Former Hawaii QB Cordeiro leads the Spartans past Warriors
Nov. 27—The quarterback who departed delivered the parting shots in San Jose State's 27-14 football victory over Hawaii at CEFCU Stadium.
SAN JOSE, Calif.—The quarterback who departed delivered the parting shots in San Jose State's 27-14 football victory over Hawaii at CEFCU Stadium.
Chevan Cordeiro, who transferred from UH at the end of the 2021 regular season, threw two scoring passes and drew enough attention to open the Spartans' time-consuming running attack.
By improving to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West—and with Hawaii-reared Cordeiro as a prodigal-son attraction—the Spartans strengthened their argument for a berth in the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl at the Ching Complex.
"It was weird in the beginning, " Cordeiro said of facing opposing players who used to be teammates. "I had emotions. But at the same time, I didn't want my emotions to take over my process. I focused on the game plan."
Cordeiro and wideout Elijah Cooks, who also transferred to SJSU this year, collaborated on touchdown plays of 5 and 7 yards to stake the Spartans to a 14-6 lead in the first half.
After the Rainbow Warriors closed to 24-14 with 12 :41 remaining, the Spartans faced a fourth-and-4 at the UH 34. During a timeout, SJSU coach Brent Brennan called for the Spartans' favorite play : get the ball to the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Cooks. Against a coverage designed with Cooks in mind, the Nevada graduate transfer secured an arc from Cordeiro for a 29-yard gain to the 5. The Spartans did not score a touchdown on the ensuing plays, but Taren Shive's second field goal, this time from 21 yards for a 27-14 lead, proved to be spirit crushing.
"That situation, where (Cooks ) got over the top on us, wasn't good in that particular moment of the game, " UH defensive coordinator Jacob Yoro said. "We needed to get off the field, and that field goal really hurt us."—RELATED :
The Warriors entered with a pick-a-poison defensive plan. They wanted the ends to crash down and bracket the pocket, decreasing Cordeiro's opportunities to roll out or scramble. Because wideout Justin Lockhart also was a vertical threat, the Warriors could not spare a second defensive back to double on Cooks. Hugh Nelson, a 6-2 corner, was the lead cover defender on Cooks.
"We were going to live with some things in the running game because we needed to take care of No. 2 (Cordeiro ) and No 4 (Cooks ), " Yoro said. "In order to keep this thing close, we needed to take care of them. I thought for the majority of the game, those things happened. But at the end of the day, we didn't make enough plays down the stretch. I probably put our guys in bad situations with a couple of our calls, and we didn't get it done."
Nelson suffered a mid-game injury and did not play most of the second half. With UH focused on defending the fade passes, the Spartans opened the second half with an interior running attack. Eight of 10 plays were rushes on the Spartans' first second-half drive, with Kairee Robinson running the final yard to cap a 75-yard scoring drive.
"It was one or the other, " linebacker Penei Pavihi said. "We tried to play the fade balls and contain Chev. We did that at times, and we didn't do it at times, and we paid for it."
Except for Schager's 22-yard laser to Steven Fiso for a touchdown and ensuing conversion pass, the Warriors did not maximize opportunities.
They reached the threshold of the red zone, but settled for a field-goal attempt that Matthew Shipley could not convert from 44 yards. Cornerback Virdel Edwards' interception—in which he stole the ball from Lockhart—gave UH possession 17 yards from the end zone. They had to settle for Shipley's 27-yard field goal. And when the Warriors could not gain a first down or adequately drain the clock, the Spartans took possession with 2 :10 left in the first half, leading to the 7-yard touchdown pass to Cooks.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Warriors drove to the Spartans' 2. But two rushes netted minus-6 yards, Nehemiah Shelton broke up a pass aimed at wideout Zion Bowens, and Schager was sacked by defensive ends Viliami Fehoko and Cade Hall.
"We bend, " Fehoko said, "but we don't break."
"Too many missed opportunities, " UH coach Timmy Chang said of what has become the season's theme. "You don't want to go back here talking about 'good effort' and 'we should have had these plays or those plays.' We've got to fix the plays. That's where the games are won. The games are won when you make the plays. And (the Spartans ) made plays. You see Elijah Cooks catching balls on big downs, two touchdowns. Your guys have to come out and make the plays, make the tackles, make the blocks, make the throws, make the runs. You've got to narrate that yourself, and that's what we're missing."
During the bye between the fourth and fifth games, the Warriors began adding run-and-shoot elements to the hybrid offense. Schager echoed Chang's wish for the season to continue.
"We're just starting to get the offense down, " Schager said. "We just ran out of games. That's a hard pill to swallow. It's something we've got to switch the mindset for next season, and get ready for it."
Wideout Jonah Panoke said : "You can see each week we're getting better. It's one or two drives we have to finish, and put up some points."
Schager, a second-year Warrior from the Dallas area, finished 25-for-40 for 230 yards and a touchdown. This was the seventh game he was not intercepted. UH's running attack suffered a setback when Tylan Hines suffered a concussion in the first half.
Cordeiro was 17-for-26 for 208 yards. After the game, he embraced several Warriors.
"Those are my brothers, " said Cordeiro, a Saint Louis School graduate who went on to play four UH seasons. "They're my brothers for life. We hugged it out, and it was nice seeing them. ... I was born and raised over there. I went there for four years. I've still got a heart for Hawaii."
