SAN JOSE — San Jose State’s fast start has raised more than a few eyebrows.
But there are still some questions to be answered heading into Friday night’s game against fellow unbeaten Washington State in Pullman, Washington.
“People want to see this game,” SJSU first-year head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Are we for real?”
Both teams are 3-0 and Niumatalolo knows that this game can go a long way in showing where SJSU stands in the college football world.
“This is far and away the best football team that we have played to date and will probably be one of the top teams that will play this season,” Niumatalolo said of the Cougars, who not only are undefeated, but coming off a huge Apple Cup win over cross-state rival Washington.
Friday’s game is a homecoming of sorts for SJSU quarterback Emmett Brown, who spent the past two seasons with the Cougars.
“It’s a really stout defense,” Brown said of a WSU defense that is allowing barely three touchdowns per game and outscored Washington, Texas Tech and Portland State by a combined total of 131-65. “I’ve known them for two years coming from there.”
Brown still remains friends with a lot of his former teammates from Pullman, texting them daily except for this week.
“So I made a joke right after the (Kennesaw State) game,” Brown said. “I said, ‘Sorry, I can’t text y’all until next week, it’s hate week.’”
Brown also said his former WSU teammate Ron Stone Jr., who graduated last year, lives in San Jose and jokingly threatened to come to Brown’s house to give him nightmares and decorate with Cougars merchandise.
Offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann coached at WSU from 2020-2021, but says this game is not personal for him.
He did recall early conversations with Brown this year discussing this week’s game.
“We talked about it when we first got here, ‘man we play Washington State,’” Stutzmann said.
Brown was both a walk-on at WSU and SJSU. He played in one game with the Cougars last season, completing 2 of 4 attempts for 14 yards and an interception against Northern Colorado.
Now he’s on scholarship for the Spartans and undefeated as a starter.
“What they’re telling you is you’re not good enough,” Stutzmann said. “So he’s gonna have a chip on his shoulder and my job this week is to balance that.”
Stutzmann said it’s important for Brown to not let his play get emotionally hijacked.
Both Stutzmann and Niumatalolo believed Brown played his best game as a starter against Kennesaw State last week. Brown was 26 of 38 for a career-high 355 yards and four touchdowns. In three games he’s passed for 915 yards and nine TDs and completing nearly 61 percent of his attempts.
“His biggest leap was being able to not overthink things,” Stutzmann said. “He’s a guy that likes to study a ton and overthink every possible scenario.”
Niumatalolo said most importantly Brown has to get ready for a really good defense.
“You gotta take all that emotional stuff, or whatever the other stuff is and just find a way to be able to get ready the best he can to lead our football team,” Niumatalolo said.
Wide receiver Nick Nash has been doing the heavy lifting for SJSU’s offense. Nash leads all FBS players in receptions with 34, receiving yards with 485 and receiving touchdowns with six this season.
Nash was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week after his career-high 17 receptions and a career-best 225 yards with three touchdown catches against Kennesaw State.
“He’s a former quarterback, he’s seasoned, he’s a savvy football player and so when he has the numbers he does, it’s like, yeah that’s what it should look like because he does it the right way, ” Stutzmann said of Nash.
But this week won’t be easy for Nash and the SJSU offense.
“I think they’re going to shade (Nash) a little bit with the safety and try to take him away and have us fight left handed,” Stutzmann said. “So it’s going to be up to us in a short week, how can we devise a plan to to maybe neutralize what they do on defense, to still be able to get the ball to (Nash) and then also be able to run the football well and take advantage of of our other guys.”
The Spartans defense is facing a big challenge as well.
WSU quarterback John Mateer is the team’s leading rusher with 314 total rushing yards in addition to passing for 712 yards and seven TDs.
“We’ve played some guys that are athletic but this guy’s in a different league,” Niumatalolo said of Mateer, a sophomore who also is a first-year starter. “Their quarterback is as dynamic as a quarterback as there is in the country.”
SJSU could be without captain linebacker Taniela Latu who is questionable to play. Latu is third in total tackles on defense.
“He’s banged up because he throws his body around. Nothing he does is half speed. Everything’s 1,000 miles per hour,” Niumatalolo said of the former Serra High and College of San Mateo star. “He plays reckless out there, not from the standpoint of he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s a very cerebral, smart football player.”
WSU is coming off a 24-19 rivalry win over Washington, winning the Apple Cup at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Niumatalolo once coached in an intense rivalry, the Army–Navy game.
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“Winning your rivalry game is huge and it takes a lot,” Niumatalolo said. “Emotionally, it’s taxing because you give everything to win that game.”
But he believes WSU’s coaching staff will have their players well prepared for Friday night.
“We have to play at our best to even have a chance against these guys,” Niumatalolo said.
Brown, who’s all too familiar with the Cougars, says he’s solely focused on the task at hand.
“Obviously there’s gonna be a lot of emotional things,” Brown said. “At the end of the day it’s just another team we gotta play.”