Change doesn’t throw off Fales

Friday, December 28, 2012

— So what if San Jose State lost its coach before the Military Bowl. David Fales was still the quarterback, and that was plenty.

The junior started strong and finished stronger in the wind and cold at RFK Stadium. Fales, who led the nation in completion percentage during the regular season, completed 33 of 43 passes for 395 yards and 2 touchdowns Thursday in the No. 24 Spartans’ 29-20 victory over Bowling Green.

Fales led the drive that set up Austin Lopez’s 27-yard field goal with 4:43 remaining, and De’Leon Eskridge’s 1-yard run with 2:34 left provided the insurance. San Jose State (11-2), in the national rankings for the first time since 1975, capped the year with a seven-game winning streak for its first 11-victory season since 1940, a major turnaround for a program that was 1-12 just two years ago in Mike MacIntyre’s first season as coach.

But MacIntyre left earlier this month for a bigger payday at Colorado, leaving defensive coordinator Kent Baer in charge for the bowl. Baer was interested in the job full-time, but the school instead hired San Diego’s Ron Caragher, who attended the game as an observer.

Bowling Green (8-5) had a similar turnaround, improving from 2-10 in 2010 under Coach Dave Clawson. A defense that allowed only 15.8 points per game in the regular season did a decent job against a San Jose State team that was averaging 35.3 points.

But Fales went over the 4,000-yard passing mark for the season, hitting Kyle Nunn for a 33-yard scoring pass to give the Spartans a first-quarter lead and finding the stutter-stepping Chandler Jones for an 18-yard reception that put San Jose State back in front, 19-13, in the third quarter.

Sports, Pages 19 on 12/28/2012