The San José State football team is looking to open the year on a winning note on Friday night with a Week One matchup against Central Michigan University.
The Spartans are coming off a 7-6 season led by head coach Ken Niumatalolo that concluded with a multiple-overtime thriller against University of South Florida in the Sheraton Hawai’i bowl game, a 41-39 loss. Still, it marked their third consecutive bowl appearance.
SJSU is scheduled to open against a CMU team that finished 4-8 overall and 0-6 on the road during the 2024-2025 season, while the Spartans aim to build on their 5-2 home record at CEFCU Stadium last season.
Redshirt senior quarterback Walker Eget said he has high hopes heading into Week One but knows the Spartans can’t afford to underestimate the matchup.
“The biggest thing is really dominating the details and the big things will come to us,” Eget said. “I think we will have a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball and hopefully be consistent in attacking the little things.”
Even with so many new faces, the message from the coaching staff has been consistent: growth is already showing.
“I just think we’re way more mature,” Niumatalolo said. “It felt a little chaotic this time last year, still implementing our culture. I feel like all that stuff is already in place, so I feel much better about that.”
During the 2024-2025 season, Eget and Coastal Carolina University transfer Emmett Brown, who played on the Spartans last season, alternated for SJSU’s quarterback position.
Eget became the full-time starter midway through the year, and this year he enters Week One as SJSU’s clear full-time quarterback, according to an east bay times article.
Eget, who averaged 208.7 passing yards per game last season, looks to kick off this year’s passing attack against a CMU defense that allowed 203.2 passing yards per game last season, according to a team rankings webpage.
On the defensive side, the Spartans face a tough challenge against a CMU offense that averaged 317.9 total yards per game last season. SJSU, meanwhile, gave up over 385 yards per game.
Senior linebacker Jordan Pollard, one of the team’s defensive veterans, has faith that the team will build a similar culture to last season’s defensive group.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot of guys who are already on this team and know what our standard is on defense,” Pollard said. “And we’ve got a couple of new guys who haven’t learned what our standard is, but they’re in the process of understanding what needs to be done for this season.”
The Spartans added a few new secondary additions such as cornerbacks Caleb Presley and Maliki Crawford.
SJSU’s defense has some big shoes to fill following the departure of former linebacker, Robert Rahimi, who earned All-Mountain West Second Team in 2024,, according a Mountain West webpage.
“We understand how the new guys play and all that, and we’re trying to get a little tighter with our roots right now,” Pollard said. “I feel like we’re just starting to glue everyone together right now.”
The Spartans are scheduled to officially kick off their 2025 season at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m., taking the field at CEFCU Stadium for the first time this year.
