Battle for the Valley

The Fresno State–San Jose State football rivalry, also known as the Battle for the Valley^[2] is a college football rivalry between the Fresno State Bulldogs football team of California State University, Fresno and the San Jose State Spartans football team of San José State University. The two teams currently play annual, regularly scheduled contests as Mountain West Conference (West Division) opponents.

Fresno State–San Jose State football rivalry

Fresno State Bulldogs San Jose State Spartans
First meeting	November 19, 1921 San Jose State, 14–2
Latest meeting	October 26, 2024 Fresno State, 33–10
Trophy	Valley Trophy (2013–present)
Statistics
Meetings total	87
All-time series	Fresno State leads, 45–39–3[1]
Trophy series	Fresno State, 6–5
Largest victory	Fresno State, 63–12 (1999)
Longest win streak	Fresno State, 12 (1991–2005)
Current win streak	Fresno State, 1 (2024–present)

75km
50miles

San Jose State

Fresno State

  

Locations of Fresno State and San Jose State

Since 1921, Fresno State and San Jose State have shared conference affiliation in numerous athletics conferences including the California Coast Conference, Far Western Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association, Big West Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference.

The rivalry is likely rooted in the two schools' relatively close proximity to one another in the state of California. The city of Fresno is located approximately 150 miles southeast of San Jose. Both institutions are also members of the California State University system.

Additionally, Fresno State and San Jose State are both located in geographical valleys. Fresno is located in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley while San Jose is located in the Santa Clara Valley, which is now more widely known as Silicon Valley. The locations of the two schools account for the names Valley Cup, Valley Bowl and the Battle for the Valley.

As of 2024, Fresno State leads the series 45–39–3.

Historical overview

San Jose State led the series from 1949 to 2001, but Fresno State tied it at 32–32–3 with a victory in 2002 and recaptured the lead in 2003. The Bulldogs and Spartans first played each other in 1921, making the rivalry series the second oldest in the Mountain West Conference, behind only Colorado State–Wyoming.

The rivalry took a one-year break in 2012 after conference realignment temporarily separated the two schools, with Fresno State moving to the Mountain West Conference while San Jose State stayed in the Western Athletic Conference. It resumed as a conference rivalry in 2013 when San Jose State joined the Mountain West and is assured of being an annual matchup since both schools are in the West Division. Beginning in 2013, the winner of the game is awarded the Valley Trophy.^[3][4] The trophy features a silver letter V, with an electrical transistor pattern down one side, and a grape vine pattern down the other, representing each school's representative geographic region.

Statistics

	Fresno State	San Jose State
Games played	87
Wins	45	39
Ties	3
Home wins	23	22
Road wins	22	17
Consecutive wins	12	7
Most total points in a game	114
Most points in a win	63	65
Most points in a loss	52	30
Fewest total points in a game	0
Largest margin of victory	50	42
Smallest margin of victory	1	1
Total points scored in series	1,953	1,894
Shutouts of opposing team	4	2
Source:[5]

