Utah State gets bowl eligible with 35-31 victory

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – Calvin Tyler Jr. had 125 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including a 3-yard TD that capped the scoring with 2:49 to play, as Utah State became bowl eligible with a 35-31 win over San Jose State.
Brian Cobbs had 10 receptions for 122 yards, while Cooper Legas completed 23 of 35 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions for Utah State (6-5, 5-2 Mountain West Conference).
“I’m super proud,” said Utah State head coach Blake Anderson. “We’re excited to be bowl eligible. I know we talked about that over the last few weeks. Just how much that means to this group and just how hard that is to go from 1-4 to 6-5 with the opportunity to be 7-5 maybe next week.”
San Jose State (6-4, 4-3), which lost 43-27 at San Diego State last week, has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Jaden Smith returned a San Jose State punt blocked by Ike Larsen 56 yards for a touchdown that gave Utah State a 21-6 lead with 1:25 left in the first half.
Chevan Cordeiro threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Cooks late in the third quarter and hit Jackson Canaan for a 1-yard TD with 6:15 to play that gave the Spartans a 31-28 lead with 4:48 to play.
But Utah State answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Tyler’s final touchdown with 1:48 left on the clock.
“This win felt great, especially going against a team like them where you hear all week about their deep front being one of the best in the league,” Tyler said. “Those guys still proved that but we were able to be successful running the ball and also throwing the ball. It felt great getting the W today. A win in this conference is hard so I’m thankful for everyone that we get.”
The Aggies defense then held the Spartans on the ensuing possession to clinch the victory.
“It was about how bad do you want it?” said defensive lineman Hale Motu’apuaka about the final stop. “Coach (Ephraim) Banda and all of the defensive coaches always do a good job of motivating us and juicing us up. They always tell us to bring the juice. We knew how bad we wanted it, and we knew how important that drive was. We have a lot of great players on our defense, so I’m grateful a lot of them got to make plays and help us win this game.”
The Aggies finished with 430 yards of total offense and held the Spartans to 341 total yards.
Cordeiro finished with four touchdown passes, three to Cooks who had seven receptions for 125 yards.
Utah State has now won three games in a row, and will wrap up the regular season next Friday at Boise State. Kickoff is set for 10:00 a.m.