The San Jose State University Spartans are playing at noon today against the Bowling Green Falcons in the Military Bowl.
Fans around Silicon Valley will be watching with bated breath on their televisions, as they game will be played at the RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. One of the key viewing parties will be at Stanley's Sports Bar at Sharks Ice in San Jose. The game is airing on ESPN.
"They look really good," said Dan Doehrty, who used to play for the Spartans in 1987. And just then, Kyle Nunn caught a 33-yard touchdown, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead early in the game.
33-yard TD catch by Kyle Nunn and the extra point by Austin Lopez gives SJSU a 7-0 lead!
— Spartan Athletics (@SJSUAthletics) December 27, 2012
At half-time, the Spartans were ahead 10-6.
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The 24th ranked San Jose team was tweeting from the stadium. About 10:30 a.m., the Spartan Athletics tweeted out that Austin Lopez was warming up his legs and "getting used to the wind at RFK stadium."
This game marks the end of a brief era that started three years ago with the hiring of Mike MacIntyre, who left San Jose State for Colorado earlier in December, and who was recently replaced by Ron Caragher, who hails from the University of San Diego.
The Spartans are hoping to lock in their 11th win, which would be their most since 1940 and the most wins as a major college program in school history.
This is the first time the Spartans will face off against the Falcons.
Neither of these teams could have been expected to be headed to bowls in 2012 based on how how they were faring two years ago.
"It's all new for all of us," senior tight end Ryan Otten told the Associated Press. "I was here on teams when we won one game, two games. We were toward the bottom of college football. Now, to crack the Top 25, we've come so far."
MacIntyre has moved on as he was named the coach at Colorado. Defensive coordinator Kent Baer will be the team's interim coach for this game.
The Spartans have won six straight games and can reach the 11-win plateau for the first time since the 1939 team went 13-0.
Although this will be a longer journey for San Jose State, the Spartans visited Washington earlier this season and beat Navy 12-0 on Sept. 29. The Spartans actually went through some of their plays on the National Mall.
Both teams feature the respective defensive players of the year in their conferences.
San Jose State lineman Travis Johnson earned the honor in the WAC after finishing with 12 sacks and leading the conference with 19 tackles for loss.
The 19 tackles for loss is the same total recorded by Bowling Green tackle Chris Jones, the Mid-American Conference player of the year. Jones finished third in the nation with 12 1/2 sacks for a defense ranked seventh nationally, allowing 289.7 yards per game.
This is the first time in the five-year history of the Military Bowl that it has featured a ranked team.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