Game results

Fresno State victories

San Jose State victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 18, 1921 Fresno, CA San Jose State 14–2 2 October 24, 1925 San Jose, CA Fresno State 23–7 3 November 6, 1926 San Jose, CA Fresno State 34–0 4 November 5, 1927 San Jose, CA Fresno State 10–7 5 November 16, 1929 Fresno, CA San Jose State 26–14 6 November 15, 1930 San Jose, CA Fresno State 27–12 7 October 17, 1931 San Jose, CA Fresno State 32–0 8 October 21, 1932 San Jose, CA Tie 0–0 9 November 18, 1933 Fresno, CA San Jose State 18–0 10 November 3, 1934 San Jose, CA Tie 7–7 11 November 24, 1939 San Jose, CA San Jose State 42–7 12 November 16, 1940 Fresno, CA San Jose State 14–7 13 November 15, 1941 San Jose, CA Tie 0–0 14 November 26, 1942 Fresno, CA Fresno State 6–0 15 November 22, 1946 San Jose, CA San Jose State 13–2 16 November 27, 1947 San Jose, CA Fresno State 21–20 17 November 19, 1948 San Jose, CA San Jose State 41–6 18 November 24, 1949 Fresno, CA San Jose State 43–7 19 November 3, 1950 San Jose, CA San Jose State 33–7 20 October 6, 1951 Fresno, CA San Jose State 32–6 21 October 10, 1952 San Jose, CA San Jose State 40–6 22 October 3, 1953 Fresno, CA San Jose State 27–21 23 November 19, 1954 San Jose, CA San Jose State 28–0 24 November 18, 1955 Fresno, CA Fresno State 19–13 25 November 22, 1956 San Jose, CA Fresno State 30–14 26 November 16, 1957 Fresno, CA Fresno State 13–6 27 November 15, 1958 San Jose, CA San Jose State 48–6 28 October 17, 1959 Fresno, CA San Jose State 40–14 29 November 11, 1960 San Jose, CA Fresno State 27–12 30 November 18, 1961 Fresno, CA Fresno State 36–27 31 November 10, 1962 San Jose, CA Fresno State 20–14 32 November 16, 1963 San Jose, CA San Jose State 56–27 33 November 21, 1964 San Jose, CA San Jose State 26–14 34 November 20, 1965 Fresno, CA Fresno State 24–18 35 November 19, 1966 San Jose, CA Fresno State 15–13 36 November 18, 1967 Fresno, CA San Jose State 35–30 37 September 28, 1968 San Jose, CA San Jose State 25–21 38 November 21, 1970 San Jose, CA Fresno State 27–19 39 September 18, 1971 Fresno, CA Fresno State 14–7 40 September 30, 1972 San Jose, CA Fresno State 23–21 41 September 15, 1973 Fresno, CA San Jose State 24–6 42 September 14, 1974 San Jose, CA San Jose State 28–7 43 November 1, 1975 Fresno, CA San Jose State 21–7 44 October 23, 1976 San Jose, CA San Jose State 21–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 45 October 22, 1977 Fresno, CA Fresno State 45–24 46 October 21, 1978 San Jose, CA San Jose State 26–16 47 October 13, 1979 Fresno, CA San Jose State 35–22 48 October 11, 1980 San Jose, CA San Jose State 26–14 49 October 3, 1981 Fresno, CA San Jose State 65–33 50 October 23, 1982 San Jose, CA Fresno State 39–27 51 October 8, 1983 Fresno, CA San Jose State 41–23 52 October 27, 1984 San Jose, CA San Jose State 18–17 53 October 12, 1985 Fresno, CA Fresno State 37–17 54 October 4, 1986 San Jose, CA San Jose State 45–41 55 October 17, 1987 Fresno, CA San Jose State 20–16 56 October 29, 1988 San Jose, CA Fresno State 17–15 57 November 4, 1989 Fresno, CA #25 Fresno State 31–30 58 November 17, 1990 San Jose, CA San Jose State 42–7 59 November 23, 1991 Fresno, CA Fresno State 31–28 60 September 3, 1994 Fresno, CA Fresno State 45–13 61 October 12, 1996 Fresno, CA Fresno State 28–18 62 November 1, 1997 San Jose, CA Fresno State 53–12 63 November 21, 1998 Fresno, CA Fresno State 24–21 64 November 20, 1999 Fresno, CA Fresno State 63–12 65 November 25, 2000 San Jose, CA Fresno State 37–6 66 November 23, 2001 Fresno, CA #23 Fresno State 40–21 67 November 23, 2002 San Jose, CA Fresno State 19–16 68 November 15, 2003 Fresno, CA Fresno State 41–7 69 November 27, 2004 San Jose, CA Fresno State 62–28 70 November 5, 2005 Fresno, CA #21 Fresno State 45–7 71 December 2, 2006 San Jose, CA San Jose State 24–14 72 October 20, 2007 Fresno, CA Fresno State 30–0 73 November 21, 2008 San Jose, CA Fresno State 24–10 74 October 17, 2009 Fresno, CA Fresno State 41–21 75 October 23, 2010 San Jose, CA Fresno State 33–18 76 November 26, 2011 Fresno, CA San Jose State 27–24 77 November 29, 2013 San Jose, CA San Jose State 62–52 78 November 8, 2014 Fresno, CA Fresno State 38–24 79 September 26, 2015 San Jose, CA San Jose State 49–23 80 November 26, 2016 Fresno, CA San Jose State 16–14 81 October 7, 2017 San Jose, CA Fresno State 27–10 82 November 24, 2018 Fresno, CA Fresno State 31–13 83 November 30, 2019 San Jose, CA San Jose State 17–16 84 November 25, 2021 San Jose, CA Fresno State 40–9 85 October 15, 2022 Fresno, CA Fresno State 17–10 86 November 11, 2023 San Jose, CA San Jose State 42–18 87 October 26, 2024 Fresno, CA Fresno State 33–10 Series: Fresno State leads 45–39–3[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Winsipedia - Fresno State Bulldogs vs. San Jose State Spartans football series history". Winsipedia.
2. Weiner, Matt (October 16, 2022). "Bulldogs retain Valley Trophy, as SJSU football suffers 17–10 loss". The Spear SJSU. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
3. San Jose State Athletics (December 6, 2013). "Spartan Football Weekly presented by Una Mas 1.12". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2014. The trophy is shown at the 0:30 mark.
4. Durkin, Jimmy (November 6, 2014). "Clearing up some Valley Trophy questions". Spartan Central. Mercurynews.com. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
5. "Fresno State Bulldogs vs. San Jose State Spartans football series history". Winsipedia. Retrieved January 27, 2018.