By Niles Hall (@n23hall) – Content Editor | SJSU sophomore wide receiver Danny Scudero scores a touchdown on Sept.27 in loss against Stanford (Photo by Denim Bragg – Spear photographer)
The San Jose State Spartans (1-3) open up Mountain West conference play against the New Mexico Lobos (3-1). The Spartans enter conference play coming off a brutal 30-29 loss to Stanford.
SJSU’s offense is coming off its best game of the season, having 524 yards of offense, the most the Spartans have had since 2013.
Senior quarterback Walker Eget threw for a career-high 473 yards, showing a strong connection with the Spartans’ three-headed wide receiver trio.
The trio of sophomore Danny Scudero, and juniors Kyri Shoels and Leland Smith, all had 100-plus yards against Stanford.
After a slow start to the season offensively, the Spartans have found their rhythm heading into conference play.
SJSU’s run game will most likely be without its best rusher this week. Junior running back Jabari Bates came down with an injury against Stanford.
SJSU’s coaching staff expressed full confidence in experienced running backs senior Floyd Chalk and sophomore Lamar Radcliffe.
SJSU’s special teams will see changes after senior kicker Denis Lynch started the season 4/10 on field goals. Sophomore kicker Mathias Brown will take over, who has yet to have a collegiate attempt.
“We’re gonna make a change at kicker, we’re gonna go with Mathias,” head coach Ken NiumataIolo said after practice Tuesday. “I love Denis, he’s a great young man, but we’ve had too many misses.”
Defensively, the Spartans started strong. But in recent matchups, opponents have begun to exploit their weaknesses.
This was seen in SJSU’s last two matchups, giving up a career high of 444 passing yards to Stanford senior quarterback Ben Gulbranson and giving up 271 yards of offense to Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood.
The Spartan defense will look to clean up their discipline in pass defense, giving up untimely chunk plays that seem to demoralize the team.
“We gave up some chunk plays. We can’t give up big chunk plays; that was a thing that really showed up,” defensive coordinator Derrick Odum said after practice Tuesday.
The Lobos offense has proven to be a well-balanced attack through the first four games of the season.
The offense is led by junior quarterback Jack Layne, who is known as an efficient quarterback who relies on his ability to make good decisions.
On the season, Layne has passed for 818 yards, along with throwing seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
Layne is coming off his best game of the season, passing for 303 yards and throwing four touchdowns.
The Lobos top target is sophomore tight end Dorian Thomas, who has 247 receiving yards on 24 receptions and is a big redzone target, having three touchdowns.
Senior Keagan Johnson is a physical wide receiver who relies on his ability to get yards after catch. He has 13 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.
The Lobos offense is anchored by their run game, having three running backs over 150 yards. The trio is led by junior Scottre Humprey, who has 263 yards on 47 carries and three touchdowns.
Humphrey is complemented by versatile back Damon Bankstone, who has 238 yards along with 133 receiving yards, having three touchdowns on the season. The Lobos’ third running back is sophomore D.J. McKinney, who has 175 rushing yards on 41 carries and a touchdown.
“The three backs that they have are really explosive, and they have a tight end that’s their leading receiver… They have a lot of weapons, and we gotta be on point,” coach Odom said.
The Spartans’ defense will be tested in this matchup, particularly in their two biggest weaknesses this season: run defense and secondary discipline.
The Spartans are 15-4-1 against the Lobos, winning six of the last seven matchups. The last Lobo win at CEFCU Stadium came in 1969.
SJSU will look to keep that record alive, hosting New Mexico at CEFCU Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
