By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Junior quarterback Walker Eget prepares to take the snap (photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
Storming out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, it looked like San Jose State (6-4, 3-3 MW) was in prime position to upset No. 13 Boise State (9-1, 6-0 MW). However, the game ended in a 42-21 loss with Spartans head coach Ken Niumatalolo kicking himself over one decision.
With the lead and the Spartans having a fourth and goal at the Boise State 2-yard line, they trotted out the field goal unit for a chip-shot attempt. But a substitution error would cause Niumatalolo to call a timeout and then led to him rethinking his plan.
The Spartans then went for it and junior quarterback Walker Eget would throw a pass to junior offensive lineman Sione Nomani. The play was blown up for a loss of three yards after a missed assignment.
Niumatalolo said he regrets not kicking the field goal.
“My gut instinct was to go for a field goal but we called a timeout and I got greedy,” Niumatalolo said.
After this call the momentum would swing strongly into Boise State’s favor as the Spartans would be outscored 42-7 for the remainder of the game.
The drive right after the miscue on fourth down, Boise State would respond with a 92-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 4-yard run by sophomore quarterback Maddux Madson.
Madson would finish the game 22-30 with 286 yards through the air. The offense utilized good play action looks with the Spartans defense focused on stopping Heisman candidate Ashton Jeanty.
Getting too greedy was a theme on the night for the Spartans as there were two other big plays that resulted in turnovers that haunted them.
On a fourth and two, Eget scrambled on a designed quarterback run that would have been a first down but then fumbled the football after suffering a hit from sophomore defensive end Jayden Virgin-Morgan while fighting for extra yards.
“If I could go back I would just go down after getting the first,” Eget said. “Taking the unnecessary hit is just bad football. Can’t be doing that in the future.”
Another big turnover came from a play on third and two where senior wide receiver Nick Nash lined up under center and an end around play to Eget was attempted but a bad exchange led to a fumble recovered by Boise State.
“It’s always tough decisions because when you make those plays you’re the hero and when you don’t you’re not,” Nash said. “We had it drawn up right, it was just one little mistake and those are the ones that kill you.”
Eget finished the game with 446 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He had a great connection with Nash and senior wide receiver Justin Lockhart.
Nash had nine receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. This game Nash broke the record for most single season receptions in SJSU history and now has 95 receptions on the season.
“It’s pretty bittersweet, I think it would have been a lot cooler to say we beat the number 13 team in the nation,” Nash said. “But unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
Lockhart was the Spartans leading receiver this game with 172 yards receiving and a touchdown. Lockhart continues his hot streak as three out of the past four games he has had over 100 yards receiving and a 93 yard performance against Fresno State.
Jeanty finished the game with 159 yards and three touchdowns.
But, he did not find much success until the second half as Jeanty only had 55 rushing yards and a touchdown through two quarters. Multiple Spartans were tackling Jeanty every play limiting his explosiveness.
This turned around in the second half as Boise State was able to feed him until he wore down the Spartans defense.
“He’s a physical back, he doesn’t want to go down easy,” junior cornerback DJ Harvey said. “He has a low center of gravity so all the missed tackles you saw today are from him giving you little targets. He’s going to be a great back in the NFL.”
Boise State got its first lead of the game with two minutes to go in the third quarter on a 36-yard touchdown run by Jeanty.
SJSU will have to bounce back on a short week as they face UNLV (7-2, 3-1 MW) on Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.
“We got another good team coming in next week,” Niumatalolo said. “We got to fix this stuff quickly.”
