By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Head coach Ken Niumatalolo on the sidelines during SJSU’s 33-10 loss against Fresno State on Oct. 26 (photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
Head coach Ken Niumatalolo took it upon himself to get the Spartans fired up for their game against Oregon State.
Senior wide receiver Nick Nash said Niumatalolo took the blame for the team’s last couple of losses saying he felt he had not been juicing the players up enough. So Niumatalolo decided to add some theatrics to his pre-game speech.
“It was an amazing speech. He got fired up and he flipped over a table,” Nash said. “He said ‘we are going to fight today, fight, fight, fight.’ And that’s what we did.”
Niumatalolo was surprised to hear Nash revealed his pre-game hype tactic.
“I love Nick because he’s the best receiver in the country. So I can’t say anything but I gotta tell him he’s gotta keep that stuff in house,” Niumatalolo said with a laugh. “I’m sure I’ll get a hotel bill here in a little bit.”
The Spartans defeated Oregon State 24-13 as the speech resonated with the players and succeeded in getting them even more ready to go.
“I was jumping up and down, the speech was super cool,” junior quarterback Walker Eget said. “It definitely gave us that juice we needed because Oregon State is not an easy place to play. It just showed how much he really cares for us and loves us, that’s a coach we all want to play for.”
Niumatalolo wanted the Spartans to come out the gates with a punch.
“I thought we just had to play with some emotion,” Niumatalolo said. “Sometimes football is x’s and o’s and all that but sometimes it’s just a fight.”
Those emotions ran high in Corvallis as San Jose State would have to deal with lots of controversial calls and spots during the match. But, instead of the players getting upset it was actually Niumatalolo himself expressing his feelings to the officials.
Niumatalolo was penalized on the sideline for unsportsmanlike conduct after a controversial offensive pass interference call on Nash that negated a touchdown.
“Our players did a good job of showing you level of maturity,” Niumatalolo said. “”I’m the oldest guy in the building, 59 years old and I was the guy losing it.”
The firing showing on the sidelines from Niumatalolo also lit a fire under the Spartans.
“It lets us know that he sees it and he understands that it’s not the call we wanted,” Nash said. “That is part of his job to yell at the refs.”
A big win on the road against a Pac-12 school has the Spartans in high spirits and even facing a little more post-game adversity did not dampen their spirits.
“Somebody knocked down our post-game meal and half the food is not available,” Niumatalolo said. “We’ll try to get them something else but, I don’t think our kids care. They are just happy with the win.”
