By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Wide receiver Nick Nash prepares for the play against Kennesaw State on 9/14 (photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
The score was 54-52 in double overtime. Sophomore quarterback Emmett Brown just found senior wide receiver Nick Nash for a touchdown in the end zone and San Jose State (3-1) needs a two-point conversion to keep the game alive.
Brown takes the snap and before he can get his throw off he is hit from behind. The ball comes loose and is recovered by Washington State (4-0).
Game Over.
“I’m just proud of our guys,” head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “They laid everything out on the field there, so I’m hurt for them right now.”
In one of the craziest finishes you will ever see SJSU came up two points short.
In the fourth quarter it looked like the Spartans had it all wrapped up after a miraculous fourth-and-10 throw from Brown who found sophomore wide receiver TreyShun Hurry in the back of the end zone to bring the score to 46-43 after a two point conversion.
The throw looked like it was intended for Nash.
“I absolutely love seeing him go up for that ball,” Nash said. “Even though he kind of stole that last one from me.”
Nash added on to his FBS leading numbers with 152 yards and two touchdowns. Nash had 16 receptions on 23 targets despite him not getting a reception until the 10:46 mark in the second quarter due to the Cougars covering him tightly in the first quarter.
Brown threw for 375 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. His turnovers would come at key moments in the game and allowed the Cougars to crawl back into the game.
“They did a good job of creating different looks, different pressure in the second half,” Brown said. “But a lot of it’s just me, I gotta get a little bit better and recognize some of that stuff.”
After Hurry’s touchdown, the Spartans left 26 seconds on the game clock for the Cougars.
That ended up being just enough time for sophomore quarterback John Mateer and the Cougars’ offense as they were able to drive down the field and set-up a 52-yard field goal for senior kicker Dean Janikowski.
Janikowski’s field goal to send the game into overtime served as redemption for him. As earlier in the fourth quarter he missed an extra point to prevent the Cougars from tying the game leaving the score at 38-37 in favor of the Spartans.
Mateer once again got to show off his dual threat abilities as he passed for 390 yards, four touchdowns and rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Cougars senior wide receiver Kyle Williams was his main target on the night racking up 138 yards and a touchdown despite battling through injury.
The Spartans’ defense struggled as a whole during the game allowing 627 yards of total offense.
The Cougars went 9-15 on third down in the game including lots of big third and long conversions that would have completely flipped the game around if they had gone the Spartans way.
In the third quarter, SJSU held a two-touchdown lead with the score sitting at 38-24. In that quarter the Spartans dominated and went on a 21-0 run.
“Momentum is real and when a team catches it you ride it,” Brown said. “For us it’s important to take back the momentum when we feel it shifting away.”
It looked like the Spartans had the game tightly in their grip but they were not able to hold on in the end.
As a part of this big run, senior linebacker Jordan Cobbs had two sacks and an interception which he returned for 55 yards.
“I was just reading my keys, our d-line got a good push up line and I was able to read the quarterback,” Cobbs said. “I tried to flip the field as well but by then I was a little out of gas.”
During the third quarter the Spartans also limited the Cougars to 89 yards of total offense.
The offense started out with a bang for the Spartans with junior running back Floyd Chalk IV sprinting for a 66-yard touchdown run on just the second play of the drive.
Chalk would finish the game with 94 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
After scoring quickly the Spartans caught the Cougars by surprise with an onside kick which was recovered by sophomore cornerback Zavion Reese.
The Spartans had more tricks up their sleeves as on a fourth-and-1 from their own 33, they ran a direct snap to junior linebacker Jordan Pollard who ran it for a nine yard gain.
“We were coming to win, we were going to be aggressive but not reckless,” Niumatalolo said. “We knew we were going to have to try and get more possessions.”
While this game ended in a loss, it was a statement to the public that showed SJSU can come out and compete with Pac-12 schools. The odds had SJSU at 13.5 point underdogs but they came out and showed they can go toe-to-toe with big name programs.
Something that the Spartans themselves already knew.
“We can compete against anybody,” Brown said. “We didn’t have a shadow of a doubt that we could go out there and win that game, so our confidence is still through the roof.”
The Spartans will roll into the bye week that will give their players a chance to rest up. Niumatalolo just wishes they could have had a win to roll over into the bye.
“It came at a good time for us because we’re beat up,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s always a balance of continuing to sharpen your skills, but not beat your guys up.”
SJSU will look to bounce back against Nevada (1-3) with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 back home at CEFCU Stadium.
