San Jose St. 31, New Mexico St. 14

Oct 19, 2008, 03:24 am

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Kyle Flynn found different ways to punish New Mexico State on Saturday as the Spartans beat the Aggies 31-14.

In addition to six tackles, Flynn returned a 90-yard interception as San Jose State (5-2, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) opened its conference season with three consecutive wins for the first time in 13 years.

"I knew that if I didn't make it my brother and (SJSU receiver) David Richmond would never speak to me again," Flynn said.

The run by Flynn was the second longest interception return for a TD in San Jose State history.

"We got an early lead and we were playing so well on defense," San Jose State coach Dick Tomey said. "They were having trouble blocking our front, and when you have trouble blocking the front it's hard to move the ball."

The Aggies (3-3, 1-1 WAC) fell to 0-4 against the Spartans since NMSU joined the WAC in 2005.

"It was a hard fought defensive battle," New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme said. "Our defense played good enough for us to win, but we just couldn't handle them up front. We were scratching and pecking anyplace we could."

San Jose State dealt another blow when Duke Ihenacho picked off an Aggie screen pass and returned for a 43-yard TD and 21-point advantage early in the second quarter.

Chris Williams responded with a 73-yard catch-and-run play followed by a 7-yard diving TD catch to put NMSU on the scoreboard at 21-7, where the score remained through the third quarter.

Chase Holbrook narrowed the deficit to 21-14 seconds into the fourth quarter with a 2-yard rush, but a 33-yard field goal by Jared Strubeck and a 12-yard TD rush by Brandon Rutley sealed the Spartan victory with five minutes remaining.

The San Jose State defense pounded Holbrook, who gave up 2 interceptions and 5 sacks as he completed 23-of-38 for 206 yards in the face of the Spartan defensive attack. J.J. McDermott relieved Holbrook late in the final quarter and finished with 43 yards as he went 5-for-7, with one sack and one interception.

Kyle Reed threw three interceptions of his own as he connected for 50 on 8-of-18 attempts.

The Spartan offense gained 151 yards rushing compared to 35 yards by NMSU.