With San Jose State leading 28-14 at halftime Saturday at Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium, everything seemed to be moving in the Spartans’ favor.
Wide receiver Danny Scudero had 151 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, breaking a school record for most receiving touchdowns in a single game.
However, after Scudero trotted across the goal line early in the second quarter for a two-yard touchdown, his fourth of the day to give San Jose State a 14-point lead, the Spartans were shut out for the rest of the game.
Wyoming (3-3, 1-1 Mountain West) defeated SJSU 35-28, outscoring the Spartans 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
“We had every opportunity to close out that game and we didn’t,” head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “We got to play better and I have to coach better. That’s a tough, hard loss.”
Almost everything went wrong for the final 40 minutes of the game after such a promising start to the game for the Spartans (2-4, 1-1).
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game.
THE “DO-OVER” DOWN
The most pivotal play in terms of momentum came when San Jose State faced a fourth-and-2 on the Wyoming 36 with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Quarterback Xavier Ward, who was filling in for the injured Walker Eget, connected with wide receiver Matthew Coleman for a first down.
SJSU led 28-14 and this would have allowed the Spartans to continue a drive deep into Wyoming territory.
But the Spartans had a substitution enter the field late in the play clock, failing to allow Wyoming the required time to substitute in response. The officials disallowed the reception and called for a “do-over.
Facing the same fourth-and-2 again, Ward’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage, intercepted by Cowboys linebacker Brayden Johnson and returned for a touchdown.
This brought the score to 28-21 and marked the beginning of a 21-0 run for Wyoming.
“We have to get that substitution in earlier,” Niumatalolo said. “That was the play of the game right there. We had ten guys on the field.”
Wyoming gained all momentum from this play and never looked back.
EGET’S INJURY TAKES LIFE OUT OF OFFENSE
In the past three games combined, Eget has thrown for 1,102 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.
He has been playing his best football and it looked like that would continue with him and Scudero looking in sync early.
But in the third quarter with the Spartans inside the red zone, Eget took a hit from Cowboys linebacker Tyce Westland resulting in a fumble recovered by the Cowboys. Eget did not return to the game until there was 2:44 left on the clock, and would only get two more chances to drive SJSU down the field.
All 28 of the Spartans’ points came with Eget under center. The Spartans split time at quarterback between Ward and Tama Amisone during Eget’s absence, but neither gained much traction.
Ward went 3-for-10 for 15 yards with an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Aminsone, who has been primarily used in rushing packages this season, went 5-for-8 for 30 yards. His biggest play of the night was a 13-yard run.
“I thought he did some good things,” Niumatalolo said of Aminsone. “A couple of his balls were a little low but I thought he made some good decisions.”
Eget has been a bright spot for the Spartans’ offense and without him healthy, the offense could not find any rhythm.
DEFENSE CAN’T CLOSE GAMES
Over the past three games combined, SJSU’s defense has given up 39 points in the fourth quarter alone (14 against Wyoming, 11 against New Mexico and 16 against Stanford).
In the game against Wyoming, the Spartans gave up two touchdowns within the final five minutes of the game.
Wyoming trailed 28-21 with 4:42 to go when it started a drive at its own 15-yard line. But then, a pass interference and roughing the passer penalty spotted the Cowboys 30 free yards.
The drive was capped off with Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson connecting with Charlie Coenen for a 45-yard touchdown, tying the game at 28-28.
On the first play of the next Wyoming drive with just over a minute left, Anderson threw a screen pass to running back Samuel Harris which he turned into a 52-yard gain. Two plays later, Cowboys running back Terron Kellman took a run up the middle for a 28-yard score to win the game.
The Spartans defense has been susceptible to the big play all season, including in the loss to Stanford, where on a late fourth-and-10, SJSU surrendered a 34-yard reception.
Coming into Saturday, the Spartans had allowed nine conversions on 10 fourth-down attempts over the last three games. The Cowboys started 0-for-2 on fourth down, suggesting a turnaround by the Spartans.
But when it mattered most in the fourth quarter, Wyoming converted on a fourth-and-5, and one play later was the Coenen touchdown to tie the game.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES FOR SCUDERO
Danny Scudero had 10 receptions for 180 yards, bringing his FBS-leading total to 845 yards.
All of Scudero’s record-breaking four touchdown receptions came in the first 19 minutes of the game.
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With Scudero having 151 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, he was on pace for an even bigger game. Scudero took advantage of man coverage early on, and Wyoming’s switch to more zone in the second quarter slowed him down.
Even with the big performance, Scudero had six drops including one on a third-and-8on the Spartans’ first drive of the fourth quarter.
KICKING WOES CONTINUE
Mathias Brown went 0-for-2 on his first two collegiate field goals on the season, missing from 53 yards and 47 yards.
Brown took over the job from Denis Lynch, who went 4-for-10 on the season. This brings SJSU’s total on field goals to 4-of-12.
“You make one of those early on you’re up three scores, the game feels totally different,” Niumatalolo said. “(Mathias) and Denis are all we got so they just got to keep working.”