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San Jose State ends Fresno State's BCS hopes

Nov 30, 2013 - 2:10 AM San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - David Fales completed 37-of-45 passes for 547 yards and six touchdowns to lead the San Jose State Spartans to a 62-52 upset over No. 16 and previously unbeaten Fresno State to essentially eliminate the Bulldogs from going to a BCS bowl.

Chandler Jones caught eight passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns, Kyle Nunn had 10 catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Winston caught 10 balls for 164 yards and a TD for the Spartans (6-6, 5-3 MWC), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Derek Carr was 38-for-50 with 519 yards, six touchdowns and an interception and DeVante Adams caught 13 passes for 264 yards and three scores for the Bulldogs (10-1, 7-1).

"Obviously we struggled today. We knew their quarterback was an excellent player and they have excellent skill players. We had trouble matching up with them and putting pressure on (Fales)," Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter said.

In a game that saw a combined 1,382 yards of offense, San Jose State swung the momentum with a surprise onside kick to begin the second half. Harrison Waid pooched the ball just far and accurately enough to be able to recover it himself.

"At halftime, we talked about what we needed to keep doing and when I came out at halftime, it came down from the box after halftime from Terry Malley (Tight Ends Coach/Recruiting Coordinator) and his arena football experience, and he just mentioned it, and I said we should just do it," San Jose State coach Ron Caragher said. "They were moving the ball so we wanted to roll the dice and surprise them."

After the first half ended, 42-41 in San Jose State's favor, the Spartans continued to outscore the Bulldogs the rest of the game.

Following the onside recovery, Fales led a drive that was capped off with a Thomas Tucker 7-yard touchdown run. Tucker had 17 carries for 65 yards rushing for the day.

The teams then trade field goals, a 42-yarder from Fresno State's Colin McGuire and a 45-yarder from Austin Lopez.

Fales scored on a 1-yard QB sneak on 34d-and-goal early in the fourth and Lopez tacked on a 46-yard field goal with 4:46 remaining for a 62-44 difference.

In between, Carr was picked off by Keith Smith. Carr led the Bulldogs to a score following a 12-play, 75-yard march, which ended on Josh Quezada's 1- yard run. Carr found Isaiah Burse for the two-point conversion, but there was just 2:03 remaining.

San Jose State recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the remaining time.

Both teams came out firing and the first quarter saw a total of 48 points. On the first four drives the teams traded passing touchdowns.

Fales hit Nunn for a 31-yard score and Jones for a 23-yard TD. Carr connected with Josh Harper for a 27-yard touchdown and Adams for a 23-yard score. The one-point difference was from a blocked extra point try.

Carr hit Adams again for a 4-yard score with under three minutes to go in the first quarter, but Nunn caught a pass for 75 yards and a score on the very next play from scrimmage.

Carr answered with another Adams touchdown reception, this time for 32 yards, with 13 seconds left in the first quarter, giving the Bulldogs 27-21 lead.

Fales hit Jones for a 38-yard touchdown to make the score 28-27 early in the second, but the see-saw battle continued when Carr found Justin Johnson from five yards out for a 34-28 lead.

Fales connected with Winston from 16 yards away for a TD, but Carr passed to Burse for a 21-yard score with 1:43 left before halftime for a 41-35 Fresno State lead.

San Jose State grabbed the lead for good when Fales hit Jones from 19 yards away with 18 seconds left in the half.

"They're an explosive offense but our defense stepped up when we needed to. Our veterans stepped up and did what we had to do," Fales said.

Game Notes

San Jose State snapped a 21-game losing streak against ranked opponents since 2000 ... The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 39-35-3 ... Burse had 10 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown and Johnson had four catches for 36 yards ... San Jose State had 36 first downs to 27 for Fresno State.