San Jose State quarterback Nick Starkel didn’t hide his frustration Saturday night after a 27-24 loss at Nevada in his return from an injury that kept him out all of October.
“I hate losing,” said Starkel, who engineered a game-tying touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. “It doesn’t feel good, no matter how you put it – especially games like that. We play this game to play meaningful games in November and that was a meaningful game for us. It hurts.”
The Spartans (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West) won’t repeat as conference champions, and they squandered a golden opportunity to become bowl eligible after Nevada quarterback Carson Strong drove the Wolf Pack into field-goal range by converting a fourth down with less than 30 seconds left.
Moments later, Nevada place kicker Brandon Talton, who missed three tries in the first half, split the uprights from 45 yards out with three seconds left.
It doesn’t get any easier with two home games left at CEFCU Stadium against Utah State (7-2, 4-1) next week, then Fresno State (7-3, 4-2) on Thanksgiving Day.
“I love this team,” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said. “And all I want for this team is to get them to play another game, to get them to play in the postseason. So for us all that matters is the Utah State game – and that’s it.”
The Wolf Pack (7-2, 4-1) travels to San Diego State (8-1, 4-1) – which already beat SJSU in double overtime – next week in what’s likely to become a de facto West Division championship game.
Meanwhile, San Jose State must reconcile with the notion that a pair of turnovers turned into touchdowns and proved too costly to overcome in the end.
“If we don’t turn it over twice for 14 (points), we’re probably having a much happier locker room than we have right now,” Brennan said. “But the reality is it’s the month of November, the race for the conference championship is on, Fresno lost to Boise, we win this game we’re in it – right in the middle of it.
“And when you are at those big games, you can’t make the mistakes we made today and hope to beat that team on the road. They’re too good.”
Starkel didn’t take a snap until the third series by the Spartans, who trailed 7-0 after running back Tyler Nevens lost a fumble that turned into a 55-yard touchdown by Nevada.
Backup quarterback Nick Nash, who filled in for the past five weeks, split time with Starkel in the first and third quarters.
But he threw an 86-yard pick-six on the opening possession of the second half and barely played the rest of the way.
“We were just trying to find the best thing that can help us move the ball effectively,” Brennan said. “And later in the game that was Starkel.”
The sixth-year veteran took over down the stretch and finished 21-of-40 for 255 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Nevens, who caught a 5-yard TD in the first quarter, gained 116 yards on 14 carries.
Starkel found a wide-open Malakhi Miller for a 48-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, but his favorite target was wide receiver Jermaine Braddock – seven catches for 140 yards.
His 40-yard grab late in the game set up a 2-yard touchdown catch by tight end Derrick Deese Jr. on fourth-and-goal with 1:47 to briefly tie the game.
“We really wanted to throw the ball to another guy on that play going to the back corner of the end zone,” Starkel said. “I saw that they were bringing their zero pressure, where they were pretty much going all out to try and get me, so I just backpedaled, they took that corner route and I just found Deese. And he knew pretty much as soon as the ball was snapped that it was going to come to him, so he was peeking back at me and it was good chemistry on that play.”
San Jose State lost in Reno for a 10th straight time and hasn’t won at Mackay Stadium since 2000.
The Wolf Pack struggled to find much rhythm on offense until late in the fourth quarter, with Strong, who was sacked three times, saving his best for last. The first-round NFL prospect went 36-of-54 for 314 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Carson is an incredible player and I hope we don’t have to play against him anymore,” Brennan said. “We knew we needed to let him sit back there and throw all day. That was the key, and to his credit he kept getting back up and he made the throws on that last drive he had to make to win it.”
It was a disappointing night for the Spartans, who need at least one more win to qualify for the postseason.
“Coach Brennan said it the moment he got here, when no one believed in us, he said that he believes this team and this program is going to compete for championships,” said SJSU co-captain Kyle Harmon, who recorded a game-high 14 tackles. “That’s our standard. We always expect to win, no matter who it is, no matter where we’re at. That’s just our mindset every season, every game, it’s to go out there and win.
“Just didn’t get it done today.”
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