SAN JOSE – With 1:55 left in the fourth quarter, Treyshun Hurry hauled in an 18-yard touchdown reception from Walker Eget and San Jose State would ultimately hold on for a 34-31 victory over Stanford in the 68th Bill Walsh Legacy Game.
But leading up to the final drive, it did not look like a win was within SJSU’s grasp.
It looked like another game where turnovers would be the Spartans’ downfall.
Stanford had the ball with just 2:39 left in the game and faced a third-and-2 while SJSU had just one timeout remaining.
Instead of running the ball for the first first down or at least trying to burn the Spartans’ final timeout, Stanford threw the ball and it resulted in an Isiah Revis interception of the Cardinal’s Ashton Daniel.
“It was a good feeling, giving the offense the ball in that situation. Making their offense pay for being risky,” SJSU safety Isiah Revis said.
It was the 20th interception of the season for the defense.
Daniels hurt SJSU through the duration of the game on the ground with 17 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown. Stanford finished averaging more than four yards a carry.
Daniels and Justin Lamson combined for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
SJSU had not allowed quarterbacks to rush for more than 20 yards since Oct. 12 against Colorado State.
The Spartans’ secondary did a decent job holding Daniels to just 252 yards passing and they also picked him off three tims. The other two interceptions were from cornerback DJ Harvey and senior safety Robert Rahimi.
“I was thinking he was gonna run the ball, trying to run the clock out but they tried us and Revis capitalized,” Harvey said.
Eget’s game-winning pass was a part of a 33-for-49 passing afternoon for 385 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a fumble. At one point in the second quarter, Eget had 13 straight completions. He was also mobile while rushing for 14 yards and evading pressure most of the night.
”I was grateful he used his legs tonight. If that could be a component that he can add to his game, that would be awesome,” San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Eget’s fumble was the second play of the fourth quarter. SJSU tackle Peseti Lapuaho picked the ball up, began to run and then fumbled the ball into the end zone and it was recovered by Stanford.
”They don’t carry the ball at all during the week, they don’t work on ball security. If you get in those situations just go down,” Niumatalolo said.
That play was the only sack allowed by the Spartans but Eget was under pressure for much of the game.
After that play, linebacker Ethan Powell was ejected for a tackle on Elic Ayomanor that was ruled targeting that drained even more momentum out of the 19,000 plus crowd at CEFCU Stadium. Powell would also be ruled ineligible to play in the first half of SJSU’s future bowl game.
Ayomanor walked off under his own power and resumed playing. He was Stanford’s leading receiver and finished with 10 receptions for 109 yards.
Turnover margin, something that plagued the Spartans all year, ended up in the positive column after the Revis interception. The Spartans finished the regular season with a turnover margin of zero.
Stanford, though, scored touchdowns on both of Eget’s turnovers.
“We got given a second chance. God gave us that chance and we just made a hell of a play,” Eget said.
Eget spread the ball around to seven different receivers that included senior Sebastian Macaluso. Macaluso had five receptions for 62 yards.
The normal number two for the Spartans, Justin Lockhart, was injured in the third quarter and did not return to the game.
Lockhart also had multiple gains of 15 yards called back on penalties. This included a 75-yard touchdown nullified by a holding call on Joseph Harbert in his first career start.
The leading rusher was freshman Lamar Radcliffe, nicknamed, “Young Buck,” finished with seven carries for 43 yards.
SJSU started the game off slow with just seven plays in the first quarter that included a blocked punt. At one point, Stanford led the time of possession battle 15:23 to 2:32.
Stanford had the opportunity to extend its lead to 10-0 in the second quarter when it was inside the 5-yard line but went backwards three of the four plays.
Two of those tackles were by Revis, which included the fourth-down stop that changed the momentum of the game.
“Honestly, I was surprised they didn’t block me,” Revis said.
An unsportsmanlike penalty on Stanford’s Emmett Mosley V also dug SJSU out from near its own goal line and up to the 19-yard line.
Eget then started finding his Biletnikoff Award finalist: Nick Nash.
Nash caught two touchdowns in the second quarter and finished the game with eight receptions and 91 yards.
Nash’s 16 receiving touchdowns set a new SJSU single-season record, passing Chandler Jones’ total of 15 in 2013. That total also leads the nation.
”I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season. It was beautiful,” Nash said.
A seventh win helps San Jose State in their bowl push and gives Niumatalolo a successful year one.
Up next:
The Spartans will await the announcement of where it will play its bowl game following their seven-win season. This would be the first time in program history they’ve gone to a bowl game in three straight seasons.
