Revenge games come with a built-in assumption. The people who got hurt remember it and the people who did the hurting have to answer for it.
That assumption mostly belongs to the rest of us. Coaches rarely say the word. It’s really the press, the fans and the comment sections who say it for them.
San Jose State and Nevada showed up to Mackay Stadium on Saturday as two different teams. New quarterbacks. A new Spartan defensive coordinator. A Wolf Pack defense that returned two starters.
Nevada still
won 28-13.
So what exactly carries over from one November afternoon last season to one October afternoon this season when most of the names have changed? More than anyone wants to admit. Less than the headlines will claim.
Different names, same Reno
Last year, Nevada’s Ky Woods ran a kickoff back 99 yards in a 55-10 rout.
Saturday, with San Jose State finally alive after a fourth-quarter touchdown cut it to 21-10, Woods fielded the kickoff and went 90 yards. One play later, Nevada scored again. For a moment, it was last November all over again.
Games and rivalries like this start to take on a life of their own. Nevada coach Jeff Choate didn’t pretend otherwise.
“There’s certain organizations sometimes that you kind of have their number,” said Choate, crediting defensive coordinator Kane Ioane. “We kind of had their number today.”
The numbers back him up. San Jose State converted 1 of 14 third downs, punted 11 times and ran for 65 yards. Choate called the first half “three and out, three and out, three and out, three and out.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything like that,” said Choate.
Nobody on either sideline was playing last year’s game. Reno just replayed it anyway.
What the game revealed
Here’s where the revenge narrative falls apart, in a useful way. The score didn’t tell the truth about San Jose State. The details did.
The Spartan defense, rebuilt under first-year coordinator Bojay Filimoeatu, held Nevada to 324 yards and kept it 7-3 at halftime despite spending more than 38 minutes on the field.
“We played well enough on defense to win,” said SJS head coach Ken Niumatalolo. “You got to generate more offense.”
The offense is the other half of the identity and it’s still searching. Daniel Rolovich, last week’s full-circle story, started but was hurt and “couldn’t move.” Robert McDaniel followed. Luke Weaver came off the bench in the fourth quarter and led the only touchdown drive.
“Luke is Luke,” said Niumatalolo. “He’s a gamer.”
Overall, three quarterbacks and no rhythm. That’s not a grudge match. That’s a team figuring out who it is half way into the season.
The players took it the right way.
“We came out and got hit in the mouth,” said SJS running back Jabari Bates.
“The first thing we got to do is look in the mirror,” said SJS linebacker Naseri Danielson. “The season is far from over.”
Not judged by the worst day
The best line of the afternoon came from the winning coach and it wasn’t about revenge at all.
Nevada started Luke Duncan, the UCLA transfer who lost the starting job in camp and struggled in an emergency start against Montana State. Choate’s message to him this week was simple.
“We’ve all had bad days and we don’t want to be judged by our worst moments,” said Choate. “You want to rise up and get redemption. This is your opportunity.”
Duncan threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
So, a game of two Lukes. One got his redemption from the start. The other got his in a fourth-quarter cameo after being sent to the bench. Both stayed ready.
“If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” said Choate.
It’s a lesson that reaches well beyond football. Last year’s 55-10 loss doesn’t define this San Jose State team and Saturday’s 28-13 loss won’t either. In anyone’s book, a bad day is a chapter, not the book.
Niumatalolo said as much, pointing out how fast college football turns from one week to the next.
“In this game, you just got to move on,” he said. “We’ve got no alternative. The only alternative is just to keep fighting.”
San Jose State (4-4, 2-2) doesn’t get time to sulk. Mountain West leader New Mexico comes to CEFCU Stadium next.
Revenge games, it turns out, don’t settle old scores. They just show you who you are right now.
For San Jose State, the answer is a defense that travels and an offense still looking for its own name. Reno will be there next time. So will the memory.
