SAN JOSE — San Jose State took care of business, opening Mountain West play with a win at Hawaii. But after a long flight home and with a short week to prepare for Wyoming, Ken Niumatalolo wants his Spartans to have a short memory.
“My concern is that we still got a little bit of a hangover from being excited about that win,” Niumatalolo said Tuesday. “We’ve got to push on and move forward. This team (Wyoming) beat Hawaii 27-10.”
The Spartans beat Hawaii 20-16 in Honolulu on Saturday night, and return home with momentum for Friday night’s homecoming game (6 p.m. kickoff) at CEFCU Stadium.
San Jose State (3-2, 1-0 MW) has won three of its past four games since its season-opening loss at USC, the lone setback a 26-10 home loss to Fresno State in Week 4.
San Jose State Spartans’ Naseri Danielson (3), San Jose State Spartans’ Dylan Lee (4), San Jose State Spartans’ Malakai Hoeft (24), San Jose State Spartans’ Dejon Roney (48) and San Jose State Spartans’ Nate Lewis (99) tackle Cal Poly Mustangs’ Misa Paiau (0) during the first quarter at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Wyoming (2-3, 1-1 MW) beat Hawaii at home two weeks ago, but is coming off a 24-0 loss at conference-leading North Dakota State. All three of the Cowboys’ losses have been blowouts – with a combined score of 87-23 — and all have come on the road.
SJSU’s defensive coaching staff will prepare for Wyoming’s heavy rushing attack, a contrast to the spread offense Hawaii used a week before.
“You go from one side of a defensive scheme to going to another completely different type of world,” SJSU defensive coordinator Bojay Filimoeatu said. “All credit to our coaching staff, we have done a great job of trying to get our guys correct.”
SJSU’s rushing defense is currently third in the Mountain West, allowing 3.9 yards per carry.
Wyoming running backs Markell Holman and Samuel Harris each present a different challenge, both averaging above 4.9 yards per carry. Quarterback Tyler Hughes shows dual-threat ability, rushing for 37 yards per game.
The Spartans’ defensive front has set the tone for the defensive success, ranking third in the Mountain West, averaging two sacks per game and fourth with 4.8 tackles for loss per game.
SJSU’s secondary has also had moments of excellence, with six interceptions this season. The unit has also struggled, giving up big passing plays and being last in the conference, allowing 258 passing yards per game.
San Jose State Spartans’ Caleb Womack (32) intercepts a pass intended for Cal Poly Mustangs’ Tayvion McCoy (2) during the fourth quarter at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
SJSU cornerback Caleb Womack has led the unit in interceptions (two) and is second on the team, averaging 7.2 tackles per game and will look to clean up the explosive pass plays.
“To see Womack bounce back after that one explosive pass at the end of the third quarter to come back in the fourth quarter to get a pass breakup and then a pick the next play,” Filimoeatu said. That’s big for him … a big play may happen; adversity strikes in football for him to bounce back the next quarter and have those tremendous plays showed me the grit.”
Offensively, the Spartans are still looking to put together a complete game and find consistency. SJSU has only scored three points in the first quarter this season and will look for ways to get off to a fast start.
“We got some holding calls on some big runs; penalties weren’t as much, and we didn’t turn the ball over,” SJSU offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann said. “But in order to be efficient and explosive and score more points, we can’t have those mental or physical mistakes. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s still not good enough.”
Throughout the season, SJSU has shown a balanced offense, almost having the same number of rushing attempts (170) as passing attempts (173). This is a huge difference for a historically pass-heavy spread-and-shred offense.
SJSU quarterback Luke Weaver has managed the offense well, throwing for 255 passing yards per game. Running back Jabari Bates has been the team’s best offensive weapon, averaging 97.4 rushing yards per game.