Gear Up For Game Day: SJSU Spartans

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- The early trash talk was dripping with sarcasm.

The results, though, were undeniable.

After a misfire between quarterback Walker Eget and wideout Danny Scudero on the opening play from scrimmage, Wyoming's Desman Hearns admitted that following the 35-28 escape job last October against San Jose State, he mocked the 5-foot-9 speedster, wishing him a "great game."

He obviously took those words to heart.

The nation's leading receiver hauled in a 17-yard pass on the third play of the night. On the sixth snap, Eget took a five-step drop and fired a picture-perfect 43-yard strike down the east sideline right into the hands of his No. 1 target. Scudero snatched the pass and skidded into the end zone.

You'll never guess who was in coverage?

Scudero stood up, spun the ball and immediately got into Hearn's face. What did he say?

"He told me, 'Have a good rest of my game, too,'" Wyoming's nickelback joked.

Scudero wasn't done torturing the Cowboys' secondary just yet.

On the Spartans' third offensive possession, Eget again found the Sacramento State transfer. This time it was a 72-yard hookup. Those two would connect two more times, one score from seven yards out. The other, two.

Scudero capped the first half with 151 receiving yards and four touchdown grabs on just six catches.

"He's the fastest receiver I've faced," Hearns added. "I wouldn't say the best."

Then-Wyoming cornerbacks coach Benny Boyd joked that it was all part of the grand plan.

"We're gonna turn into a rope-a-dope," he said with a smile. "We're gonna let him wear himself out by running so far in the first half that he had no juice left in the second."

Believe it or not, there was some truth in that statement.

Eget suffered an injury in the third quarter and Scudero was limited to just 29 more yards and four receptions. Wyoming's offense finally woke up in the final frame, too. Charlie Coenen reeled in a deep slant pass and split a pair of defenders en route to a 45-yard touchdown jaunt. Running back Terron Kellman also did his best Earl Campbell impression with less than a minute remaining in regulation, spinning, slashing and breaking numerous tackles on his way into the end zone from 28 yards out.

What sparked this comeback? The defense.

That unit, which already had one shutout under its collective belt and would pick up another later in the month against Colorado State, forced a pair of turnovers, including a wild pick-six early in the fourth quarter.

A Xavier Ward throw was rejected at the line of scrimmage by blitzing linebacker Evan Eller. That swat eventually bounced off a helmet in the interior and directly into the arms of running mate Brayden Johnson, who, along with a convoy, returned that gift 65 yards for the score.

"As the game went on, our guys started trusting their techniques," defensive coordinator Aaron Bohl said. "We said, 'OK, hey, we can survive. And, you know, we can shift the game a little bit.'"

Of all the players mentioned above, on both sides, only Hearns and Coenen remain on the roster.

Eget is now slinging it at Duke. Scudero is down the road in Boulder where he has just five catches for 24 yards this fall. Eller and Johnson exhausted their eligibility. So did Ward. Kellman, on his fourth school in as many years, is now at Liberty.

College football, am I right?

"We stayed in the fight," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said. "Then, all of a sudden, there's an interception return for a touchdown and then the whole game changed. All we had to do is figure out a way to get it back to a one-score game. And for a long time, we had to figure out a way to keep it from getting to a three-score game."

In this limited series between the Cowboys and Spartans, the 2025 edition was an instant classic. SJSU would go on to drop five of its last six games, all but one by more than 10 points. Wyoming didn't fare much better. A three-point loss in Colorado Springs followed that win inside War Memorial Stadium. Play-caller Jay Johnson was handed his walking papers after that debacle.

After a bye week, Wyoming pounced the Rams, blanking its most-hated rival, 28-0. That's where the good news ends.

An 0-for-November stretch included lopsided losses to San Diego State, Fresno State and Hawaii, all on the road. The lone home game -- the day Josh Allen got his No. 17 retired, none the less -- ended with a thud in a 13-7 loss to Nevada.

Here is all you need to know -- and the links -- for Friday night's tilt in the Bay Area:

WHO: Wyoming (2-3, 1-1) at San Jose State (3-2, 1-0)
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:00 p.m. MST
WEATHER: High of 77, Low 59, Sunny, Wind 8 mph
WHERE: CEFCU Stadium, San Jose, Calif. (18,265 capacity)
TRAVEL: Roads.Ca
STREAMING: CBS Sports Network
TV: CBS Sports Network
RADIO: Cowboy Sports Network
TICKETS: SJSU Ticket Office
BOX SCORE: ESPN
ROSTERS: Wyoming / SJSU
HISTORY: Wyoming leads all-time series, 8-7
BETTING ODDS: SJSU -4.5, O/U: 42.5
HEAD COACHES: Jay Sawvel / Ken Niumatalolo