“It’s gut-wrenching and heart-breaking with losses like this,“ said a dejected but still hopeful Spartan head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
San Jose State (2-5, 1-2 MW) came in as 3.5 point underdogs to Utah State (4-3,
2-1 MW) Friday night in Logan, UT in front of a raucous 22, 710 at Maverik Stadium.
It was another last quarter lost losing 30-25 after taking a 25-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 45-yard strike to Leland Smith from Walker Eget.
It was an inauspicious opening drive for the Spartans where San Jose came away with points for the fourth time in seven game-opening drives. It was an opening drive starting with Spartan holding penalty, an USU taunting call on receiver Danny Scudero and running back Lamar Radcliffe coming out hot leading to the return of kicker Denis Lynch nailing a 37-yarder to start the scoring for SJSU.
In kind, Utah State punctuated their first series with 14 plays, Aggie QB Bryson Barnes going five-of-five and USU converting on third and fourth downs to find the end zone for an early 7-3 lead.
While Eget was productive after not practicing for the week due to injury, the inauspicious part that remained was Scudero taking two big hits in the first quarter and needing medical attention each time. It wasn’t until late in the third quarter that Scudero got his next catches and another big hit that put Scudero back on the turf for an another extended length.
“Number 10 is one of the toughest kids I’ve been around,” Niumatalolo said on Scudero. “Danny didn’t practice all week and in most cases he probably wouldn’t have played.”
Eget still managed two touchdown passes (340 yards, 27-of-49), while Scudero had his least productive day as a Spartan with six catches and 25-yards receiving.
“This opportunity to play only comes around so much in one’s lifetime,” said Eget on any nagging injury effects to a still productive day. “If I get the opportunity to play, I’m going to play no matter what.”
As the top receiver in the nation, it was clear Scudero would get extra special attention from the Aggie secondary opening things up for Smith and Kyri Schoels, who finished with 116 yards receiving, four receptions and one touchdown and 104 yards on seven receptions, respectively.
“I think all the receivers had a good day,” said Eget. “But there were some things I missed that can’t happen, which are plays that can change games.”
It was also clear there was a highly concerted effort to involve running backs Radcliffe and Steven Chavez-Soto to widen the offense menu. By half’s end, San Jose rushed 82 yards and by game’s end Radcliffe’s 74 yards on 13 carries and Chavez-Soto’s 102 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown highlighted 194 total rush yards.
And 534 total yards of offense.
But the worst part? The Spartans could not convert on critical third or fourth downs.
“A lot of good things when we ran the ball, but unfortunately we couldn’t do it on third of fourth and short,” said Niumatololo.“But I’m proud of the way they ran tonight.”
After each team settled in, it was a stalemate second quarter until each teams’ last drives of the half.
A delayed screen after an 89-yard drive saw Radcliffe rumble 31-yards into the end zone to take the lead; only to see USU respond 62 yards the other way for a 31-yard field goal to end the half with a 10-9 lead.
It was a lights-out second quarter for the Spartan defense stalling out the Aggies on six drives after USUs fast start, but broken coverages in the secondary would be San Jose State’s downfall.
“When we take our eyes off what we’re supposed to be keying and not trusting our fundamentals that’s when the coverage busts come into play,” said local product and freshman cornerback Jaylen Thomas. “Other than that, I thought our defense was awesome.”
It was also the continued glaring issue of the Spartan kicking game.The indecision of which kicker to go with saw a critical extra-point miss by Mathias Brown which stemmed from a botched snap. Lynch took over the field goal duties finishing with two for the night.
The second-half opened with fireworks with each team showing off a three-play highlight series.
Former Spartan QB and now Aggie receiver Anthony Garcia’s 74-yard scoring bomb from Barnes was answered by Chavez0-Soto’s 66-yard romp to the end zone. And two more scores by each team to end the third quarter with USU leading 24-19 set up the finishing kick.
Smith’s 45-yard TD catch early in the fourth to take the lead was short-lived, though the Spartan defense held the Aggies to two late field goals, which was enough for the win with the very last Spartan drive falling short to end the game.
“Flush it and on to the next one,” said Thomas.
San Jose State’s bye week comes just in time to regroup, as the Spartans take on a hot and rising Hawaii team at CEFCU on November 1st.
