans lone touchdown in the first half came when Cordeiro found tight end Dominick Mazotti in the back corner of the end zone for a 10-yard score to bring SJSU even after San Diego State had gone 77 yards on its opening possession for a 7-0 lead.
The SJSU defense allowed only 223 yards the rest of the way.
Tied 10-10 af halftime, SJSU went ahead 17-10 on Conley’s 20-yard run with 6:16 left in the third quarter. On the previous play, Cordeiro had connected with Isaac Jernigan on a 42-yard pass play.
San Diego State answered with a 16-play drive that began on the Aztecs’ 11 and for a moment seemed to have ended in the endzone. But Jaylon Armstead’s three-yard touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty and the Aztecs ultimately settled for a field goal.
SJSU then went 94 yards in six plays, a drive that was mostly Conley. He had runs of 21 and 57 yards. From the SDSU 14, the Spartans fed Robinson three times for the TD record.