San Jose State’s bowl hopes snuffed out in blowout loss at Nevada

San Jose State’s game against Nevada on Saturday afternoon in Reno got out of hand before the Spartans could get going as the visitors lost 55-10.

Three first-half turnovers led the Spartans to a 31-0 halftime deficit. They gave away the ball two more times in the second half as their hopes for bowl eligibility ended.

“That was as bad of a performance that I’ve been involved in maybe my whole career,” coach Ken Niumatalolo said.

It was the first time the Spartans (3-7, 2-4 Mountain West) had not scored in a first half under Niumatalolo.

Nevada (2-8, 1-5) snapped a 16-game losing streak in conference play as the Wolf Pack won for the first time since they beat New Mexico on Oct. 28, 2023. It was SJSU’s worst loss since getting routed by Army 52-3 in October 2018.

SJSU is the first FBS team Nevada has beaten this season as its prior victory came against Sacramento State 20-17. The Wolf Pack’s 55 points doubled their previous high for the year, which was 22.

Nevada was averaging 14 points per game before erupting against the Spartans.

“You can’t give up 31 points in the first half and expect to win,” safety Jalen Apalit-Williams said. “That’s already an uphill battle.”

Nevada completely flipped the script after suffering a 51-14 loss to Utah State last week.

Spartans quarterback Walker Eget, the nation’s leading passer entering the matchup, had only 45 passing yards in the first half and finished 11-of-23 for 74 yards, no touchdowns and a career-high three interceptions.

At the end of the third quarter, Eget was benched for freshman Robert McDaniel, who also had an interception.

“They just wanted it more than us,” Eget said. “You can’t win a game turning the ball over three times at my position alone.”

Freshman Tama Amisone took over at quarterback on the Spartans’ last two drives, leading San Jose State to its only score on a 12-yard scramble, which made it 48-10. He finished 4-for-5 passing for 59 yards.

SJSU’s 10 points were a season low as the Spartans lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

Even when the Spartans scored a touchdown, things went south.

Ky Woods returned the kickoff after San Jose State’s TD 98 yards for a score.

“It’s just one of those days,” Niumatalolo said.

Nevada’s scoring onslaught began when the Spartans lined up to go for a fourth-and-4 from the Nevada 38 on San Jose State’s second drive. Eget threw a pass to the left, Wolf Pack linebacker Nakian Jackson intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown, making it 7-0.

On the first play of the Spartans’ next drive, running back Lamar Radcliffe fumbled, giving the ball right back to Nevada. Five plays later, the Wolf Pack scored on a 7-yard shovel pass from quarterback Carter Jones to former quarterback-turned-gadget player Chubba Purdy, the brother of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

Purdy had 51 yards rushing, 18 yards receiving and a touchdown through the air and on the ground.

After holding San Jose State to a three-and-out, Nevada drove 78 yards and used nearly eight minutes of clock to score again on a 30-yard pass from Jones to running back Caleb Ramseur.

Eget’s second interception went to defensive back Murvin Kenion III, who returned it to the SJSU 13-yard line. On the next play, Purdy burst through the defense for a 13-yard rushing touchdown, stretching the advantage to 28-0 less than five minutes into the second quarter.

“Things steamrolled really quickly and we lost all of our confidence on offense,” Niumatalolo said. “We couldn’t get anything going.”

Nevada had the worst total passing offense in the Mountain West entering the game. But Jones, a freshman, went 16-for-19 for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

The Spartans struggled to stop Ramseur as he rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown in addition to his receiving score.

Steve Chavez-Soto led SJSU with 47 yards on eight carries and Kyri Shoels was the Spartans’ top receiver with three catches for 47 yards. Star wideout Dany Scudero managed just 29 yards on four receptions.

Nevada adopted a similar defensive strategy to what Air Force did last week to get SJSU’s offense out of rhythm. The Wolf Pack dropped seven or more into coverage almost every play and snapped the ball late into the play clock, to limit the time SJSU had the ball in its hands.

When the Spartans did get offensive chances, they squandered them.

“(Eget) has a lot of confidence in his arm, so he will push the ball into some tight windows sometimes,” Nevada coach Jeff Choate said. “Its about trying to camouflage what you’re doing on the back end, make (Eget) think he’s seeing one thing and show him something else.”

The loss dropped the Spartans to 0-5 on the road. They are now left to play spoiler when they face San Diego State and Fresno State the next two weeks.

“We have to do what (Nevada) did,” Niumatalolo said. “They got crushed, then came around and crushed us, they kept fighting.”

SJSU visits San Diego State next Saturday night.