The San José State football team opened its second-to-last road game with its greatest loss of the season, falling 55–10 to University of Nevada, Reno on Saturday.

The Spartans dropped to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in Mountain West Conference (MWC) play, remaining winless on the road at 0–5.

Nevada improved to 2-8 and 1-5 in the conference, earning its first Mountain West victory in 744 days.

The Wolf Pack’s last league win came in October 2023, a 34-24 victory over New Mexico.

The Wolf Pack extended its all-time series lead over the Spartans, improving the head-to-head record to 23-12-1.

SJSU trailed 31-0 at halftime, marking its largest deficit at the break this season.

The previous high was a 28-0 against Texas on Sept. 6.

SJSU senior quarterback Walker Eget threw a career-high three interceptions, marking one of his toughest outings of the season.

Eget finished 11 for 23 for 74 yards, a new career low, surpassing his previous low of 81 yards last season against UNLV.

One of his interceptions was taken back for a touchdown when junior linebacker Nakian Jackson returned a fourth-and-4 pass 66 yards for Nevada’s first score.

Eget said he took responsibility for the loss.

“I think they just wanted it more than us,” Eget said. “A lot of mistakes on my part, three interceptions, you can’t win a game if you turn the ball over three times just at my position alone. That’s something I gotta fix. I gotta prepare better going into these games.”

Eget has now thrown five interceptions over the last two weeks after going without one since Sept. 6.

He was benched with 24 seconds left in the third quarter for freshman quarterback Robert McDaniel, who made his SJSU debut.

McDaniel later threw the team’s fourth interception of the night, picked off by Nevada defensive back Bryson Snelling.

The Spartans then turned to freshman quarterback Tama Amisone, who scored the team’s lone touchdown on a 12-yard run, the first touchdown of his career.

Amisone went 4 for 5 for 59 yards, his highest passing total as a Spartan.

Spartans head coach Ken Niumatalolo said Amisone’s performance was one of the few positives.

“Excited for Tama that he came in and played well,” Niumatalolo said. “He did some good things in a tough situation, considering the circumstances.”

SJSU committed five turnovers in total, including a fumble by sophomore running back Lamar Radcliffe, forced by defensive back Murvin Kenion III and recovered by defensive lineman Logologo Va’a.
Kenion starred for the Wolf Pack defense, recording two interceptions and a forced fumble.

The 55 points were the most allowed by a Spartan defense since a 56–28 loss to University of Southern California in August 2023.

SJSU defensive back Jalen Apalit-Williams said the team must own its performance while also crediting Nevada.

“Regardless of their record, they’re a good team,” Apalit-Williams said. “We’ve got to give them all the credit. They came out hot, they took the momentum and took off with it. At the end of the day, you can’t give up 31 points in the first half and expect to win.”

Apalit-Williams continued and said that winning the turnover battle was crucial, but the team couldn’t generate the takeaways or stops they needed.

The Spartans have now gone four straight games without an interception and two straight without forcing a turnover.

It was also a second consecutive quiet game for sophomore receiver Danny Scudero, who entered the game leading the nation in receiving yards with 1,155. He has been held under 60 yards in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Niumatalolo said Nevada’s coverage made it difficult to get Scudero the ball.

“They played coverage, which we thought they would,” Niumatalolo said. “We had some shots early on where we didn’t hit them. After that, we tried to force a little bit. We’ve got to find a way to get the ball to him, he’s one of the best players in the country.”

With the loss, SJSU is no longer bowl-eligible after needing to finish at least .500 to secure a fourth straight bowl appearance.

SJSU fired defensive coordinator Derrick Odum and special teams coordinator Joe Palcic on Monday following the loss, naming Bojay Filimoeatu interim defensive coordinator, according to SJSU Athletics.

The Spartans are scheduled to play their last road game next Saturday at San Diego State, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.