October 17, 2024|
Photo – San Jose State stadium – Courtesy sjsuspartans.com
San Jose State comes into Saturday’s game against Wyoming with a 4-2 overall record. In Mountain West Conference play, the Spartans are 2-and-1 after last Saturday’s 24-31 loss to Colorado State in Fort Collins.
San Jose State Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo called the loss to the Rams “painful.”
He blamed a “lack of discipline” for the 10 yards in penalties the Spartans racked up against the Rams. The message this week in practice, as San Jose State gets ready for its homecoming game, was pay attention to details.
Coach Niumatalolo was the head coach of the Naval Academy for 15 years from 2007 to 2022. The Spartans beat Air Force in week 2 of the season 17-17 in rivalry game Niumatalolo knows well. Niumatalolo was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame earlier this year.
The Spartans beat Nevada 35-31 in another Mountain West matchup on October 5.
Wyoming is an 11.5-point underdog going into this week’s matchup. The over/under is set at 52.
Coach Niumatalolo said the Cowboys are a lot like the Spartans. Wyoming has lost a few close games. The Cowboys lost to San Diego State by a field goal last week. It was Wyoming’s second three-point loss of the season after falling to Idaho 17-13 in week 2.
The San Jose State head coach said his defense is working this week to shore up some weaknesses that have been exposed in their edge game that Colorado State exploited last week. “Play smarter” was the motto this week on the coast. Niumatalolo pointed to Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda as a big threat.
Wyoming dominated the rivalry with San Jose State for nearly 40 years beginning in 1959. The table flipped in the Mountain West era. The Spartans are 5-1 against the Cowboys since 2013. Overall, Wyoming leads the series by one game, 7-6.
Wyoming is looking to flip the script on the slow start to their season.
Cowboy Head Coach Jay Sawvel said this week that his team is doing a good job of staying focused, sticking with practice, and improving on fundamentals.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
