SAN JOSE — With non-stop rain pelting at CEFCU Stadium, San Jose State lost to UNLV 27-16 on Friday night after the Rebels held the Spartans scoreless in the second half.
“We couldn’t get anything going offensively, obviously the weather contributed to that,” SJSU coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “(We) couldn’t get off the field and we couldn’t get anything going in the second half.”
UNLV tapped into its run game to flood SJSU’s defense in the third and fourth quarters with a 25-yard rushing touchdown by running back Jai’Den Thomas and a seven-yard rushing touchdown by running back Kylin James.
The first half had plenty of ugly moments. From a 13-yard punt by SJSU, a missed 52-yard field goal by UNLV, a bad snap that went minus-29 yards that Spartans quarterback Walker Eget attempted to jump on but missed and a botched snap for a UNLV punt that went 47 yards back, there were a lot of mistakes on the rain-soaked field
Throughout all the mishaps, SJSU was able to escape the first half with a 16-10 lead on the back of a 40-yard pick-six by defensive back Isiah Revis and a 33-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Matthew Coleman, his first of the season.
“They had run that on film so I was anticipating it,” Revis said of his interception. “I didn’t do anything crazy, just disguised it pretty good.”
The Spartans offense, known for its passing, finished with a season-low 81 yards through the air.
“We had a lot of balls going through our hands tonight and you can’t make excuses, this is football,” Niumtalolo said.
Eget only had four passes complete on 22 attempts.
Spartans wide receiver and Fred Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Nick Nash had one reception for nine yards, a season low.
“It was a culmination of a lot of things,” Niumatalolo said of the pass game Friday. “It wasn’t all (Eget), either. We had some protection breakdowns.”
SJSU’s next game is scheduled for 1 p.m. next Friday at home against Stanford, a renewal of the Bill Walsh Legacy Game. It will mark the first football matchup between the South Bay universities since 2013.
