Pack keys: Spartans’ trick play the difference in even battle

A look back at the key moments, players and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack's 35-31 loss to the San Jose State Spartans on Saturday at San Jose, Calif.:

KEY PLAY

The Wolf Pack (2-4, 0-1) led the Spartans 31-28 with just 55 seconds to play in its first Mountain West game of the season. San Jose State (4-1, 2-0) had the ball at the Wolf Pack 16-yard line, already well within field goal range to tie the game and possibly force overtime. Wide receiver Nick Nash went in motion to his right as quarterback Walker Eget took the snap from center. Eget then turned and threw the ball backward to about the 25-yard line toward Nash. Jabari Bates, who lined up in the backfield, took a few steps forward and hid momentarily behind the left side of the Spartans' offensive line. Bates then took off unguarded down the left side as Nash lofted him the ball toward the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Spartans a stunning 35-31 lead with 50 seconds to play. "Once I saw Jabari slip through the crack, I saw he was wide open," Nash, a former quarterback, told sjsuspartans.com. "But before it happened, I knew it was a touchdown. It's a hard play for the defense to cover." Eget said his job was much easier. "On that play I was supposed to throw it back to Nash and then put my arms up for a touchdown," he said with a smile.

KEY COACHING DECISION

San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo was as surprised as anyone at CEFCU Stadium. "I remember the moment," Niumatalolo told sjsuspartans.com. "Stutz (offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann) just said, 'Walker, get in there.' I just said, 'What? Whoa.' He (Stutzmann) was getting frustrated and said, 'Get in there.'" In coaching you think it’s all calculated and about analytics but there was no analytics this time. He was just like 'Go.' Stutzmann told backup quarterback Walker Eget to enter the game for starter Emmett Brown with 2:10 to play in the game with Nevada in the lead, 31-28. Brown had gone 12-of-28 for 170 yards and two touchdowns but his first two passes on the current drive from the Spartans' 20-yard line fell incomplete. Eget, who came into the game with just one career completion in his three-year career, had entered the game with seven-plus minutes in the third quarter but was also lifted after tossing two incompletions and forcing a San Jose State punt earlier in the fourth quarter. Stutzmann was now playing musical chairs with his quarterbacks trying to steal a victory. It worked as Eget led his teammates 80 yards over the next six plays for the game-winning score. Eget was 10-of-13 for 141 yards for the game and led San Jose State to two touchdowns on his three drives. "We're all just a bunch of Lego pieces," Eget told sjsuspartans.com. "You have to always be ready." "I didn't expect the change at that time," Niumatalolo said. "But I trust Craig that he'd make the right decision."

KEY HIDDEN PLAYS

The Spartans' brilliant trick play on the game-winning touchdown overshadowed two other important plays on the very same game-deciding drive, one that nearly helped the Wolf Pack leave the Bay Area with a victory. The first key moment was on the first play after Eget replaced Brown for the second time in the game. Eget found Sebastian Macaluso for a 14-yard gain down to the 34-yard line with two minutes to play. The Spartans' bench, though, was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty after the play, pushing the ball back to the 19. "That's bad," Niumatalolo said. "We lost our cool. We were chirping after plays. That penalty could have been huge." The second pivotal moment on the drive that got forgotten after the Nash-to-Bates touchdown was a 51-yard strike from Eget to Macaluso down to the Nevada 16 with 55 seconds to play. The long pass play took place four plays and just 65 seconds after the penalty pushed the ball back to the Spartans' 19. Macaluso had just one catch the entire game for two yards before hauling in his 14- and 51-yard grabs on the game-winning drive.

KEY MINDSET

The Pack, it seemed, was determined to not allow Nash to beat them. Nash came into the game with a NCAA-best 50 catches and eight touchdown catches. He had 17 catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns against Kennesaw State and 16 catches for 152 yards and two scores against Washington State in his last two games leading up to the Nevada game. The Pack didn't exactly shut Nash down as he broke free enough to catch five passes for 75 yards and a 24-yard touchdown to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead. But they tried. "They were double-covering him most of the game," Eget said. "But when they double-covered him that usually means somebody else is open." The strategy, though. frustrated Nash. "It was real annoying," Nash said. "They were doubling me a lot, getting very handsy with me." The flaw in the Pack's strategy is that it was based on Nash as a wide receiver. The sixth-year player, after all, was a quarterback his first three years when he completed 106-of-189 passes for 1,317 yards and 10 touchdowns. Nash, who also tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass in the season opener this year against Sacramento State, hurt the Pack the most on Saturday as a quarterback.

KEY PLAYER

Nash was clearly the game's most valuable player, given his touchdown catch and game-winning touchdown pass. But the best player on the field for much of the game was Nevada quarterback Brendon Lewis. Lewis has had quality performances before but his efforts on Saturday clearly established him as one of the best quarterbacks and best weapons in the Mountain West. Lewis was 22-of-30 through the air for 213 yards and two touchdowns and also picked up 90 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground on 13 carries. The Wolf Pack wouldn't have even been in the game without Lewis' performance. "He just makes you miss," Niumatalolo said. "He was definitely an issue."

