Quarterback Walker Eget was nearly perfect, freshman running back Steve Chavez-Soto steps up as San Jose State wins Mountain West opener.
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SAN JOSE — It was a much needed 35-28 win for San Jose State on Friday night against New Mexico.
With the Lobos exceeding expectations at 3-1 and the Spartans not meeting them at 1-3, San Jose State focused on getting itself right when the teams met in a Mountain West opener at CEFCU Stadium.
“It was a very simple message this short week,” Spartans coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Not all this fluff, not all this hooting and hollering. We’re both 0-0 regardless of what they did before and regardless of what we did before.”
With the Spartans aiming to qualify for a fourth consecutive bowl game, winning Friday was crucial given that SJSU still has conference games looming against Hawaii, Fresno State and San Diego State, teams that already have four wins.
“The whole mindset this week was just go 1-0 in conference,” Spartans quarterback Walker Eget said. “I think this is one of the best team wins we’ve had here in a long time.”
The victory over the Lobos was the Spartans’ first this season against FBS school. Their other was against Idaho, which plays at the lower FCS level.
Here are the takeaways from Friday’s game:
STEVE CHAVEZ-SOTO BREAKS OUT
Last week, freshman running back Steve Chavez-Soto was on the scout team.
Friday, he was San Jose State’s leading rusher.
“Coach (Michael) Smith always says stay ready and that’s what I did,” Chavez-Soto said. “I stayed ready and waited for my opportunity.”
Chavez-Soto took advantage of his opportunity, rushing for 71 yards and two touchdowns in 14 carries.
“He’s got great vision,” Niumatalolo said. “He had some great break-back runs in camp like he did today.”
Chavez-Soto punched in a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Spartans their first score. His second touchdown came after he reversed direction and found a hole for a 10-yard run in the third quarter to stretch the Spartans’ lead to 28-17.
It took a lot to happen for Chavez-Soto to see the field.
First, Jabari Bates went down with a season-ending injury against Stanford. Floyd Chalk IV, who had been the starter since transferring to SJSU from Grambling State, was seen in the stands in street clothes before Friday’s game and was not on the field with the team.
Niumatalolo said after the game that Chalk IV will “probably” be redshirting.
Then Vilami Teu, who entered the game as the second string running back behind Lamar Radcliffe, was injured on his first carry and did not return.
All of this opened the door for Chavez-Soto, who split time with Radcliffe on Friday.
Radcliffe finished with 15 carries for 64 yards.
Chavez-Soto was fifth-string on the depth chart and Radcliffe was demoted to third-string earlier in the season because of ball-security issues.
But now with Bates out and Chalk IV’s status uncertain, the Spartans run game might rely on Chavez-Soto and Radcliffe moving forward.
“It was a great example of next man up,” Niumatalolo said. “It could have been devastating losing a guy who was your starter and leading rusher last year. But those two guys played lights out.”
PASSING OFFENSE LOOKS ELITE AGAIN
In his past two games counting Friday, Eget has thrown for 800 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions over 88 pass attempts.
In the win over New Mexico, he was 26-of-30 passing for 334 yards and three touchdowns. He started the game 13 for 13.
“He’s a machine. All of his decisions were right,” Niumatalolo said. “I thought (Eget) did a great job of distributing the football against a good New Mexico defense.”
Eget connected with wide receiver Danny Scudero for a 70-yard touchdown to put the Spartans in front 21-7.
Scudero finished with 151 yards receiving and one touchdown, marking the fourth time this season that the transfer from UC Davis and former Archbishop Mitty High School star has gone over 100 yards.
Kyri Shoels was the second-leading receiver on seven receptions for 81 yards. Leland Smith racked up six receptions for 54 yards, which included a one-handed touchdown grab in the third quarter to give the Spartans a 35-17 lead.
“It was a hard-fought win and everything started with our quarterback,” Niumatalolo said. “He’s opened up so many things, he’s going to put the ball in the right spots.”
SECONDARY STRUGGLES, DEFENSE GIVES UP BIG PLAYS
Despite the win, the secondary at times struggled to contain New Mexico’s passing game.
The Spartans allowed five Lobos to have a reception of 15 yards or more. Keagan Johnson had 145 yards on 11 catches.
The Lobos went 6 of 10 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth down.
Fourth-down defense has been a recurring issue for SJSU as its opponents have gone 9 of 10 on fourth down over the past three games.
“We have to continue to work on getting more disciplined with our eyes and in pass coverage,” Niumatalolo said. “We’ll continue to clean things up on defense.”
Despite giving up some big plays, the Spartans won the turnover battle 3-0. Cornerback Jalen Bainer had two interceptions and safety Larry Turner-Gooden also snagged a pick.
SJSU was without injured safety Jalen Apalit-Williams against New Mexico.
MATHIAS BROWN DEBUT
In his first game as the starting kicker, Mathias Brown did not have a field goal attempt.
But he was 5 of 5 on extra-point tries.
Brown got the job when Denis Lynch was benched after missing six of his 10 field-goal attempts this season.
UP NEXT
SJSU will head on the road to face Wyoming (2-2, 0-0) at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. PST.
The Spartans will try to bring along the momentum of their first conference win.
“We needed (this win),” Niumatalolo said. “My message was, ‘Guys, we’re two plays away from being 3-1. Just keep grinding, keep working.’ I’m really proud of these guys because they stayed the course.”