HIGHLIGHTS: Nevada at San Jose State Football 12/11/20

San José State qualified for the Mountain West football championship game with a historic 30-20 victory over Nevada in Las Vegas on Friday night. The 2020 Spartans will be the first team in program history to play in a conference title game. SJSU will enter that game with a perfect record of 6-0 after a dominant second half paved the way to a 10-point win over the Wolf Pack. The team trailed by 13 points at halftime but the dominant San José State defense pitched a shutout in the contest's final two quarters. A balanced attack both through the air and on the ground led the Spartans in this one. Quarterback Nick Starkel threw for 306 yards and a pair of touchdowns while senior Bailey Gaither led all receivers 156 yards. Jermaine Braddock and Derrick Deese, Jr. snagged receiving touchdowns as well while running back Tyler Nevens popped for 184 yards and one score. The night's biggest momentum-shifting play came via special teams as freshman Shamar Garrett took the first kickoff the second half 98 yards to the end zone. A 27-yard field goal off the foot of Matt Mercurio with 9:35 remaining stretched the Spartan lead to two possessions at 30-20. It was the defense's show from there on as a fumble forced by Jay Lenard and a turnover on downs ended any hopes of a Nevada comeback. San José State ended the night with a 506-398 advantage in total yards and out-gained the opponent 200-138 on the ground. The SJSU defense made four sacks to the Pack's one and made five tackles for a loss. Lenard was the team's leading tackler on Friday, ending the night with eight (six solo). Next up for the Spartans is a trip to the Mountain West title game, where they will face second-place Boise State on Dec. 19.