KEY HIDDEN STATS

The Wolf Pack and Spartans were closer on Saturday than even the thin four-point difference in the final score might suggest. Both teams punted three times, both had 23 pass completions, both kicked off six times, both were called for exactly seven penalties for exactly 75 yards. Both scored two rushing touchdowns and converted eight third-down plays into first downs. Both teams also scored a touchdown exactly 50 seconds before the end of each half. Lewis found Jaden Smith for a 5-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first half and Nash and Bates shocked everyone on their 16-yard connection with 50 seconds to play in the game. San Jose State averaged 6.4 yards on each of its 69 plays while Nevada averaged 6.2 yards on its 67 plays. San Jose State had 441 yards while Nevada had 416.

KEY MISSED OPPORTUNITY

The Wolf Pack, it turns out, might have lost the game less than five minutes into the fourth quarter. The Pack faced a first down at the San Jose State 11-yard line with 12:34 to play but failed to reach the end zone. The play-calling from the 11 left a little to be desired. The first play was a run by reserve Ky Woods, a second-year player, with just two rushing carries in his career. Woods lost two yards. Patrick Garwo then lost a yard on a run. Facing a third-and-13 from the 14-yard line, Lewis then tossed a pass to Garwo six yards behind the first down marker and he was immediately dropped. The Pack, which clearly demonstrated it didn't want to settle for a field goal on this drive (there was a fourth-and-3 from the 22 earlier on the drive), had to now settle for a 25-yard field goal by Matthew Killam and a 31-28 lead. The field goal try at that point was clearly the right choice but a little more creativity and daring on the three previous plays was required to get into the end zone.

KEY PACK PENALTY

The Wolf Pack has struggled to avoid the officials' flags and whistles all season. The Pack, though, seemed to limit the damage of its penalties on Saturday heading into the homestretch with a 31-28 lead. Nevada seemed to take a huge step toward a victory when quarterback Brendon Lewis broke free for a 22-yard run on a third-and-1 play from the Nevada 33 with just over eight minutes to play. The Pack, though, was called for a hold at the Nevada 42-yard line on Lewis' gain. So now, instead of having the ball at the San Jose 45-yard line with 7:39 to play, it was way back on the Nevada 32. Lewis did immediately pick up a dozen more yards on the very next play, but the Pack offense never truly recovered from the holding penalty and was forced to eventually punt from the San Jose State 44 with 2:28 to play.

KEY STAT TO IGNORE

The Wolf Pack, oddly enough, has had an edge in time of possession in all four games it has lost this season. The Pack (2-4) had the ball for 35:03 to San Jose State's 24:57 on Saturday. Nevada had the ball for 30:47 in a 27-0 loss at Minnesota (29:13), for 37:21 in a 20-17 loss to Georgia Southern (22:39) and for 36:17 in a 29-24 loss to SMU (23:43).

The Wolf Pack also had an edge in time of possession in one of the two games it has won this year, holding the ball for 33:10 in a 49-16 win over Eastern Washington (26:50). The only game the Pack did not hold the ball longer than its opponent was in a 28-26 win over Troy. Troy had the ball for 30:25 to Nevada's 29:35.

KEY SNEAK PEAK

Wolf Pack backup quarterback Chubba Purdy appeared in his first game for the Pack against San Jose State. San Jose State was the team Purdy originally committed to when he left Nebraska after the 2023 season before quickly changing his mind and jumping back into the transfer portal and head to Nevada (after San Jose State coach Brent Brennan left for Arizona).

Purdy appeared on Saturday on the fourth play of the game when the Pack was facing a 2nd-and-5 from its own 44. Purdy completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Marcus Bellon. It was his first pass and completion since he was 15-of-28 for Nebraska against Iowa on Nov. 24, 2023.

KEY FAMILIAR FACE

Former Wolf Pack wide receiver Justin Lockhart caught four passes for 59 yards for San Jose State, including a 37-yard touchdown that gave the Spartans a 21-14 lead late in the second quarter. Lockhart played three seasons for Nevada and head coach Jay Norvell from 2019-21, catching 67 passes for 744 yards and four touchdowns. He had 36 catches for 578 yards and a touchdown in 2022 for San Jose State and has 19 for 325 yards and three scores this year. He missed all of 2023 with a hand/arm injury.

Lockhart and former Nevada receivers Elijah Cooks and Charles Ross all transferred to San Jose State after the 2021 season to join former Wolf Pack wide receivers coach Eric Scott. Ross caught 65 passes for 856 yards and four touchdowns for San Jose State the past three years before transferring to USC this year when he has played in two games and has one catch. Cooks caught 69 passes for 1,076 yards and 10 touchdowns in his only season at San Jose State in 2022 to close out his college career.

Scott, at Nevada with Norvell from 2017-20, spent three seasons (2021-23) at San Jose State and is now the head coach at West Los Angeles College.

UP NEXT

The Wolf Pack (2-4, 0-1 in the Mountain West) will host the Oregon State Beavers (4-1) of the Pac-12 in its final non-conference game this year. Oregon State has already beaten Colorado State (39-31) and San Diego State (21-0) from the Mountain West this year and will host UNLV the week after playing Nevada.