NIU interim head coach Rob Harley spent the week talking about limiting catastrophic plays by his young team.

Then senior DeAree Rogers, the Huskies’ leading receiver, muffed a punt early in the third quarter. A failed fake punt followed, and winless NIU lost 30-19 Saturday at San Jose State.

The two plays turned a 16-13 halftime deficit into a 17-point hole.

The Huskies defense forced a three-and-out on the Spartans’ first possession of the second half. Rogers muffed the punt, and San Jose State (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West) recovered at the NIU 18.

The Spartans converted a third-and-5 on a 9-yard pass from Daniel Rolovich to Carson Clark. Viliami Teu ran four straight times from the 4 and scored on fourth down from the 1, putting San Jose State up 23-13 with 9:32 left in the third quarter.

“We’ll take a look at it, and we’ll continue to coach it,” Harley said. “It’s just tough in that situation, but the defense has to go out and bow up.”

On its next drive, NIU (0-9, 0-5) faced fourth-and-10 at its own 37 and tried a fake punt. Jake Ference lost 8 yards on the run. Rolovich hit Dominique McKenzie for a 29-yard touchdown on the next play, and the Spartans led 30-13 with 6:09 left in the third.

“We were trying to create some momentum with a possible punt fake,” Harley said. “Obviously, it didn’t work out.”

NIU answered with a 10-play drive to the San Jose State 7 but was stopped on a fourth-and-1 run.

The Huskies scored late on an 85-yard, 10-play drive. Telly Johnson Jr. opened it with a 33-yard run, Taron Dickens hit Zaire McKinney for 17 yards, and Elijah Porter added a 17-yard run. Dickens finished it with a 1-yard touchdown run, his first rushing score of the season. The two-point try failed with 3:55 to play.

NIU outgained San Jose State 400 yards to 316. Dickens completed 26 of 36 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown, spreading completions among eight receivers. La’Don Bryant had a career-high seven catches for 55 yards, Rogers had six for 86, and Porter ran for a game-high 85 yards.

San Jose State built a 13-0 lead over the first 18 minutes. Teu took a direct snap on fourth-and-1 from the 5 for a touchdown. Trajan Sinatra added field goals of 25 and 46 yards. The second field goal came after Matthew Scarlett strip-sacked Rolovich, but the Spartans recovered the fumble.

NIU tied it with two 81-yard drives. Johnson scored on a 4-yard run to make it 13-6. Dickens then threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to McKinney, a freshman, to tie it at 13 with 3:25 left in the half. Sinatra’s second 46-yard field goal sent San Jose State into halftime up 16-13.

“Zaire’s touchdown was big,” Harley said. “He’s a young guy that had some big plays today, and that increases confidence when you play well.”

Freshman linebacker Jack Murray led NIU with nine tackles. Defensive end Kole Sneed had a season-high six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Defensive tackle Amari Washington had four tackles and a half tackle for loss.