Sept. 29, 2007

Final Stats

SAN JOSE, Calif.-- Adam Tafralis threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns while receiver Kevin Jurovich caught seven passes for 135 yards and two scores as San Jose State gave up an early touchdown to UC Davis but rebounded to post a 34-14 nonconference collegiate football win before 17,431 fans on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

UC Davis, playing its third NCAA FBS (formerly I-A) team in the past three seasons, fell to 2-3 while the Spartans won their second straight and improved to 2-3. Redshirt freshman Joe Trombetta rushed for 76 yards and caught eight passes for 40 more while receiver Brandon Rice hauled in seven passes for 74 yards and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Tim Plough in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Chris Buck had eight tackles overall, including three tackles-for-losses, while free safety Nero Evero had nine total tackles. One of Buck's TFL's was a sack. The Aggie defense played well against the Spartans' rushing attack, holding San Jose State to just 15 yards on 26 rushes. The total was a season-low for an Aggie opponent. UC Davis had 10 TFL's in the game.

UC Davis, which upset Stanford 20-17 in 2005 before losing at TCU last year in its previous two FBS matchups, got off to a good start against San Jose State on Saturday, taking the opening kick and going 66 yards on 11 plays as Plough found receiver Kale Turner for a 9-yard score just over five minutes into the game. Trombetta rushed for 19 yards in the drive while Plough threw for 47, including a 21-yard completion to Sean Creadick that gave the Aggies a first down at the San Jose State 11-yard line.

"We mixed it up, I thought, real well on the first drive and felt good about the run game," said Aggie coach Bob Biggs. "We just couldn't get the run game going after that. I think they made some adjustments, started to slant their line a little bit and made it difficult for us to run."

The Spartans tied the game on their first possession, opening with a 16-yard pass from Tafralis to Kyle Flynn and then moving to the 17 where Tafralis found Jurovich for a touchdown pass with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left in the opening quarter. San Jose State then took advantage of a blocked punt near midfield on the Aggies' next drive and turned it into a 47-yard strike from Tafralis to David Richmond on the first play from scrimmage to help put the Spartans up 14-7.

UC Davis' longest drive the rest of the half was seven plays while its four possessions after the first score ended with three punts and an interception. However, while the Aggies were having trouble moving the ball against the Spartans, the Spartans were finding resistance from the UC Davis defense. San Jose State had just two yards on 11 plays on its first two drives after its early scores. It drove 68 yards deep into Aggies' territory near halftime before being stopped at the 4-yard line. The Spartans had a first down at the UC Davis 2 but were held to a 21-yard field goal attempt by Jared Strubeck that missed wide right after a pair of rush attempts lost yardage and a pass fell incomplete.

San Jose State led 14-7 at halftime.

A seven-yard touchdown pass from Tafralis to Terran Williams made it 21-7 midway through the third quarter. UC Davis had a good opportunity to climb back to within a touchdown late in the quarter, moving the ball 64 yards on 13 plays - highlighted by four catches for 40 yards from Rice - but Plough was intercepted by cornerback Chris Owens at the 8-yard line, ending the threat. Jurovich was then on the receiving end of a 59-yard touchdown pass two plays later as San Jose State took a 27-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Aggies picked up their final score on their next drive, as Plough fought off tough pressure to throw a 20-yard touchdown pass to an open Rice with 13:46 to go. The Spartans got their final score with 3:48 to play when Jonathan Harris grabbed a tipped ball and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

"We knew we weren't going to match up particularly well with their secondary," said Biggs. "We felt if we could keep them off balance and run the ball then we were gong to have a chance. But when they started to take the run away we had a few situations there when we tried to run the ball and got some three-and-outs and, you know, put our defense's back against the wall."

Tafralis completed 25 of 34 passes for 330 yards, Richmond and Jalal Beauchman each had five grabs and Dwight Lowery had a 46-yard punt return. Plough completed 22 of 38 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns for UC Davis but was intercepted four times. Trombetta rushed the ball 21 times for his 76 yards while Brandon Tucker had four carries for 27.

Linebacker Tyler Pringle also had a sack for UC Davis while cornerback Adam Cook, end James Amos, linebacker David Heckman, defensive tackle John Faletoese and cornerback Jeremy Scott each had TFL's. Linebacker Mike Morales and defensive tackle Ricky Owen had 0.5 TFL's.

UC Davis had 286 yards of total offense.

Linebacker Matt Castello had 15 tackles to lead San Jose State while linebacker Demetrius Jones had 12. Four different players had the interceptions for the Spartans who had no turnovers. UC Davis has just one takeaway this season.