By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Walker Eget prepares to take the snap (photo by Mat Bejarano – Spear Editor)
With 7:57 left on the clock in the third quarter sophomore quarterback Emmett Brown dropped back to pass but had his pass tipped and broken up by Wolfpack senior cornerback Keyshawn Cobb.
Nevada (2-4) was bringing the pressure defensively forcing Brown to lose his rhythm in the second half and batting down three of his passes at the line of scrimmage.
After a holding penalty dropped SJSU (4-1) back to 1st and 20, offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann felt he had to make a change.
“Coach Stutzmann felt he was getting a little bogged down offensively and he just said ‘Walker get in there,’” head coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Junior quarterback Walker Eget was put in to play after initially losing the starting quarterback battle to Brown.
The quick decision in the middle of a drive to switch quarterbacks caught Niumatalolo off guard but he put his full faith in Stutzmann’s judgment.
Eget came in and went 5-5 for 54 yards and led the Spartans down the field on a drive capped off by a five-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Floyd Chalk IV.
Eget would finish the game 10 for 13 for 143 yards while Brown threw 12 for 28 with 170 yards and two touchdowns.
Brown has passed for 1,460 yards and 15 touchdowns this season so taking him out of the game was a risk but it provided the spark that the Spartans needed to achieve their 35-31 win over the Wolfpack.
Senior wide receiver Nick Nash was impressed with Eget’s poise.
“He came in there and he looked like a veteran quarterback,” Nash said. “He didn’t panic when things didn’t go right and he really played well.”
Nash had five receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown in the game. Nash wasn’t as dominant as his first few weeks of the season due to the Nevada’s secondary hitting him with double coverages.
“It was tough but it was nice to see some of the other guys on the field get some success from it,” Nash said.
One of the guys was senior wide receiver Sebastian Macaluso.
Macaluso racked up three receptions for 67 yards including a 51-yard reception off a scramble from Eget during the go-ahead drive.
“As soon as I hop over to the left side of the field I see him screaming down the field,” Eget said. “It was a good play by Justin Lockhart because he took the safety out of it, then it was just time for a little deep ball action.”
The next play the Spartans would unleash a trick up their sleeve with a screen pass to Nash who would set up to pass and find sophomore running back Jabari Bates in the end zone for a touchdown.
“I was excited because I thought we were going to be able to get a lot of pull from the defense with me motioning across,” Nash said. “Once I saw Jabari slip through the cracks, he was wide open and I just wanted to put it somewhere where he could catch it.”
It wasn’t all through the air for the Spartans on the night as Chalk had a solid game putting up 57 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Floyd Chalk IV stiff arms a defender (photo by Mat Bejarano – Spear Editor)
“Floyd and Jabari had some very explosive runs,” Eget said. “They keep giving us runs like that, I don’t think this offense can be stopped.”
On the defensive side of the ball the Spartans struggled to contain junior quarterback Brendon Lewis. Lewis threw for 213 yards and two touchdowns while also utilizing his legs, running for 90 yards and two touchdowns as the Wolfpack’s leading rusher.
“We just got to wrap up, in the first half we had a lot of missed tackles,” junior cornerback DJ Harvey said. “Facing a scrambling quarterback, we got to keep him in the box and keep him contained.”
Senior Wolfpack wide receiver Jaden Smith’s 6-foot-6 inch frame would prove to be a problem for the Spartans as his two touchdown receptions came on goal line fades. Smith also totaled 89 yards receiving.
SJSU will be on the road again to face off against Colorado State (2-3). Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on October 12 at Canvas Stadium.
