By Wednesday, a few faceless accounts social media accounts had San Jose State buried.
Daniel Rolovich never saw a name attached to any of it. He didn’t need to.
“Outside noise stays outside the facilities,” said the true freshman quarterback after Saturday’s 30-19 win over Northern Illinois. “Once you come in here, it’s just work.”
That was the week in two sentences. It started at 4-5, with an offensive coordinator admitting his offense was “not quite really the spread and shred” anymore and a fan
base doing math on whose job was next. It ended at 5-5, one win from bowl eligibility, with a locker room that ignores the script the internet wrote for it.
Ken Niumatalolo didn’t pretend the phones don’t exist.
“We’re all on our phones,” said Niumatalolo. “It’s hard to say, don’t look at your phones. That’s part of the deal.”
He just knows where his attention goes.
“Only thing that matters are the guys in the locker room, the coaches and finding a way to get things fixed,” he said. “My own worst critic has always been myself.”
An offense remembering its name
For one afternoon, the Shred had a pulse.
Rolovich went 16 of 27 for 231 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers. Two of those throws went for 49 and 42 yards. His 8.6 yards per attempt looked like the offense this program built its name on, not the one that has been grinding out Trajan Sinatra field goals for a month.
The ground game still had to work for everything, 33 carries for 85 yards. But Viliami “Juju” Teu punched in two short touchdowns and the Spartans went 3-for-3 on fourth down.
Receiver Dominique McKenzie could feel the difference.
“We’ve always been wanting to execute and throw the ball,” said McKenzie. “And we do it well when we do what Coach Stutz says. Today, it was a great day to let it fly.”
His first career touchdown came on a 29-yarder. He bounced off a tackler, found space, picked up a block from Jerry McClure and “pretty much walked in the end zone.”
McKenzie had more riding on Saturday than most. He and his wife, Kiki, just welcomed a son.
“He had a lot to play for, having a kid,” said Rolovich.
Niumatalolo has noticed the new father in meetings.
“He looks a little bit tired,” said Niumatalolo, laughing. “Fatherhood’s pretty hard, huh?”
None of this means the offense is fixed, of course, and nobody inside the building claimed it was. SJSU went 3 of 15 on third down, settled for two red zone field goals and missed a third try from 46 yards. It’s also worth noting, NIU may be 0-9 but they’ve certainly been 9-0 in heart and effort all season.
“I don’t think you ever ‘arrive’ in coaching,” said Niumatalolo. “We also felt like we had too many field goals.”
Brothers before box scores
The most revealing answer of the day came when Niumatalolo was asked why Rolovich started over Luke Weaver. He spent most of it defending the man he sat down.
“The guy with the ball always gets all the criticism,” said Niumatalolo. “It’s like, well, you’re losing because of Luke. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s 10 other guys on offense out there.”
Weaver, by Rolovich’s account, has spent the season as the freshman’s mentor.
“He’s always got my back and I appreciate that a lot,” said Rolovich.
Cornerback Caleb Womack took the long road to get here. The Santa Cruz native started as a walk-on, came back from a torn ACL, earned a scholarship and is in his first season playing corner.
“I’ve learned a lot, not just about football, just about life as well,” said Womack. “I’m just very grateful for the opportunity.”
He recovered a muffed punt Saturday and gave the credit away almost before he stood up. “I had the easy job,” he said. Then he passed the rest of it to the guys up front. Womack also tallied 10 tackles Saturday.
“The D-line, they eat, and then it just makes our job easier,” said Womack.
They ate plenty. Five sacks. Northern Illinois went 0-for-4 on fourth down. Linebacker Dylan Lee grabbed his fourth interception of the season and Niumatalolo noted he once benched Lee, who took it humbly and has played like an all-conference linebacker ever since.
None of that trends. All of it matters.
Level is the hardest place to stand
Niumatalolo has coached long enough to know the scoreboard exaggerates in both directions.
“Last week was like the world ended,” said Niumatalolo. “There’s no food left in San Jose. And this week, it’s like euphoria. It’s like a buffet out there. Somehow, as a team and as coaches, you got to stay level.”
Air Force and its option offense are waiting in Colorado Springs.
The faceless accounts will be back next week, louder at 5-6 or quieter at 6-5. Neither version tells the whole story.
The whole story belongs to people with real names. A freshman who keeps the noise outside. A new father who caught his first touchdown. A former walk-on who hands out credit faster than he collects it. A demoted quarterback who keeps lifting the kid who replaced him.
The offense is still figuring out its name. This team already knows who it is.
