San Jose State wraps spring practice with showcase featuring new faces

SAN JOSE Year two of San Jose State football head coach Ken Niumatalolo s tenure was in full swing Saturday afternoon when the Spartans hosted their annual Spring Contest at CEFCU Stadium The championship itself was a glorified practice that ended with a scrimmage Niumatalolo s biggest takeaway from the event was that no Spartans were injured That was the number one goal Niumatalolo declared Niumatalolo believes the Spartans are in a better spot this spring compared to a year ago when San Jose went on to finish - overall I m really happy with where we are at right now Niumatalolo noted We feel like offensively we re going to be way better than last year Quarterback Walker Eget is the sole returning starter this offseason Going into s Spring Championship Eget was in a neck and neck competition with Emmett Brown who transferred to Coastal Carolina this offseason Walker clearly established himself as the starter so it s such a difference from last year Niumatalolo reported Nonetheless Niumatalolo has put an emphasis on improving the Spartans running attack this season Offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann stated the head coach has required the offense to focus on ball measure and physicality along the offensive line believing those aspects could both improve in the offense s second year under Stutzmann Despite losing All-American receiver Nick Nash Stutzmann is confident in the expected of this year s offense New additions to the wide receiver room such as Purdue transfer Leland Smith Danny Scudero and returning junior Matthew Coleman who is considered the room s leader give the Spartans hope We got certain shiny new toys they re selected speedsters Stutzmann revealed On Saturday afternoon Smith was one of two Spartans to get into the end zone during the scrimmage scoring from the -yard line on a quick screen The only other Spartan to outcome was true freshman quarterback Tama Amisone the former Kapolei High Hawaii star who ripped off an impressive -yard touchdown run He s a great change-up for what Walker is Stutzmann stated of Amisone Tama he is a twitchy fast athlete He s growing in the pass event but he s got to develop a little more as a passer Amisone and senior Xavier Ward are A and B on the depth chart behind Eget according to Stutzmann who gave a strong vote of confidence to Eget He s growing into himself everybody knows he s a leader on the offense Stutzmann noted of Eget Eget went -for- passing with his final throw being the touchdown to Smith Amisone wound up going -for- but he did throw the largest completion of the day a -yard pass to wide receiver Roy Gardner It feels great but it comes with a lot of pressure Eget revealed on being named the starter this offseason I ve been given the keys to the car but I have to make sure the car is running well On the defensive side Eget s former high school teammate and current roommate linebacker Brady Van Bennekum stood out with an interception and an almost pick- that got called back by an offsides penalty He s got a knack for the ball Eget declared of Van Bennekum He got me twice this spring Defensive coordinator Derrik Odum has been pleased with Bennekum s spring specifically with his ability to make big plays Bennekum is near the top of the Big Play Board this spring according to Odum He s definitely a guy that finds the ball and looks to make and finish plays Odum added Offseason transfer Runye Norton got the other interception on a highly contested jump ball He s really started to flourish and understand the nuances of the defense Odum noted of Norton Norton s teammate Kejuan Bullard Jr has seen Norton s increase since he transferred from El Camino College He came in being new to the system coming in with all of us and we all know the system I feel like he picked it up pretty fast and he s been working hard to get on the field Bullard commented Related Articles San Jose State hires former Oklahoma top assistant Chatterton as women s head basketball coach SJSU s Blaire Fleming sheds light on her tumultuous senior season as a trans athlete Battle over trans athletes participation in girls sports comes to California Capitol April Phillips out as SJSU basketball coach USF advances San Jose State s epic comeback falls just short in NIT Multiple members of the defense did not participate and were seen on the sideline without pads This included linebacker Taniela Latu safety Larry Turner-Gooden linebacker Noah Mcneal-Franklin linebacker Dylan Lee and linebacker Zane Carter Offensive lineman Nathan Balestrieri was also on the sidelines without pads Sophomore kicker Mathais Brown went -for- on field goals including -yard and -yard kicks He was also -for- on PATs