San Jose State 35, Eastern Wash. 24

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	23	27
Total Yards	462	543
Passing	372	290
Rushing	90	253
Penalties	10-79	7-75
3rd Down Conversions	5-14	6-15
4th Down Conversions	0-0	2-3
Turnovers	2	3
Possession	26:07	33:53

Individual Leaders

Eastern Washington Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Meyer 23/37 372 2 1 Peerboom 0/3 0 0 0	San Jose State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Tafralis 21/34 290 2 1 Bozzo 0/1 0 0 0
Eastern Washington Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Cole 19 85 1 14 Morris 3 19 0 14 Kefu 2 6 0 3	San Jose State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Davis 13 94 0 43 Guidry 11 54 0 13 Tafralis 7 44 2 11
Eastern Washington Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Kimble 9 118 0 32 Vijil 5 121 1 57 Sanders 3 46 0 23 Cole 3 33 1 21	San Jose State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Skillern 7 138 1 28 Jones 5 47 0 14 Callier 3 45 0 16 Broussard 2 27 1 20

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				EWU	SJSU
	TD	7:11	RAUL VIJIL 27 YD PASS FROM ERIK MEYER (SHELDON WEDDLE KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 81 yards.	7	0
	TD	5:48	RUFUS SKILLERN 20 YD PASS FROM ADAM TAFRALIS (JARED STRUBECK KICK) Drive info: 3 plays, 54 yards.	7	7
	TD	1:17	RYAN COLE 5 YD RUN (SHELDON WEDDLE KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 80 yards.	14	7
SECOND QUARTER				EWU	SJSU
	FG	9:13	SHELDON WEDDLE 29 YD FG Drive info: 12 plays, 82 yards.	17	7
	TD	1:32	JOHN BROUSSARD 20 YD PASS FROM ADAM TAFRALIS (JARED STRUBECK KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 80 yards.	17	14
THIRD QUARTER				EWU	SJSU
	TD	12:12	ADAM TAFRALIS 8 YD RUN (JARED STRUBECK KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 70 yards.	17	21
	TD	10:42	ULISESE LIUA 6 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (JARED STRUBECK KICK)	17	28
	TD	2:28	ADAM TAFRALIS 3 YD RUN (JARED STRUBECK KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 80 yards.	17	35
	TD	0:54	RYAN COLE 21 YD PASS FROM ERIK MEYER (SHELDON WEDDLE KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 65 yards.	24	35

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- As time expired, Dick Tomey hustled onto the field to high-five his players and pat them on the helmet in an emotional display for the 67-year-old coach.

Tomey directed his team to the kind of exciting second-half comeback rarely experienced at San Jose State in recent years, and this moment deserved celebration.

Adam Tafralis passed for 290 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two scores, leading the Spartans over Eastern Washington 35-24 in Tomey's coaching debut at the school Saturday.

"I thought the middle of the second quarter was a real emotional tidal wave from our people," said Tomey, pleased his team didn't have a single delay-of-game penalty. "We're a work in progress as a football team for sure."

Rufus Skillern had seven catches for 138 yards and a touchdown for San Jose State in the first meeting between the schools. Ulisese Liua intercepted a pass and ran it 6 yards into the end zone in the third quarter before recovering a fumble moments later as the Spartans ushered in the Tomey era with an impressive defensive effort.

Tomey knows many challenges lie ahead in the rebuilding process of a program determined to become respectable again in the competitive Western Athletic Conference. "It didn't feel any different. I was at Texas last year. It's just fun to be part of such a wonderful group of young people," Tomey said. "It's not about me, it's about them ... and giving themselves a legitimate chance to win through their hard work and dedication, and that's what they've done."

Erik Meyer threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns for Eastern before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with cramping. Eric Kimble became the school's career receptions leader with his 13th 100-yard game, catching nine passes for 118 yards in the season opener for both teams, and Raul Vijil had five catches for 121 yards and a TD.

The Eagles, who play in the Big Sky Conference, are expected to be among the top teams in Division I-AA and have 14 starters back from their 9-3 2004 squad.

"They were pretty basic," Meyer said of San Jose State's defense. "We just missed on a couple plays and a couple throws and they got the momentum."

Tafralis completed his first five passes, including a 20-yard TD strike to Skillern, the team's leading receiver from last season. He ran for touchdowns of 8 and 3 yards in San Jose State's 21-point third quarter that erased a 17-14 halftime deficit.

"I'm so proud of our guys. Coach Tomey says the tougher it gets the better we play," Tafralis said. "You'd hear that chanting on the sidelines every couple series. It was nice to hear."

Yonus Davis rushed for 94 yards for the Spartans, including a career-long run of 43 yards in the second quarter that helped set up a 20-yard TD pass from Tafralis to John Broussard.

Tomey has the Spartans running his high-pressure, blitzing flex eagle defensive scheme -- known at Arizona as Desert Swarm. San Jose State allowed 42.6 points per game on defense last year, most in Division I.

"We know we can play," defensive tackle Kinji Green said. "At the end of the second quarter, we started getting some momentum and knew this is the way the defense is supposed to play. ... Everyone's emotions were so high."

Tomey begins his 25th season as a college head coach, taking over his third program four years after resigning at Arizona. He replaces Fitz Hill, who resigned after the Spartans went 14-33 the past four seasons and 2-9 last year. Tomey, the winningest coach at Arizona and Hawaii, was an assistant at Texas last season.

Isaiah Trufant recovered two fumbles for Eastern, but the Eagles struggled late.

"We made a couple of nice plays in the first half to go up 14 points," Eastern coach Paul Wulff said. "(Turnovers) in the second half were a huge momentum shift. It was the turning point in the ballgame. We couldn't quite recover from that."

Former Spartan Neil Parry, who played again after breaking his leg while making a tackle during the 2000 season and having his right leg amputated just below the knee, did color commentary for the radio broadcast.

San Jose State inducted former 49ers and Stanford coach Bill Walsh into the school's athletic Hall of Fame along with seven others during a halftime ceremony.

A moment of silence was held before the game for victims of Hurricane Katrina.