By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Junior Floyd Chalk IV running between two defenders to gain yardage against Wyoming on Oct.19. (photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
San Jose State’s (5-2, 3-1 MW) 24-14 win against Wyoming (1-6, 1-2 MW) doesn’t give SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo as much joy as the previous wins.
“It’s hard for me to celebrate this win because we didn’t play championship football,” head coach Niumatalolo said.
After scoring a touchdown on the first drive, the offense stalled out and the Spartans had three of their four turnovers in the first half.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a ton,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s hard to beat people with four turnovers.”
Two of the first half turnovers were from junior quarterback Walker Eget. One of them being on a 32-yard scramble that ended in a fumble and the other being an interception after a batted ball.
The final first-half turnover came after a muffed punt by sophomore wide receiver Matthew Coleman which gave the ball to the Cowboys in Spartans territory.
The special teams did not play up to its usual standard as the unit allowed a blocked field goal by senior cornerback Tyrecus Davis. Davis also was the one who forced the fumble on the Eget scramble.
“The blocked field goal was inexcusable, we just had a breakdown in technique,” Niumatalolo said. “We had some penalties and I think our execution wasn’t very great.”
Despite all of the turnovers, the Spartans were able to get a win in Eget’s first start.
Eget threw for 318 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
“He will be the first one to tell you he could have played a lot better but he did a lot of good things for his first start,” Niumatalolo said. “He will only get better from here.”
Eget showed good chemistry with senior wide receiver Justin Lockhart who had four receptions for 129 yards including a big 57-yard catch.
“Lockhart is a really good player,” Eget said. “A lot of people don’t really know about him because Nick Nash is such an all around player but people forget that all of our other receivers, especially Justin, can do it all too.”
Senior wide receiver Nick Nash had 10 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. Nash is now tied for the most games with double-digit receptions in a single season in SJSU history with four.
He also extends his consecutive touchdown streak to seven games which is also an SJSU record.
The Cowboys dominated in time of possession as they controlled the ball for 36:16 while the Spartans had the ball for 23:44.
The run game got going for the Spartans today with junior running back Floyd Chalk IV having 12 carries for a season-high 91 yards and a touchdown.
“(Chalk and Jabari Bates) were blasting through,” Eget said. “I think the o-line really stepped up today and it was cool to see that we had a lot of big explosive runs.”
On the other side of the ball the Spartans defense clamped down the run for the Cowboys. The Cowboys had 38 rushes for 56 yards averaging 1.5 yards per carry.
This was the best the Spartans have been against the run all season.
Senior defensive linemen John Ward had a big game for the second straight week as he racked up eight total tackles and a sack.
“I noticed throughout the week that their left tackle would set deep so I was already planning on taking the inside move on him,” Ward said. “So I took the inside move on him and got home free.”
Niumatalolo felt like the defensive performance was a much needed boost of confidence for them.
“I thought we struggled the last couple weeks mightily,” Niumatalolo said. “Our kids stayed the course and it was a much needed bounce back game for them.”
At 5-2, the Spartans are now one win away from becoming bowl eligible with a roster of 49 players who were not on the roster last season.
The Spartans can achieve that goal against their longtime rivals Fresno State (4-3, 2-1 MW) on October 26 at 5 p.m. at Valley Children’s Stadium.
