San Jose State 34-31 Stanford (November 29, 2024) Game Recap

SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State quarterback Walker Eget threw four touchdown passes, including an 18-yard score to TreyShun Murray, with 1:55 remaining to give the Spartans a 34-31 victory about Stanford on Friday.

Eget completed 33 of 49 pass attempts for 385 yards and was intercepted once. Nick Nash, who entered the day leading the FBS in receptions and touchdown catches, caught nine passes for 91 yards and two scores, breaking the San Jose State single-season record.

San Jose State (7-5) now awaits word of a possible bowl bid. The Spartans have played in the postseason in each of the last two seasons and in three of the previous four seasons.

“We’re a competitive place and people don’t know anything about San Jose, but we want to win,” Eget said. “The seventh (win) increases our bowl chances, but especially against Stanford we want to win.”

The Spartans had lost six straight times to their Northern California rivals, who played each other once a year.

Friday’s game marked the first meeting between the two teams since 2013 and San Jose State University’s final home game of the season, giving a handful of seniors their final appearance at CEFCU Stadium.

“We like to make things dramatic to get more viewers,” Spartans coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “We had our ups and downs, our ups and downs, and our guys continued to fight the whole game.”

Before Eget’s game-winning throw, Stanford’s fourth quarter was a nightmare.

Eget was sacked and fumbled near his own end zone, resulting in a touchdown for the Cardinal. On his next drive, the San Jose State quarterback was intercepted near the Stanford end zone, then the Spartans turned the ball over on downs.

“The biggest thing is just turning the page, especially with this team,” Eget said. “When something happens, we just have to overcome adversity.”

Meanwhile, Eget tried to remain calm.

“It’s just who he is, it’s his nature,” Niumatalolo said. “The young man has a great personality, a great demeanor and he is a great teammate.”

Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels passed for 252 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted three times.

The Cardinal (3-9) played from behind most of the day after numerous self-inflicted errors. Stanford had 10 penalties for 115 yards.

“I’m proud of how our guys played, we just came up short,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said. “We did a lot of really good things. Just not quite enough to win the game.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Daniels scored on a 1-yard keeper to give Stanford a 31-27 lead with 7½ minutes to play.

The Spartans came up short on their ensuing drive, turning the ball over at the Cardinal 11-yard line after Eget brought down Nash in the end zone.

Despite being pushed back near its own goal line, Stanford came out with a throw and Daniels was intercepted by Isiah Revis with 2:39 left to start the game-winning drive.

Nash had touchdown catches of 20 and 2 yards.

Both teams had long touchdowns that were wiped out by penalties.

Takeaways

Stanford: The Cardinal had no bowl games to play and it looked that way most of the day. The malaise also spread to the coaching staff, who made several questionable play decisions after venturing deep into the Spartans’ red zone in the first half. We thank Taylor’s team for pulling together and making a late breakthrough, even if they came away empty-handed.

San Jose State: This was a good test for the Spartans as they await word on whether they will play in a bowl game. Eget was great the entire game, as was Nash.

Next

Stanford: The Cardinals won’t play again until the start of next season in Hawaii in August.

San Jose State: The Spartans are bowl eligible and will have to wait for an invitation to one of the postseason games.

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