Nick Nash a Beneficiary of SJSU’s ‘Spread and Shred’ Offense

SAN JOSE, Calif., -- Nick Nash spent less than 24 hours in the NCAA Transfer Portal last offseason.

With the ever-popular head coach Brent Brennan headed to Arizona and taking his wide-open offensive attack with him, the senior wide receiver had a major decision to make: spend his final collegiate season elsewhere or stay at San Jose State and take a chance on a new staff.

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Making matters even trickier, Ken Niumatalolo was the new man in charge. He spent the majority of his coaching career running a triple-option attack at the Naval Academy.

That scheme isn't exactly pass-happy.

Nash eventually chose the latter. It took some prompting from offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann.

The "spread and shred" was born. It's living up to its unique name, too.

No one in college football has hauled in as many passes as Nash through six weeks. He's snagged 62 balls. He's turned that production into 806 receiving yards. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Irvine, Calif., product had added 10 touchdowns. He's tacked on two more in the passing game.

Jay Sawvel has taken notice.

"They revolve around Nick Nash," Wyoming's rookie head coach said Monday during his weekly press conference. "He's got 62 catches this year, which is kind of obscene in six games. So, he's an excellent player, great at the reception point, a big body, an experienced player and a really good athlete."

The last time Wyoming and SJSU met back in 2022, Nash was wasting away on the bench, buried on the depth chart in his new role as a pass catcher.

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The previous October, he spent the afternoon under center for the Spartans, gashing the Cowboys to the tune of 262 all-purpose yards, including 111 on the ground. Nash, who completed 11-of-22 passes for 150 yards, also added a 44-yard touchdown toss to Charles Ross in the third quarter of a 27-21 victory inside CEFCU Stadium.

Nash started to find his rhythm as a wideout last fall. He snagged five touchdown receptions in a four-game stretch in wins over New Mexico, Utah State, Hawaii and Fresno State. Though he never eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a single game, he reached 80-plus five times, including an 89-yard, three-score performance in a season-opening loss at No. 6 USC.

Nash has put on a clinic in 2024.

In a 31-10 victory over visiting Kennesaw State, he amassed 225 yards on an eye-popping 17 catches. Three of those were for touchdowns. Nash tacked on 152 more through the air, along with two scores, in a 54-52 double-overtime shootout at Washington State.

He has found the end zone at least once in all six games.

Tyrecus Davis, Ian Bell, Keany Parks and Wrook Brown, among others, could have a busy Saturday ahead.

"There's just a lot of superlatives that you could say about him," Sawvel continued. "He's just a really good football player. So, obviously that's a major issue that we have to contend with this week."

Sawvel said a key will be getting SJSU quarterbacks Emmett Brown and Walker Eget off their spots. That's a tall task considering Wyoming has just seven total sacks to go along with eight hurries. The Cowboys are allowing the opposition to average 227.3 yards per game through the air. The backend of the defense has given up nine passing touchdowns.

Brown has thrown for 1,551 yards and 16 touchdowns. Eget, who was inserted into the lineup two weeks ago, is completing better than 71% of his throws.

That duo has been taken down in the backfield a grand total of six times.

"You're going to have to roll coverage that way," said Sawvel, who added wideout Justin Lockhart has also been a menace, hauling in 25 passes for 403 yards and three scores. "You have to (present) a lot of different pictures. You have to try to get the quarterback to kind of hold the ball and not know exactly what he's seeing to maybe force some inaccurate throws.

"... The changeups to it all have to be really effective. But they've got to be things that you can deal with yourself, as a secondary. It's a big, big deal."

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