Aggies jump out to lead, can't hold it

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State scored 21 unanswered points to win its fourth straight game, a 21-14 victory over Utah State (1-6, 1-2), on Saturday.

Quarterback Adam Tafralis led the Spartans on an 11-play, 81-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, capped by a 3-yard run by Patrick Perry to give the Spartans their one and only lead of the game. The Spartan defense held tough with the Aggies threatening to tie the score.

With 3:56 left in the game, Utah State quarterback Riley Nelson, who led the Aggies on an 80-yard game-winning drive in a 13-12 victory over Fresno State last week, drove the Aggies to the Spartans' 23-yard line, but a fourth-and-three pass to Rob Myers failed to get the necessary yardage.

Nelson had a 56-yard run in the drive called back due to a holding penalty. The run would have put the Aggies at the San Jose State 20.

The freshman, making only his second career start, still managed to get the Aggies down to the 23 before the drive stalled on downs.

"We have got to find a way to score more points as an offense," Nelson said. "It's just simple execution. We had plenty of chances, and their defense made some tremendous plays."

The Aggies have now lost 14 of their last 15 road games.

San Jose State, which entered the game leading the nation in turnover margin, turned the ball over four times, but the Aggies were only able to capitalize one time.

Late in the first quarter, the Aggies (1-6, 1-2) punted and the Spartans fumbled the kick on the 10-yard line. Moments later, Lynwood Johnson caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Nelson for the first score of the game.

Midway through the second quarter, Nelson hooked up with Kevin Robinson for a 14-yard touchdown pass, giving the Aggies a 14-0 lead. But the Aggies wouldn't score again.

"We felt we had to beat them at their own game by winning the turnover battle," Utah State coach Brent Guy said. "I thought we did a great job of doing that, but they just made more big plays in the end."

Nelson completed 21-of-24 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. His single-game completion percentage of 87.5 percent is a school record.

Tafralis, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in completion percentage at 76 percent, completed just 15-of-28 passes for 252 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.