SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL FACT SHEET (GAME #13 – NEW MEXICO BOWL)

Next game: San Jose State vs. New Mexico, Saturday, December 23, 2006, University Stadium, 2:30 p.m. (MST)

San Jose State record: 8-4, 5-3 WAC. The Spartans finished the regular season with a two-game winning streak defeating Idaho (28-13) and Fresno State (24-14).

New Mexico record: 6-6, 4-4 Mountain West. The Lobos closed out the regular season with a win over San Diego State (41-14).

San Jose State head coach Dick Tomey: Finishing his second season with the Spartans. Has an 11-12 win-loss record at San Jose State. Overall, Tomey is in his 26th season as a major college head coach and has a record of 169-122-7. Along with Paul “Bear” Bryant (Kentucky and Alabama) and George Welsh (Virginia and Navy), he is one of three men who is the winningest football head coach at multiple schools. He still ranks in top-10 for coaching victories both in WAC and the Pacific-10 Conferences.

Tomey is 11-2 as a head coach against New Mexico. He was 8-2 as the Hawaii head coach and 3-0 with Arizona. One of his wins with Arizona was a 20-14 triumph in the 1997 Insight.com Bowl. In games in which he took a team to Albuquerque, Tomey has a 3-1 win-loss record as a head coach. Two of the three victories came as the Hawaii football coach. The last time a Tomey-led team played in Albuquerque, the University of Arizona posted a 25-10 triumph on September 15, 1990.

New Mexico head coach Rocky Long: Finishing his ninth season with the Lobos. Has a major college coaching record of 52-56, all at New Mexico. He has an 0-1 record as a head coach against San Jose State. In 1998, San Jose State opened conference action with a 37-20 victory in San Jose.

San Jose State-New Mexico series: San Jose State leads the series, 10-4-1. The Spartans won the last meeting between these teams including a 37-20 decision on September 26, 1998 in San Jose. The Lobos last win in the series was a 36-30 victory in Albuquerque on October 9, 1976. San Jose State is 5-2 in games played in Albuquerque.

Radio Coverage: KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates San Jose State University football broadcasts. Mike Chisholm calls the play-by-play. Neil Parry offers commentary. Air time for the New Mexico Bowl game is 1:00 p.m. (PST). The broadcasts also are available on a subscription basis on www.sjsuspartans.com and Yahoo!Broadcast.

Television Coverage: ESPN will have live play-by-play coverage of the game. Game coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. (PST).

Bowl history: The New Mexico Bowl marks San Jose State’s first post-season appearance since winning the 1990 California Raisin Bowl. The Spartans also will play in their first bowl game outside the state of California when they face the University of New Mexico.

1947 Raisin Bowl San Jose State 20 Utah State 0
1949 Raisin Bowl San Jose State 20 Texas Tech 13
1971 Pasadena Bowl Memphis State 28 San Jose State 9
1981 California Bowl Toledo 27 San Jose State 25
1986 California Bowl San Jose State 37 Miami (O.) 7
1987 California Bowl Eastern Michigan 30 San Jose State 27
1990 California Raisin Bowl San Jose State 48 Central Michigan 24

Best WAC finish: San Jose State recorded its best finish in its 11 seasons as a Western Athletic Conference member tying Nevada for third place. The Spartans’ 5-3 record in 2006 matches the program’s best conference win-loss record in the WAC and is only the third time a San Jose State has registered a .500 or better winning percentage in conference action. In 2000, the Spartans were 5-3. The 2002 team was 4-4 in WAC play.

Rebound seasons: The 2006 San Jose State team now is the fifth in school history to win at least three more games following a losing season and has the opportunity to finish with a winning record.