San Jose State takeaways: Much to like about win over New Mexico

SAN JOSE It was a much needed - win for San Jose State on Friday night against New Mexico With the Lobos exceeding expectations at - and the Spartans not meeting them at - San Jose State focused on getting itself right when the teams met in a Mountain West opener at CEFCU Stadium It was a very simple message this short week Spartans coach Ken Niumatalolo commented Not all this fluff not all this hooting and hollering We re both - regardless of what they did before and regardless of what we did before With the Spartans aiming to qualify for a fourth consecutive bowl championship winning Friday was crucial given that SJSU still has conference games looming against Hawaii Fresno State and San Diego State teams that already have four wins The whole mindset this week was just go - in conference Spartans quarterback Walker Eget disclosed I think this is one of the best band wins we ve had here in a long time The achievement over the Lobos was the Spartans first this season against FBS school Their other was against Idaho which plays at the lower FCS level Here are the takeaways from Friday s event STEVE CHAVEZ-SOTO BREAKS OUT Last week freshman running back Steve Chavez-Soto was on the scout group Friday he was San Jose State s leading rusher Coach Michael Smith dependably says stay ready and that s what I did Chavez-Soto explained I stayed ready and waited for my opportunity Chavez-Soto took advantage of his opportunity rushing for yards and two touchdowns in carries He s got great vision Niumatalolo stated He had particular great break-back runs in camp like he did currently Chavez-Soto punched in a -yard touchdown run to give the Spartans their first points His second touchdown came after he reversed direction and located a hole for a -yard run in the third quarter to stretch the Spartans lead to - It took a lot to happen for Chavez-Soto to see the field First Jabari Bates went down with a season-ending injury against Stanford Floyd Chalk IV who had been the starter since transferring to SJSU from Grambling State was seen in the stands in street clothes before Friday s encounter and was not on the field with the group Niumatalolo revealed after the championship that Chalk IV will perhaps be redshirting Then Vilami Teu who entered the event as the second string running back behind Lamar Radcliffe was injured on his first carry and did not return All of this opened the door for Chavez-Soto who split time with Radcliffe on Friday Radcliffe finished with carries for yards Chavez-Soto was fifth-string on the depth chart and Radcliffe was demoted to third-string earlier in the season because of ball-security issues But now with Bates out and Chalk IV s status uncertain the Spartans run encounter might rely on Chavez-Soto and Radcliffe moving forward It was a great example of next man up Niumatalolo disclosed It could have been devastating losing a guy who was your starter and leading rusher last year But those two guys played lights out PASSING OFFENSE LOOKS ELITE AGAIN In his past two games counting Friday Eget has thrown for yards six touchdowns and zero interceptions over pass attempts In the win over New Mexico he was -of- passing for yards and three touchdowns He started the event for He s a machine All of his decisions were right Niumatalolo noted I thought Eget did a great job of distributing the football against a good New Mexico defense Eget connected with wide receiver Danny Scudero for a -yard touchdown to put the Spartans in front - Scudero finished with yards receiving and one touchdown marking the fourth time this season that the transfer from UC Davis and former Archbishop Mitty High School star has gone over yards Kyri Shoels was the second-leading receiver on seven receptions for yards Leland Smith racked up six receptions for yards which included a one-handed touchdown grab in the third quarter to give the Spartans a - lead It was a hard-fought win and everything started with our quarterback Niumatalolo revealed He s opened up so countless things he s going to put the ball in the right spots SECONDARY STRUGGLES DEFENSE GIVES UP BIG PLAYS Despite the win the secondary at times struggled to contain New Mexico s passing event The Spartans allowed five Lobos to have a reception of yards or more Keagan Johnson had yards on catches The Lobos went of on third down and of on fourth down Fourth-down defense has been a recurring issue for SJSU as its opponents have gone of on fourth down over the past three games We have to continue to work on getting more disciplined with our eyes and in pass coverage Niumatalolo explained We ll continue to clean things up on defense Related Articles San Jose State tops New Mexico behind Eget s passing Chavez-Soto s running What to know before San Jose State kicks off vs New Mexico on Friday night Mountain West opener a fresh start for San Jose State That s a tough one to lose Takeaways from San Jose State s loss to Stanford Heartbreaker San Jose State s hopes of second straight win over Stanford dashed in final seconds Despite giving up several big plays the Spartans won the turnover battle - Cornerback Jalen Bainer had two interceptions and safety Larry Turner-Gooden also snagged a pick SJSU was without injured safety Jalen Apalit-Williams against New Mexico MATHIAS BROWN DEBUT In his first contest as the starting kicker Mathias Brown did not have a field goal attempt But he was of on extra-point tries Brown got the job when Denis Lynch was benched after missing six of his field-goal attempts this season UP NEXT SJSU will head on the road to face Wyoming - - at Memorial Stadium on Oct at p m PST The Spartans will try to bring along the momentum of their first conference win We needed this win Niumatalolo commented My message was Guys we re two plays away from being - Just keep grinding keep working I m really proud of these guys because they stayed the subject