By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | The Spartans run out of the entrance to the field before their game against Fresno State (photo by Nick Orozco – Spear Photographer)
San Jose State (5-3, 3-2 MW) and Oregon State (4-4) are in similar places in the season. Both schools are coming off of their worst performances of the season.
Oregon State lost 44-7 to Cal (4-4, 0-4 ACC) and SJSU is coming off a 33-10 loss to Fresno State (5-4, 3-2 MW).
After the loss to Fresno State head coach Ken Niumatalolo described the team as looking out of sync. The Spartans spent the bye week trying to correct that.
“I thought it went well because we went back to the basics,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s kind of a time to go back and critique what you did.”
We now know that SJSU junior quarterback Walker Eget is expected to be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season according to Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann.
This season Eget has thrown for 917 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Eget has started the last two weeks, receiving a majority of the snaps. Now he is in line for his third consecutive start.
Stutzmann spoke on his decision to go with Eget.
“For us to be able to win the games in the toughest part of our schedule we need this person to play at this (specific) level,” Stutzmann said. “Right now we feel that Walker gives us the best chance.”
The Beavers present a good chance for the Spartans offense to get back on track because they are last in the nation with 0.4 sacks per game and only have five total sacks on the season.
If the Spartans are able to keep the pocket clean for Eget the Stutzmann’s signature “Spread-n-shred” offense could get back on pace allowing plays to fully develop.
“Oregon State has a lot of similarities to a team like Fresno and some similarities to Colorado State,” Eget said. “So we’re going to see a lot of looks like that.”
After the game against Fresno, Eget feels like the offense has to settle down.
“We can’t be afraid to take the little things,” Eget said. “Whether that’s a small route, or giving the ball off on a run play,
The Beavers are in a similar situation with their quarterbacks as the Spartans are. Beavers head coach Trent Bray said that the quarterback spot is open between junior Gevani McCoy, junior Ben Gulbranson and freshman Gabarri Johnson according to Nick Dashel of The Oregonian.
Niumatalolo said it is challenging to prepare for a team where you don’t know who the quarterback is.
“You prepare for the schemes. You watch the tape to see what both guys did,” Niumatalolo said. “It does present a problem a little bit differently that way.”
Senior wide receiver Nick Nash has drawn mass media attention because he currently leads FBS with twelve receiving touchdowns and is second in the country with 995 receiving yards.
But senior wide receiver Justin Lockhart has also been quietly having a great season. Lockhart has 625 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Niumatalolo wants to help the offense not overdo new schematics but also not get caught doing the same thing each week.
“We try to dress things up each week and make them look a little different,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s a tough balance because we want to add enough new stuff each week but you don’t want to give your kids so much stuff they can’t execute.”
