By Lucas Quick – Spear Reporter | Junior quarterback Walker Eget attempts a pass against Boise State on Nov. 16 (photo by Nick Orozco- Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
The drama between two competent quarterbacks has been the main subject that has revolved around the entire regular season for San Jose State.
After a strong start it seemed like the issue had been resolved. But the middle of the third quarter against Nevada completely turned the tide of what SJSU would look like for the rest of the year.
Honestly, I severely questioned the idea of junior quarterback Walker Eget replacing sophomore quarterback Emmett Brown. There was no need. Brown had a strong opening and it was unnecessary to make that move.
Despite leading the Spartans to a game-winner against the Wolfpack, the record didn’t indicate that Eget becoming the starter was a good idea. They’ve gone 2-3 ever since the move.
However, this past weekend has completely changed my perspective on Eget. The past six weeks have been nothing but me complaining that Brown didn’t deserve this treatment.
SJSU hosted one of the biggest home games in its history against a nationally ranked Boise State squad. But through the entire match, Eget led his offense to keep them in the game.
Having the heaviest workload of the season, he had the best performance of his collegiate career. He threw for 446 yards, three touchdowns and completed 68% of his passes with a 154.7 passer rating.
Walker Eget prepares to take a snap against Boise State on Nov. 16 (photo by Nick Orozco – Co-Executive Editor of The Spear)
You still have to look at the three turnovers, which isn’t ideal but a lot of people are going to focus on that statline more than anything else. That’s just something Spartan fans are going to have to live with, as unforced turnovers have occurred pretty frequently this season. When throwing 50 passes in a game, having a pair of turnovers is going to occur when you’re placed with a heavy workload like that.
“He took responsibility for the loss last week, which wasn’t on him,” head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “He recognized that being quarterback, there’s a lot of weight on your shoulders, it’s the most important position in football and he hasn’t run away from that duty and responsibility.”
This was truly the first time I’ve seen offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann’s vision with Eget running his offense. Eget’s pocket presence was outstanding and he felt comfortable taking shots down the field against a Boise State secondary that struggled to keep up with him.
“Just following what the coach says, this is all his teachings and just trying to do it to the best of my ability and our team really put on a show,” Eget said. “I definitely think it was more of a team thing than a ‘me’ thing.”
There was a moment in the game where the Spartans were one play away from taking a three-touchdown lead against the Broncos. But a couple of unforced errors and turnovers was why SJSU couldn’t pull off the upset.
Outside of those couple of plays, the Spartans played extremely clean football mainly with the help of Eget. Their run game wasn’t effective for the majority of the game, heavily relying on Eget to march the Spartans down the field. Which he did an extremely great job doing.
The most impressive thing I saw out of Eget’s performance was trusting his receivers to haul in contested shots down the field. He also had numerous impressive throws that had to be completed through a tight window, including his touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Nick Nash early in the third quarter.
That’s what I’ve been waiting for these last few weeks. We’ve seen Eget be able to complete plays during his tenure as the starter, but it’s the consistency I’ve been waiting for. Outside of the three turnovers he committed, his consistency was on a level I’ve never seen from him before.
“That’s the main of a lot of his stuff is having confidence in yourself,” senior wide receiver Justin Lockhart said. “He’s always had the ability to make the reads.”
Largely as a result of incorporating both Nash and Lockhart in the passing game, they combined for 298 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Since the quarterback change, it was only the second time Nash has eclipsed 100 yards and it was a career high for Lockhart in receiving yards. If they continue to put up the firework show they were able to produce at CEFCU Stadium this past week, this offense can be as dynamic as ever.
They have another hard opponent heading to San Jose as they are facing a 8-2 UNLV team on a short week. But after putting up a good fight against the twelve ranked team in college football, I have confidence that Eget can make good strides with his offense to put up another good fight and potentially upset the 23rd-ranked team in the FBS.
I’ll admit, Eget completely outperformed my expectation towards his play for the rest of the season. Especially having to fight for your starting job and playing behind Brown for the majority of the season, it’s an impressive thing to fight adversity from.
“If something happens, you just got to go back to where your teaching are and what you’re taught to do,” Eget said. “I think it’s very important to not overthink it and be grateful.”
Despite all the quarterback controversy and all of the drama, Eget has displayed that he can be resilient and lead the Spartans moving forward and into a future bowl game. That alone has changed my perspective that he deserves to be the starter for the rest of the season.
