By Niles Hall (@n23hall) Spear Reporter | Senior quarterback Walker Eget takes the snap in last week’s loss vs. Central Michigan. (Photo by Alexis Corona-Aguilar – The Spear)
San Jose State football looks to regroup quickly as it heads to Austin to play the No. 7-ranked Texas Longhorns.
Both teams are coming off disappointing losses. The Spartans lost 16-14 to Central Michigan, and the Longhorns lost 14-7 to No.1 Ohio State.
SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo described the loss after practice on Tuesday as “One of the worst losses of my career.”
The Spartans are playing in the hostile Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which hosts more than 100,000 fans
This is the first time SJSU faced an SEC opponent on the road since 2019, when they beat the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks 31-24.
Head coach Niumatalolo described this week’s opponent, saying, “This is probably one of the best teams I’ve ever played; they have a ton of future NFL players.”
Texas is led by sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, nephew of legendary NFL quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning.
Manning is making the 4th start of his career. In those games, he’s 2-1; the first loss of his career happened in last week’s game. Manning and the Texas offense struggled as he only threw for 170 yards and had one interception.
Communication and coaching preparation is almost mandatory for the Spartans to have a chance against the Longhorns.
In last week’s game, communication was something the Spartans struggled with at home.
Senior quarterback Walker Eget was responsible for three turnovers, two interceptions and one strip-sack fumble.
Offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann emphasized the importance of protecting the football.
“We gotta play clean football,” Stutzmann said. “When we play clean football we’re gonna be pretty unstoppable. We’re going to talk loud and be on the same page.”
Stutzmann also addressed the Spartans’ miscommunications, emphasizing that communication was a key point of focus in this week’s practices.
On Thursday, Eget also shared the same sentiment heading into this week’s game.
“We’re going to talk loud and be on the same page,” Eget said, “If one person is on a different page than everybody, it could be a missing assignment… and that’s something we can control.”
Niumatalolo expressed his confidence in Eget after practice on Tuesday, sharing a story on how the quarterback texted Niumatalolo on Saturday night, taking accountability for the loss.
“He texted me at 1:30 in the morning… Just him taking accountability for the loss…I just responded back saying I don’t doubt that one iota”.
Keeping things simple is the biggest message in SJSU’s preparation as the Spartans go down south to play the Longhorns.
The Spartans take on the Longhorns at 9 a.m. on ABC. The first time SJSU will be on ABC since 2006.
