Nick Nash accounted for three touchdowns, Emmett Brown threw three touchdown passes and San Jose State defeated Sacramento State 42-24 on Thursday night in the debut of Ken Niumatalolo as coach of the Spartans.
Nash caught 10 passes for 170 yards with two touchdowns. The former quarterback also threw one pass — a 26-yard touchdown to Jacob Stewart in the second quarter.
Brown, a sophomore transfer from Washington State, completed 20 of 34 passes for 298 yards.
Floyd Chalk IV, a junior transfer from Grambling State, had 87 yards rushing and scored twice for the Spartans.
Sacramento State rolled up 160 yards in the first quarter, led 14-7 and had the ball inside the 10-yard line at the end of the period. On fourth down from the 1, San Jose State's John Norwood forced and recovered a fumble to keep the Spartans within seven points.
San Jose State trailed 17-14 at halftime and took the lead for the first time when Brown hit Nash for an 11-yard score early in the third quarter.
The Spartans took the lead for good, 28-24, on the first of Chalk's two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
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Sacramento State's Elijah Tau-Tolliver had 110 yards on the ground and scored twice but the Hornets, ranked 10th in the FCS, were hurt by four turnovers.
The all-time winningest coach at the Naval Academy, Niumatalolo led Navy to 10 bowl games over 15 seasons. He took over at San Jose State after Brent Brennan took the job at Arizona.
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