Army returned home to host the Spartans of San Jose State with high hopes of halting their three game losing streak, but the Black Knights were unable to contain the passing game of Josh Love who completed 20 of his 31 pass attempts for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Matt Mercurio converted all 4 field goals attempts for SJSU. The Black Knights lost starting quarterback, Kelvin Hopkins (apparent shoulder injury) as well as his backup Jabari Laws, leaving third string QB Christian Andersen to lead a fourth quarter comeback that came up short.

San Jose State took the opening kickoff out to the 23 and Love started their opening drive with a 23 yard completion to the 45 that was a preview of things to come. The Black Knights held for two downs but Love completed another two passes to the Army 21 where a holding penalty set them back 10 yards. Senior cornerback Elijah Riley blocked a pass attempt on first down, but Love completed a 13 yard pass over the middle and followed it with a 19 yard completion over the coverage of Malkelm Morrison for a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.

Army was called for a dubious blind side block on the kickoff and Army started their first possession on their own 12. Hopkins and Laws took turns at QB leading the Black Knights on the ground to the SJSU 26, but then two short gains and a false start penalty on slotback Artice Hobbs created a 3d and 16 at the 31. Hopkins dropped back to pass with good protection and completed to wide receiver Cam Harrison over the middle and Harrison ran it into the end zone to knot the score at 7-7,

Love came back out with 3 long completions to the Army 12, and added a 4 yard run to the Army 8 before time ran out in the quarter.

Riley broke up a pass on second and goal to start the second quarter, and a false start set SJSU back to their 11. On third and 11, cornerback Jahvari Bourdeau broke up another pass attempt in the end zone and the Spartans had to settle for a field goal to recapture the lead at 10-7.

Army called for a fair catch to start their next drive on the 25, and a false start by offensive lineman Alex Herndon on first down set them back 5 for a first and 15 on the 20. Laws scampered for a 9 yard gain and slotback Kell Walker added another 9 for a first down, but on the next play, fullback Sandon McCoy, while attempting to block, knocked the ball out of Harrison’s grasp, The Spartans recovered to take over on the Army 44.

Love went back to work with a 14 yard completion for a first down on the 30, and after 2 runs gained another 12, Love completed his second touchdown pass of the game to increase the Spartan lead to 17-7.

Army started from their own 25 again, and Walker picked up a quick first down to the 43. McCoy gained a short 2, Laws followed with 7 and McCoy continued with another three to give Army another first down at the SJSU 44. Two short gains brought up a 3rd and 6 and Brent Davis called a pass play that fell incomplete bringing up a 4th and 6 on the 42. Hopkins dropped back to pass and was sacked for a 10 yard loss to turn the ball back to SJSU on the Army 48.

Love passed the Spartans to the Army 6 before the Black Knight defense held and SJSU settled for a second field goal to extend their lead to 17-7 with 5:37 left in the half.

The Black Knights started on their own 25 again and drove the ball to the SJSU 18, but a holding call on offensive guard Jaxson Deaton set them back 9 yards, and Hopkins was sacked for an 8 yard loss to bring up a second and 27 on the 33. Hopkins ran a quarterback draw that was stopped for 2 to bring up 3d and 25. Walker gained 9 up the middle and with a 4th down and long on the SJSU 24, Cole Talley came in to kick a 41 yard field goal with seconds left on the clock. Jabari Laws, JB Hunter, and Cooper Simpson were all injured on the drive.

The Spartans returned the ball to the Army 48 and an unnecessary roughness call on Army advanced the ball to the Army 38. Love engineered a drive to the Army 20, where another FG by the Spartans gave SJSU a 23-10 lead at the half.

Army started the first possession of second half from their own 25 again, and Hopkins ran and passed the Black Knights to the SJSU 4, where an injury took him out for the rest of the game, and Christian Anderson came in to finish the drive. McCoy plunged in from 4 yards out closing the gap to 26-17. Army ran 13 plays and took nearly 7 minutes off the play clock.

The Spartans returned the kickoff to the 28 to start their first possession of the half. Love passed the Spartans to the Army 48, where the defense held forcing the only Spartan punt of the game, a 45 yard kick that rolled dead on the Army 3 yard line.

Anderson came back out to lead the offense and Army picked up 1 first down to the 15. Anderson dropped back to pass on third and 5 and had the ball stripped, but he recovered and Army had to punt it away again with 2:42 left in the quarter.

Three runs and 2 pass completions by Love put SJSU on the Army 21 as time ran out in the quarter.

The fourth quarter started with spectacular catch by Bailey Gaither and SJSU went for two to increase their lead to 31-17.

Anderson led the Black Knights on a 13 play, 69 yard drive for a touchdown to close the gap, but a bad snap on the PAT attempt left the Black Knights trailing by 8 at 31-23.

Love completed a 22 yard pass to start the next SJSU possession, but then the Spartans stayed on the ground for the next four plays to reach the Army 14. The Black Knights held on the 10 and Mercurio came in to kick his fourth field goal and increase SJSU’s lead to 34-23.

With 3:41 left in the game, Anderson came back out to lead a comeback attempt that was thwarted by two fumbles by the junior quarterback and a false start penalty on receiver Michael Roberts.

SJSU had the ball back with 2:43 left on the clock, but the Black Knight defense held them to 9 yards, and Army got one more chance with 1:48 left in the game.

Anderson came back out and ran and passed from the Army 38 to the SJSU 33, and with 31 seconds left, he broke loose for a 33 yard touchdown that ended the scoring with the Spartans clinging to a 34-29 lead.

- Army rushed for 326 yards and held SJSU to 88 yards on the ground.

- Army controlled the ball for 39:02 to SJSU’s 20:58.

- Three Army QBs combined for 7 completions on 13 pass attempts for 103 yards and 1 TD with no interceptions. Hopkins completed 2 of his 3 attempts with 1 TD: Laws completed 2 of 2 and Anderson completed 3 of his 8 attempts. SJSU had 5 Sacks in the game.

- Love completed 20 of 31 attempts for 314 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. Army had no sacks and no interceptions against Love.

- Army was penalized 9 times for 74 yards, while SJSU had 3 penalties for 16 yards.

More to Come in our Monday Morning Quarterback Analysis

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