SJSU prepares to take on No. 23 UNLV and its go-go offense

By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Junior quarterback Walker Eget drops back to pass against Nevada on Oct. 5 (photo by Mat Bejarano – Spear Editor)

No. 23 UNLV (8-2, 4-1 MW) will be coming to CEFCU on Friday at 7 p.m. and this marks the first time in school history that the Spartans (6-4, 3-3 MW) have hosted ranked teams in back-to-back weeks. 

“(UNLV) might be the best looking football team physically in our (conference),” SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “UNLV has a lot of great schemes on offense. The creativity makes it hard to prepare for.” 

The Rebels run the go-go offense which was developed by offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. The offense fuses elements of the traditional triple-option with the quarterback under shotgun to allow for passing plays to be incorporated according to an article written by The Touchdown. 

In this offense, Rebels senior wide receiver Ricky White III has been able to rack up 10 touchdowns which is second in the Mountain West and 867 receiving yards which is good for third in the Mountain West. 

“They have a great team and great receivers,” Spartans senior safety Robert Rahimi said. “We just got to be ready.” 

SJSU comes in with the first and second place holders of receiving yards in the Mountain West with senior wide receivers Nick Nash (1st, 1,282 yards) and Justin Lockhart (2nd, 925). Nash also has a conference-leading 10 touchdowns. 

“Nash’s knack for making big plays in big moments is what we love about him,” offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann. “I wish we had another year with those guys.” 

This week Nash has been named a Biletnikoff Award semi-finalist and has flourished under Stutzmann’s “Spread-N-Shred” offense. 

UNLV ranks 115 of 134 in the FBS in passing yards allowed per game with 264.3 yards allowed while SJSU ranks fourth in the FBS with 343.7 offensive passing yards per game. 

Despite that, UNLV has two defenders who are top five in the Mountain West in turnovers forced with senior cornerback Jalen Catalon (1st, 5 INT) and senior linebacker Jackson Woodard (3rd, 4 INT). 

After the departure of Matthew Sluka, Rebels senior quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams took over and has proven to be effective as a dual hreat. 

Williams has thrown for 1,436 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also rushed for 646 yards and eight touchdowns. 

In the Spartans’ 42-21 loss to No. 12 Boise State (9-1, 6-0 MW) they turned the ball over four times. Niumatalolo said that the turnovers killed them and in order to beat UNLV they will need to limit the turnovers. 

“UNLV is very aggressive on defense and it seems like they don’t play with the fear of giving up a big play,” Stutzmann said. “They are very athletic in the back end and up front. They are very disruptive so it gets the quarterbacks to panic and make bad decisions.” 

Stutzmann spoke on his play-calling during the Boise State game. 

“The call that was going to be a reverse, it just felt like a forced call,” Stutzmann said. “With the things we were doing offensively, we were rolling. We just didn’t need that play at that time.” 

While SJSU is eliminated from playing in the Mountain West Championship, they still have the chance to play spoiler to UNLV’s chances. 

“We’re really excited about the crowd we had against (Boise State),” Niumatalolo said. “Somebody told me it was the biggest crowd since 2013. We’re going to need it again this Friday because this is the next best opponent we played this year. Our kids are looking forward to it and excited to get out.”