2012 Week 17

The San Jose State Spartans, playing for new Head Coach Jason Williams, participated in the MPC Computers Bowl and faced a team that Coach Williams was very familiar with, an old Big Twelve rival, the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones, who are near the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality Big Twelve teams were taken to school by the San Jose State Spartans as the Spartans won 38-21.

A key stat that Coach Williams pointed to when looking at the stat sheet following the game was the Time of Possession. The Spartans held the football for 26:56 compared to the Cyclones having the football in their possession for only 9:04. "That was a key point in our victory. Had they had the football longer they could have made the game closer and possibly won it, that's why I always like to play a ball control offense. I feel if we can hold onto the football longer than the opponent we will have a better chance of winning. It may sound simple, but it's much harder to do that one might think."

The Spartans looked like they were going to roll in this football game as they jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead over the Cyclones. However, a Bryan Holland interception deep in the Spartans own territory helped the Cyclones get on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on an 18 yard run by halfback Michael Bailey. The Spartans would then go on a nice, precise, drive down the field before they scored to regain their three touchdown lead on a four yard run by senior halfback Trey Dorsey. However, following a short kickoff on the Cyclones first offensive play from scrimmage, Cyclones quarterback Phillip Coker found star receiver Greg Miller on a 74 yard streak pass for a quick touchdown to cut the lead to two scores at halftime 28-14.

The Spartans took the field with the ball in the second half and their goal was to hold onto the ball, keep the clock moving and score to extend their lead. They did just that as kicker Drew Ramsey was able to kick a 36 yard field goal to make the score 31-21. However, after both teams traded punts, the Spartans pass defense gave up another big pass play when Coker and Miller hooked up yet again, this time from 61 yards out to cut the Spartans lead to three at 31-28.

However, that's when Coach Williams' plan took to full effect when the Spartans took the ball and ran down well over eight minutes on one drive and scored a touchdown on the Cyclones on a six yard pass from quarterback Bryan Holland to receiver Jeremy Harrell. That touchdown connection was the third touchdown connections for those two in this contest. Iowa State was unable to do anything on their next drive and the Spartans went on another long drive and were able to run the clock out and win the MPC Computers Bowl for the 2012 season.

"It was an amazing team performance all around," Coach Williams said following the game, "I was proud of how our players played, and very proud with how the performed after the slow start. We will be losing a lot of solid football players this offseason, but don't expect us to miss a beat. The players we have here want to win and they want to win now. San Jose State is just getting started, expect to see a lot more of us in the future."