By Nick Austin – Spear Reporter | Quarterbacks Walker Eget (left) and Emmett Brown (right) warming up during practice on Aug. 27 (Photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
Barring injury, no one was expecting to see junior Walker Eget step in at quarterback at any point this season.
He and sophomore Emmett Brown battled it out for the starting quarterback job over the spring and into the fall.
However, Brown was named the starter just before the Spartans’ first game of the season against Sacramento State.
During the Spartans’ game against Nevada, the once-dead quarterback controversy arose once again.
In the middle of the third quarter, offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann replaced Brown with Eget.
To that point, Brown had completed 12 of 26 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
“I remember the moment too,” SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “[Stutzmann] was getting a little bit bogged down offensively, and he just said ‘Walker get in there.’”
Niumatalolo pointed out that it’s important to trust Stutzmann’s judgment on his decision to bench Brown and that it’s a testament to both quarterbacks and their coaches on their abilities to always be ready.
Immediately after Eget was put into the game he went 5-5 for 54 yards on his first drive and put the team in position for a five-yard touchdown run by junior running back Floyd Chalk IV to tie the game up at 28-28.
“I was just locked in and that’s how it has to be,” Eget said. “However the flow of the game is going you just have to be ready at all times.”
Brown was inserted under center to start the eventual game winning drive. However, after two straight incompletions, Brown was subbed out for Eget once more.
Visibly frustrated, Brown slammed his helmet into the ground once returning to the bench.
Eget’s longest pass of the game, a 51-yard pass to senior wide receiver Sebastian Macaluso happened on the key fourth-quarter drive. It inevitably led to a 16-yard trick play with senior wide receiver Nick Nash throwing the ball to sophomore running back Jabari Bates for the touchdown.
“I saw quarters, so I knew that with that concept we would have a good matchup,” Eget said. “He was moving and it just felt like a good time to put a little deep-ball action into it.”
While Eget did replace Brown this game, he made sure to point out the comradery that all the quarterbacks have with each other.
“Emmett is a fantastic quarterback and there are things that I wish I could do that he does,” Eget said. “I think us together is a really good room. All three of us are always doing extra and all working together.”
Eget has barely gotten significant playing time since being at San Jose State. The game against Nevada was the first game he had ever completed more than one pass in a game.
The last time Eget got any significant playing time he completed one out of eight passes for eights yards and a 12.5% completion percentage against Western Michigan in the 2021-2022 season.
“It’s been a long journey and it was really really fun,” Eget said. “There are so many moments like this that you have to cherish for the rest of your life.”
Eget finished the game completing 10 of his 13 passes for 141 yards and helped the Spartans pull out the 35-31 victory over the Wolf Pack.
It is currently unknown who will be the starting quarterback next week when SJSU faces Colorado State.
When asked if both Eget and Brown will split first-team offensive reps, Niumatalolo said he imagines that that will be the case.
“I trust Craig, whatever he decides on that, we’ll just roll with it,” Niumatalolo said. “But Walker’s been getting a lot of reps anyways, that’s kinda how Craig’s prepared.”
