The San José State football team suffered a narrow 30-25 defeat to Utah State on Friday night, marking its second straight Mountain West Conference (MWC) road loss.
The Spartans drop to 2-5 overall, 1-2 in conference play, and remain winless on the road at 0-4, sitting eighth in the Mountain West.
Meanwhile, the Aggies improve to 4-3 overall, 2-1 in conference play, and sit sixth in the conference.
SJSU has now lost 11 of its last 12 matchups against the Aggies; however, the all-time series remains even at 21-21-1, according to a football webpage.
It was a closely contested game, with neither team leading by more than one score.
The Spartans held a one-point advantage with eleven minutes, forty-eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after a 45-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Walker Eget to junior wide receiver Leland Smith.
However, a failed two-point conversion tied the game at 25.
The Spartans were unable to mount another scoring drive, and junior kicker Tanner Rinker’s 45-yard field goal and later 44-yard field goal for Utah State ultimately sealed the victory with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter.
Eget was an X-factor despite entering the game as questionable, finishing 27 of 49 for 340 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers.
Eget made no excuses, saying he’ll play whenever he’s healthy enough to, reflecting his determination to be on the field no matter the circumstances.
“This opportunity only comes so much in someone’s lifetime, so if I get the opportunity to play, I’m gonna play no matter what,” Eget said. “Of course, it’s not the result we expected, but just gonna go to sleep and get ready for next week.”
His primary target, Smith, recorded a season-high 116 receiving yards and caught his third touchdown of the year.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Spartans head coach Ken Niumatalolo remained optimistic about his team’s effort and mindset.
“What a game. I don’t have anything bad to say about anybody. Utah State’s a well-coached team, they play hard. I thought our guys played really hard,” Niumatalolo said. “Unfortunately for us, that’s our fourth game like that. We’ll come back, we’ve got great leadership on our team.”
Four of the Spartans’ five losses have been decided by one score, with their only non-close game coming against Texas, who were ranked No. 7 at the time.
The Spartans had some positives to build on, as freshman running back Steve Chavez-Soto set a career high with 102 rushing yards and scored his third touchdown of the season, a 66-yard run with 12:22 remaining in the third quarter.
The Aggies accomplished what few teams could: sophomore wide receiver Danny Scudero, who leads the nation with 870 receiving yards, was held to just 25 yards on six catches. Scudero had also been listed as questionable coming into the game.
The Spartans also entered the game with kicking woes and tried a new approach, with senior kicker Denis Lynch handling field goals and sophomore Mathias Brown taking the extra points. Lynch went 2 for 2 on field goals, while Brown converted 1-of-2 extra points. Niumatalolo explained the strategy behind the change in kicking duties.
“We’re trying everything on that. Mathias kicked last week on extra points, Denis is going to kick from the right hash, Mathias is going to kick from the left hash, and we’re just going to roll with it,” Niumatalolo said.
The Spartans’ defense has now allowed 30 points in four of their seven games and went without forcing a turnover today, after coming into the game with 10 on the season.
Freshman defensive back Jaylen Thomas, however, had a standout performance with nine total tackles.
Thomas expressed confidence in the defense, believing they are still capable of strong performances.
“Throughout the whole week we were locked in, doing what we were supposed to be doing,” Thomas said. “I just have to get better at doing my job and putting my teammates in positions where they can do their job better too.”
The Spartans are scheduled to head into their final bye week before a big matchup on Nov. 1, when they face the University of Hawai’i at Manoā at 7:30 p.m. back at CEFCU Stadium.
