San José State football (1-0) made a statement in its first game beating Sacramento State (0-1) 42-24 on Thursday.
It was hard to tell how the game was going to go in the first-quarter.
The team initially was struggling and had minus 12 rushing yards on 10 attempts, missing a late second-quarter field goal that would have tied the game at the half.
“I was proud of the way our guys continued battling,” SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Things looked bleak and bad for a long time, but our guys just kept at them.”
The Spartans were able to find their rhythm in the second half led by sophomore quarterback Emmett Brown.
“I put in a lot of hard work and all that, so I am just super grateful to get that opportunity to go out there and play,” Brown said.
Brown threw 298 yards, completed 20 of his 34 pass attempts and threw three touchdowns.
Despite the slow start in the first half, the Spartans had a solid performance from senior wide receiver Nick Nash.
Nash scored the first touchdown for the Spartans in the first quarter and threw a touchdown pass to junior tight end Jacob Stewart in the second quarter, making this Nash’s first touchdown pass since October of 2021.
He finished the game with 10 receptions and 170 receiving yards.
“It was not a pretty ball, but it got there,” Nash said.
SJSU’s defense forced three fumbles and two interceptions with two of those fumbles being forced by freshman defensive lineman John Norwood.
Senior safety Robert “Rocket” Rahimi supplied SJSU on defense and recorded nine tackles and one sack.
“Anybody could be the better team,” Rahimi said. “Thank God we were the better team today.”
SJSU ended up scoring 28 points in the second half with 21 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.
Junior running back Floyd Chalk IV was a major factor in the fourth quarter, tacking on two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
CEFCU Stadium seemed to be a hot spot Thursday night attracting the likes of San José Mayor Matt Mahan, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and NBA sportswriter and SJSU alumnus Marc Spears.
There was a late game ejection for SJSU sophomore cornerback Jalen Bainer who was flagged for targeting freshman Sacramento State quarterback Carson Conklin.
“There are 11 guys on the field and we all got to do our job,” Brown said. “Trusting that those guys are going to do their job is key.”
Following this win the Spartans are scheduled to play Air Force on the road Saturday Sept. 7 at 4:00 p.m. at the Falcon Stadium in Air Force Academy, Colo.
“There are a lot more things that we need to clean up,” Rahimi said. “Preparing for (the) Air Force, we are going to be a lot more dialed in and locked in, so it was good to get this first game out the way.”
