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WALLY HALL: No Love loss for Spartans in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- Josh Love may be hated for what he did to the University of Arkansas.

Looking like an All-American, he completed 18 of 26 passes for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Spartans grabbed a 24-7 halftime lead.

He couldn't match those numbers in the second half when the Razorbacks finally managed to get some pressure on him, but with less than three minutes to play he was the difference-maker.

Arkansas had tied the score 24-24 with 2:56 to play on an 8-yard pass to Trey Knox, but Love went to work immediately, passing for 54 yards on 3 completions during the winning 75-yard touchdown drive.

He finished 32-of-49 passing for 402 yards.

This was the same San Jose State team that won one game last year and two the year before.

The Spartans had zero players chosen to any of the Mountain West preseason all-conference teams.

Was it mentioned that Love was a walk-on for the Spartans?

Of course, a game against the Razorbacks these days isn't going to thrust him onto the national radar.

In days that are getting harder to remember, this used to be the type of game where fans left early -- with a big lead -- to catch the fourth quarter of the Notre Dame-Georgia game.

On Saturday, they left early because the Hogs trailed by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, which changed quickly, but not enough.

The corner that some thought the Razorbacks had turned last week in the fourth quarter against Colorado State turned out to be into a dark alley with no apparent way out.

At least not for now.

Arkansas had 487 yards of offense but gave up 503.

The Hogs had a laundry list of what went wrong.

There was an inexcusable slow start in the first half.

There was no push on two fourth-down attempts.

The pass protection was poor. Five interceptions were thrown.

The defense looked like it had Texas A&M on its mind.

The left lane with the hammer down belonged to the Spartans, who ran a hurry-up offense for 60 minutes.

A great crowd knew it could be a long night when on the first possession of the game, the Spartans drove 75 yards in seven plays -- 67 of it through the air -- to take a 7-0 lead with 12:44 to play in the opening quarter.

The Razorbacks would tie it on their third possession on a 62-yard bomb from Nick Starkel to Mike Woods.

They were in great position to make a move after Kamren Curl intercepted Love and gave the Hogs the ball at their own 35, but Starkel was picked and a stunned crowd watched the Spartans go 28 yards on two runs for a 14-7 edge.

The Hogs almost answered, but a fourth and 1 from the San Jose State 23 netted nothing.

The Spartans added a 47-yard field goal, but after the Hogs went three and out, San Jose State drove 79 yards for a 26-yard touchdown pass from Love to set the score at 24-7 at halftime.

In the first half, the end zone was like a foreign country for the Razorbacks.

The Spartans had 303 yards of offense in the first half, and that's why the Razorback defense was ranked No. 72 in the country before Saturday: It gives up a housing subdivision of yards every week.

Many of the fans stayed for the second half, anxiously awaiting the halftime adjustments.

They almost saw a great comeback.

They did see more pressure on Love, and the fans were treated to a Hogs' field goal in the third quarter.

And the Hogs opened the fourth quarter with a 16-yard run by Devwah Whaley on fourth and 1 from the UA 29 that led to a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nick Starkel to Tyson Morris to make it 24-17 with 13 long minutes to play.

But in the end, the best team won.

Sports on 09/22/2019

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