{"id":53076,"date":"2025-11-14T15:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/53076\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:06:09","slug":"san-jose-states-path-to-becoming-bowl-eligible-is-clear-but-not-easy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/53076\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose State’s path to becoming bowl eligible is clear, but not easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2013 Now that San Jose State has to win its final three games just to become bowl eligible<\/a>, a matchup against the last place Nevada Wolfpack<\/a> would seem to be just what the Spartans need.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019ll have to do something they haven\u2019t been able to do in 25 years.<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoon\u2019s game is in Reno, where the Spartans have only won once in the history of the program. They\u2019ve lost 10 straight in the foothills of Sierra Nevada since Jarmar Julien<\/a> scored three rushing touchdowns in the final eight minutes to seal the Spartans\u2019 49-30 win in 2000.<\/p>\n

San Jose State (3-6, 2-3 Mountain West) also has yet to win on the road this season and is coming off a frustrating home loss to Air Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re Ohio State, we\u2019re struggling ourselves,\u201d San Jose State coach Ken Niumatalolo said. \u201cWe just need to focus on ourselves. They\u2019ve been in a lot of close games and had opportunities to win, just like us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"San<\/a>San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo stands on the sideline while playing Air Force in the fourth quarter of their game at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. Air Force defeated San Jose State 26-16. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Spartans have let fourth quarter leads slip away in three of their losses. But in the 26-16 loss to Air Force it was the offense that struggled to keep the Spartans in the contest and helped send them to their third loss in the past four games.<\/p>\n

The Spartans, who lead the FBS in passing yards per game (332.6), had three turnovers and allowed a safety. Meanwhile, the No. 8 ranked defense in the Mountain West (419.56 yards per game) limited the conference\u2019s third-ranked scoring offense to seven points below its season average.<\/p>\n

Entering the Air Force game, Eget had not thrown an interception since Sept. 7 when SJSU took on Texas. Against the Falcons, Eget threw two picks. FBS leading receiver Danny Scudero (1,126 yards) was held to just 41 yards receiving and did not find the end zone in the loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt never felt in the game that the defense was stopping us,\u201d offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann said. \u201cWe stopped ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up next is Nevada (1-8, 0-5 MW), which has played some of the top teams in the Mountain West close, including a 20-17 loss to Fresno State and a 24-22 loss to New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Wolfpack defensive lineman Dylan Labarbera is second in the Mountain West in sacks with 6.5. SJSU struggled to give Eget time to throw the ball against Air Force, which resulted in lots of pressure on Eget and balls batted at the line.<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/a>Air Force\u2019s Levi Brown (9) intercepts a pass thrown by San Jose State quarterback Walker Eget (5) in the second quarter of their game at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Spartans three wins they have a plus four turnover margin and in their six losses they have a minus eight turnover margin.<\/p>\n

Niumatalolo wants to emphasize the team getting off to a fast start against the Wolfpack. The Spartans defense achieved this last week against the Falcons forcing them to go three and out on their first two drives, but the offense was not able to match as the Spartans settled for a field goal and lost a fumble on their first two drives.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting fast is our mantra every week,\u201d Niumatalolo said. \u201cOur offense came out fast against Hawaii but our players are human. It\u2019s not like you can press a button and they will come out fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spartans defense had one of their stronger showings of the season limiting the Falcons offense to 302 yards of total offense. Air Force is averaging 438 yards total yards of offense this season.<\/p>\n

The Spartans, who have struggled in pass coverage this season, did not get tested too much against an Air Force offense that is an option heavy and had 63 passing attempts compared to just 10 rushing attempts.<\/p>\n

This week against Nevada, SJSU faces off against the worst passing offense in the Mountain West. Nevada ranks last in the Mountain West in passing yards per game (153.67), last in total passing touchdowns (7), while having the most interceptions thrown (17).<\/p>\n

The Wolfpack started the year with Chubba Purdy, brother of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, before giving the keys to the offense to true freshman quarterback Carter Jones after Purdy struggled.<\/p>\n

Carter has thrown for 661 yards, three touchdowns and eight interceptions.<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/a>Air Force quarterback Liam Szarka (9) runs for a one-yard touchdown against San Jose State in the second quarter of their game at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Spartans defense ranks eleventh in passing yards allowed (281 yards per game) and defensive coordinator Derrick Odum hopes that the defense can build upon one of its better outings of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been some moments that we would have liked to get better at, that\u2019s just football,\u201d Odum said. \u201cThere\u2019s been no pointing fingers. They\u2019re a close knit group and always looking to improve every week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevada\u2019s defense ranks around the middle of the pack in both rushing defense (152.89 yards allowed per game, sixth in the MW) and passing defense (230.67 yards allowed per game, seventh in the MW).<\/p>\n

The Spartans offense hopes to get back on track after a rough outing against Air Force. Their wide receiving core sees Scudero paired with Kyri Shoels (680 receiving yards, fourth in MW) and Leland Smith (643 receiving yards, 6th in MW), making one of the most dynamic receiving rooms in the entire country.<\/p>\n

Eget is also first in all of FBS with 2,941 passing yards.<\/p>\n

While the passing offense has always excelled, the Spartans offense has seen a boost since freshman running back Steve Chavez-Soto has emerged as a part of a dual-headed backfield with Lamar Radcliffe.<\/p>\n

Chavez-Soto got significant playing time during SJSU\u2019s win against New Mexico on Oct. 3. The week prior he was on scout team, only getting playing time because Floyd Chalk IV redshirted, Jabari Bates got injured the week prior and Viliami Teu got injured on his first carry against New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Since getting his shot, Chavez-Soto has 300 yards rushing, seven touchdowns and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry in five games played.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe approached everything like he\u2019s the starter from day one,\u201d running backs coach Michael Smith said. \u201cThat builds confidence in not only me, but the whole coaching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

With bowl eligibility on the line, SJSU cannot overlook any opponent over its next three games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize it\u2019s a hard place to win,\u201d Niumatalolo said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to this challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2013 Now that San Jose State has to win its final three games just to become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,1327,402,181,88,90,89,997,6345,198,200,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-53076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-inside-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose","14":"tag-san-jose-headlines","15":"tag-san-jose-news","16":"tag-san-jose-state-spartans","17":"tag-san-jose-state-university","18":"tag-santa-clara-county","19":"tag-south-bay","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}