For the second consecutive week, San Jose State lost to a ranked opponent as the Spartans fell to No. 23 UNLV 27-16 on a rainy Friday night at CEFCU Stadium.
UNLV scored 17 consecutive points to erase a 16-10 halftime deficit, dropping the Spartans to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Mountain West Conference.
“We just gotta learn as a team to keep fighting when games are close, just stay the course, don’t get rattled and we got rattled,” SJSU coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “When adversity hits, you just gotta to stay the course and we haven’t been doing that these last two weeks.”
Niumatalolo said the Spartans don’t need to panic.
They just need to do their job.
“I have to do a better job of coaching our guys to remember that,” Niumatalolo said.
Here are the takeaways from the defeat:
RUN GAME STIFLED
SJSU’s priority on offense has been to pass. The coaching staff has made that well known. The Spartans’ plan all season has been to maximize possessions with explosive plays instead of winning time of possession.
But with an atmospheric river running through the Bay Area on Friday night, the Spartans tried to lean on their run game more than usual.
And it didn’t go as planned.
“We couldn’t block them and that makes things tough,” Niumatalolo said.
The most frustrating part for Niumatalolo was the run game being stopped even though UNLV didn’t load the line of scrimmage with defenders.
“Some of the boxes they were giving us gave us the opportunity to run the football,” Niumatalolo said. “They had a lot of two high safeties and the safety rolled down into the run game.”
Running back Floyd Chalk IV led the Spartans in rushing with 56 yards on 18 attempts. The other running back who carried the ball for San Jose State, Jabari Bates, had minus-10 yards on three carries.
SJSU finished with 31 yards overall, 1.2 per attempt.
“We gotta be able to get more than two yards,” Niumatalolo said. “We didn’t play very well. We got whipped up front.”
Added Chalk, “The game plan, it was correct. I could have done more on my behalf. We just didn’t execute it.”
Quarterback Walker Eget said UNLV had an effective game plan for SJSU’s spread offense.
“If we’re able to run the ball, then the pass game will be open,” Eget said. “If we could fix that up a little more for the future we’ll be good.”
PASS GAME NON-EXISTENT IN RAIN
The Spartans put up their lowest number of passing yards in a game, finishing with only 81 six days after throwing for a season-high 446 in a loss to Boise State. Their lowest passing total before Friday came at Air Force in Week 2, when the Spartans had 262 yards.
“Throwing against the wind, that kind of hindered some stuff,” Eget said. “But we still gotta play through it.”
As if the rainy conditions weren’t bad enough, Spartans wide receiver Justin Lockhart left the field limping in the first half and did not return.
“Losing (Lockhart) did not help us,” Niumatalolo said. “He’s an explosive player for us.”
Spartans star receiver Nick Nash, a Fred Biletnikoff semifinalist, was held to one reception and did not reach the end zone. Weather and UNLV’s defense were a factor, according to Niumatalolo.
“We had 4 of 22 in the passing game, we’re a passing team, we’re gonna be hard pressed to beat anybody completing that low percentage,” Niumatalolo said.
One of Eget’s completions was a 33-yard touchdown to wide receiver Matthew Coleman, but the quarterback acknowledged that the wet affected the Spartans.
“We just gotta finish better as an offense,” Eget said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the defense if we’re not moving the ball. It’s harder to throw in the rain, of course, but it’s just something we had change on the fly and deal with.”
The Spartans finished with just 112 yards of total offense.
SPECIAL TEAMS’ WOES CONTINUE
A botched attempt to block a punt in fourth quarter turned into a running into the kicker penalty by SJSU, a costly infraction given the score.
The Spartans trailed 20-16 when linebacker John Norwood ran into Rebels punter Marshall Nichols, extending a drive. UNLV eventually scored a touchdown, stretching the lead to two scores.
“You can’t do those types of things against the No. 23 team or against any team,” Niumatalolo said. “Just had a lapse, but you can’t do those kinds of things.”
Niumatalolo said the Spartans had called for a “safe” rush on that play. There was no intention to block the punt.
“We’re just coming off the edges to ensure they kick the football,” he said.
DEFENSE NOT TO BLAME
Niumatalolo was encouraged by what he saw from his defense, which kept the score tight on a night the offense sputtered.
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“Thought they did some good things, especially in the first half,” Niumatalolo said of the defense. “I thought the defense battled and gave us a chance to win the game,”
The highlight for SJSU was Isiah Revis’ pick-six that he took for 40 yards to the end zone. Revis said he recognized the play from watching film, allowing him to make the catch.
“They had run that on film so I was anticipating it,” Revis said. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just disguised it pretty good.”
UP NEXT
SJSU’s regular-season finale is scheduled for Friday at home against Stanford. Kickoff is 1 p.m. It will be senior day and the renewal of the Bill Walsh Legacy Game. The Spartans have not played Stanford since 2013.
