Nevada Beats San Jose State 28-13 as Marshaun Brown Throws Trick-Play Touchdown on Homecoming

Two years ago, a San Jose State wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in the final minute to beat Nevada. On Saturday, the Wolf Pack returned the favor, with interest. Marshaun Brown, a receiver who admitted he had not played quarterback since little league, lofted a 32-yard touchdown on a trick play, and Nevada turned a grinding homecoming afternoon into a comfortable win.

Nevada beat San Jose State 28-13 at Mackay Stadium, scoring three touchdowns after halftime and smothering a Spartans offense that went 1-for-14 on third down. Nevada improves to 3-4 and 2-2 in the Mountain West. San Jose State falls to 4-4 and 2-2, and the Spartans still have not won in Reno since Oct. 21, 2000.

That is 26 years. Some of the current Spartans were not alive the last time it happened.

A third-string story with a first-string ending

The context matters here. Nevada came in short on quarterbacks. Sophomore Carter Jones went down two games earlier against UTEP, and AJ Bianco was hurt the week before against North Dakota State, according to The Nevada Sagebrush. That left senior Luke Duncan, who had been benched after a rough start against Montana State earlier in the season.

Jeff Choate did not sugarcoat that first outing. "Candidly, that was a tough situation he was put into," the Nevada coach said.

Duncan's second chance went a lot better. After San Jose State went three-and-out to start the game, he led a 16-play march, converting five third downs before finding Brown for a 4-yard touchdown on third-and-goal with 4:48 left in the quarter. That drive set the tone for the whole afternoon: Nevada would bleed the clock, and San Jose State would spend a lot of time watching.

The Spartans could not find a pulse

For three quarters, San Jose State's offense was something close to a rumor. The Spartans had 70 total yards and three first downs through three quarters, per The Associated Press, and they went 0-for-10 on third down in that stretch. They used three quarterbacks. Daniel Rolovich and Robert McDaniel both played before Luke Weaver took over in the fourth quarter, according to the SJSU recap. Rolovich went 0-for-3, McDaniel went 6-of-13 for 48 yards, and the punter, Trent Carrizosa, was the busiest man in the building with 11 punts.

To his credit, Carrizosa was excellent, averaging 46.4 yards and pinning five inside the 20. That is a lovely stat line. It is also a terrible sign for everybody else.

The Spartans did get a break in the second quarter. Freshman Reeve Slone took his first college snap to start the period and was picked off by Jayden Robertson, his second interception of the season. San Jose State could not cash it in. Nevada also botched a fourth-and-1 with a direct snap to Dominic Kelley that lost yardage, and Trajan Sinatra finally got the visitors on the board with a 38-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half. It was 7-3 at the break, and the game felt stuck in mud.

Brown's moment

The second half belonged to Nevada. Duncan led a nine-play, 84-yard drive in the third quarter and capped it with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Trace Estes, a local product, for a 14-3 lead with 4:26 left in the period.

Then came the fun part. Early in the fourth quarter, Nevada handed it to Brown on a trick play, and the receiver threw a strike to Herschel Turner Jr. for a 32-yard touchdown. It was a 21-3 game, and the homecoming crowd finally had something to scream about.

Brown, who finished with five catches for 52 yards and two total touchdowns, explained that the coaches had seen him throwing around in practice. "I played QB when I was, like, playing little league football, but never in high school," he said.

Sometimes the best play call is the one nobody in the stadium sees coming, including the guy throwing it.

A brief rally, then a 90-yard answer

San Jose State finally woke up once Weaver took over. The Spartans went 75 yards in four plays, and Viliami Teu ran it in from 11 yards out with 7:16 to go, cutting it to 21-10. Weaver went 6-of-10 for 91 yards, including a career-long 47-yard catch by Dominique McKenzie, and the Spartans piled up 134 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

It lasted about 18 seconds. Ky Woods fielded the ensuing kickoff and went 90 yards, and Kelley scored from 4 yards out on the next play. That was 28-10 with 6:58 left, and that was the ballgame. Sinatra added a 41-yard field goal with 3:24 remaining, and an onside kick went nowhere.

The numbers that matter

Nevada won this game by owning the clock and the money down. The Wolf Pack held the ball for 38:18 and converted 9 of 18 third downs, while San Jose State managed one conversion on 14 tries. Nevada finished with a 324-204 edge in total yards, 19 first downs to nine, and four sacks, two of them from senior edge Dylan LaBarbera, who added three tackles for loss.

Kelley carried 24 times for 82 yards and the late touchdown. Duncan finished 18-of-29 for 178 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, which is exactly the kind of clean, mistake-free line a team needs from its third quarterback. The full numbers are in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

For San Jose State, the bright spots were on defense. Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa had a career-high 12 tackles, Naseri Danielson had a career-high 11, and Solomone Langi and Etu Finau each recorded a sack. The SJSU game recap (opens in a new tab) lays out the rest.

What it means

For Nevada, this was proof that a defense can carry a team through quarterback chaos. Junior defensive back Bryson Snelling said the plan was simple. "I think we knew [San Jose State] was going to be a passing team," he said, adding that the defense wanted to "start fast and kind of bring some energy to the team."

Choate went further, crediting defensive coordinator Kane Ioane with having a read on the Spartans' offensive coordinator, and he admitted that against certain opponents, "you kind of have their number." Nevada also rolled San Jose State 55-10 last season. The Wolf Pack seem to have found a matchup they like.

For San Jose State, the timing stings. A week earlier, the Spartans won 24-11 at UTEP behind two Teu touchdowns and a dominant defense, and they had already won road games at Eastern Michigan and Hawai'i. This was a chance to climb over .500 in the league. Instead, they sit at 4-4 with a quarterback room that just used three passers in one afternoon.

Nevada's reward was a Halloween trip to the Rose Bowl to face a ranked UCLA team, a much scarier assignment. San Jose State's next game was at home against New Mexico on Oct. 31 at CEFCU Stadium, and it needed to settle on a quarterback and an offensive identity in a hurry.

The last word

Choate's message to Duncan before the game was about the basics: "preparation, owning the game plan, keeping your poise and not getting down on yourself."

His quarterback did exactly that, and his defense did the rest. Nobody will confuse this with an offensive masterpiece. But on a day when the best throw came from a wide receiver, Nevada found a way to look like a team that knows who it is. That beats the alternative.

Sources: SJSU Athletics recap and box score, The Associated Press, The Nevada Sagebrush and Nevada Sports Net. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: SJSU Athletics.