WASHINGTON — Austin Lopez kicked a go-ahead field goal, and De’Leon Eskridge ran for an insurance touchdown as No. 24 San Jose State scored the game’s final 10 points and pulled out a 29-20 victory over Bowling Green in Thursday’s Military Bowl at RFK Stadium.
Lopez kicked a 27-yard field goal with 4:43 left to give San Jose State (11-2) the lead for good at 22-20. After the Lopez field goal, the San Jose defense forced a key turnover when Travis Johnson sacked quarterback Matt Schilz and caused a fumble.
Keith Smith recovered for San Jose at the Bowling Green 24 with 4:22 left. Eskridge scored on a 1-yard touchdown five plays later to seal the victory.
Quarterback David Fales led San Jose State, who ended the season with seven straight wins offense. He came into the game as the country’s most accurate passer and didn’t miss a beat, completing 33 of 43 passes for 395 yards and two touchdowns. Noel Grigsby helped with nine catches for 134 yards.
San Jose took a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game when Fales threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Nunn.
Bowling Green marched back downfield on its next possession, and Tyler Tate kicked a 28-yard field goal.
The Falcons got another scoring chance moments later when Gabe Martin blocked a Lopez punt, giving Bowling Green (8-5) the ball at the San Jose 24. But the Spartans defense held and forced Tate’s second field goal, this time from 33 yards on the first play of the second quarter, to make it 7-6.
Fales and the Spartans struggled on offense for much of the second quarter before getting a 54-yard drive late in the period. That set up Lopez’s 36-yard field goal with 1:40 left which gave San Jose State a 10-6 halftime lead.
Bowling Green took the lead for the first time early in the third quarter thanks to San Jose’s first turnover.
Charlie Walker sacked Fales from the blind side and forced a fumble. Chris Jones recovered at the 28 and returned it 20 yards to the San Jose 8-yard line. Anthon Samuel ran for an 8-yard touchdown on the next play to give Bowling Green a 13-10 lead with 12:05 left in the third quarter.
The special teams gave the Spartans a spark when Bene Benwikere blocked Brian Schmiedebusch’s punt around the 10-yard line, and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety to make it 13-12.
The Spartans then got good field position after the ensuing free kick, and Fales threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Chandler Jones for a 19-13 lead with 2:16 left in the quarter.
Bowling Green then took the lead when John Pettigrew ran for a 1-yard touchdown and Stephen Stein added the extra point for a 20-19 lead with 10:26 left.
NOTES: Nunn’s touchdown catch was his second of the season, and he’d caught just three passes in San Jose’s last six games. … San Jose didn’t convert a third down until the second half — and that came on Fales’ touchdown pass to Jones. … Stein came in to kick for Bowling Green in the second half after Tate made two first-half field goals. … Samuel’s touchdown was his 11th rushing score this season.