
Coach Ken Niumatalolo Previews San Jose State vs. Cal Poly and the Keys to Staying Focused
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The San Jose State Spartans are on a roll, and their head coach is feeling confident about their chances against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo this weekend. In this episode of the Coach Ken Show, Coach Ken Niamatalolo shares the team's strategy for taking on the Mustangs and discusses the importance of staying focused and humble despite being favored to win.
As the Spartans prepare to face their FCS opponent, Coach Niamatalolo emphasizes the need to stay grounded and not take anyone lightly. He notes that even the smallest underdog can gain confidence and become a formidable opponent if they believe in themselves. The coach also highlights the importance of getting off to a strong start in the game, citing the example of Western Michigan, who gained momentum as the game progressed.
Coach Niamatalolo also talks about some of the standout players on his team, including Luke Weaver, who had a impressive performance against Eastern Michigan, and Cooper Hoke, a walk-on wide receiver who has been making a name for himself with his hard work and dedication. The coach praises Hoke's work ethic and notes that he's a great example of a player who has overcome obstacles to achieve success.
In this episode, Coach Niamatalolo shares his insights on what makes a winning team and how to stay motivated and focused throughout the season. If you're a fan of the Spartans or just interested in college football, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to hear Coach Niamatalolo's thoughts on the upcoming game and what it takes to be a champion.
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Murph & Markus Podcast — Coach Ken Niumatalolo Previews San Jose State vs. Cal Poly and the Keys to Staying Focused. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
This is Jorva! Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason, and Silverado keeps its rhythm. You feel it in the Turbo Max engine with Best in Class Standard torque, and available Z71 off-road packets that keeps you rolling when the road turns rough. And the most functional truck bed with Best in Class Cargo space, they're trucks that work as hard as you do, so you can do more of what you love without missing a beat. See your Bay Area Chevy dealer today. Based on latest competitive information, it excludes other GM vehicles. It's time for the Coach Can Show, sponsored by Providen Credit. The dream is alive for San Jose State, and they will play in the Mount West title game next week. Here's the head coach of the San Jose State Spartans, Ken Nia Matallolo, with Murphy Marcus on the Sports Leader. Yeah, let's go! Find on for dear old San Jose State. My mom used to sit down in the kitchen. Coach Can Show is sponsored by Providen Credit Union. Providen Credit Union provides smart banking options,
like Super Award-checking, visit ProvidenCU.org. And we're talking to a winner here, Coach Ken, and the San Jose State Spartans with a nice fourth quarter comeback win at Eastern Michigan. They get to one-in-one in the year, and Marcus Guest what? Home for the first time all year this Saturday against, well, Cal Poly San lives in Bistro. Well, there's a lot of Cal Poly San Luis Bistro kids around KMBR. I guess some San Jose State people too, so it should be a great game down there at Sefcoos Stadium at 6 o'clock on Saturday. But Coach, want to say, as now we move into week three of the Coach Can Show, congrats on the big win last Saturday. Where did go? How you doing? Hey, morning, Coach. Doing great. Good morning, good morning. Thank you guys. Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, let's talk about it. That fourth quarter, you guys are on the road. You've already had the game at SC, and you're down. You're down. Weaver fumbles late in the third and you're down 21 17. Maybe I don't know. Belief becomes a thing right then, but weaver leads you guys to a touchdown. You get a feel goal. You wind up winning. Tell me about that moment of truth when you kind of fall behind.
There's a fumble and you're on the road and you're losing. Yeah, it's a great perspective. Normally that's the death sentence in football. You know, you get either strip sack for touchdown. I mean, that's so demoralizing. But it's shown a little bit of our resolve and a grid of our football team. To bounce back on the road on a short week, having to travel east. You know, loose time zones and I was just proud of our guys that our guys. I just saw something in this team that's got me excited for the rest of the team season. That we got some tough kids with some some grit. And it's encouraging for the rest of the season. Yeah, and coach, it seemed like one of the keys to the game was getting your defense off that field. And it did a great job over a Eastern Michigan last Friday. Third down numbers. Eastern Michigan was only three for 16 on the day. So how impressive was that for your defense to get the ball back for your offense in that fourth quarter? Well, it was awesome. You know, we had seven three and outs. I thought we did a really, really good job of stopping the run and making them one handed. You know, we had a hard time obviously stopping the run against the Trojans.
But you know, we recognize also that was a different animal. But I was encouraged to see us being able to stop the run and please stop there and play really good defense. And I could say give our offense a chance there, man. And also, as you said, Luke was able to come through. You know, not only we get some stops, but we had some big. You know, drives there at the end of the game to feel the win. So that was a great team win. Talking to coach Ken Neumattolo, who of course, San Jose State gets the big win at Eastern Michigan 2721. Come home one on one to face a California rival. Now it's an FCS school. Cal Polyshan Luis Vespa, but they're 2 and 0. Is there a danger coach can in the, I don't know, looking past us an FCS school. They're 2 and 0. They're trying to go 3 and 0. They haven't beaten an FBS school since 2012, I believe. But where's, where's the danger? How do you get your guys on cutting edge for Saturday at 6 o'clock? Well, there, there is definitely a danger because you know, today's day and age, you know,
guys are constantly on their phone, people are constantly on their phone and they read things. But we also recognize there's a honesty and humility on our group. Like it's not like we're a house state or organ anybody, you know what I mean? We're, we're a team just fighting for our own identity and trying to make our own way. And so we recognize that we can't take anybody lightly for who we are. We got to come ready to play every, every game, every snap, every quarter. We're not a program that can take anybody lightly. We just got to make sure we're ready to play ourselves. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason and Silverado keeps its rhythm. You feel it in the Turbo Max engine with best in class standard torque and available Z71 off road packets that keeps you rolling when the road turns rough. And the most functional truck bed with best in class cargo space, they're trucks that work as hard as you do. So you can do more of what you love without missing update. See your Bay Area Chevy dealer today based on latest competitive information.
Excludes other GM vehicles. Coach, Ken coming back home after two back-to-back row games. What did you learn from your team? What their ability to not only go down in battle against USC and show you some real life in that second half. But to go on the road to set up this home opener this weekend. Yes, like you said, I mean, I love the way our guys responded in the second half against USC. You know, the top 10 program. Some guys got a lot of people got them ranked in the top 10 now. But our guys didn't quit and we battled in the second half. And then to kind of carry that over as we went on the road, I was concerned because in football is such a physical game. And we had one less day to prepare and recover. And we had to travel across the country. So all of those factors and unfortunately we got a team bug doing that. You know, we got several guys sick. You know, so like, you know, over all those obstacles and some things that happened in the game. I was just proud of our guys that they fought. And so a lot of this, a lot of football, a lot of sports, I mean, not in my if you just.
You know, there's going to be adversity and finding a way to fight to it and. Really, really proud of our guys and. Let us show their character who they are because I believe in adversity. You know, you get to see people's true character. They complain to be quit, to the soul, but they just keep fighting. I'm not kids keep fighting. Good stuff. And Saturday night at Seth Kew stadium six o'clock in San Jose, San Jose State Spartans home opener against Cal Poly coach Kenyamate Lolo. On the Ooma guest line we do is every Thursday at this time. And now that you have two weeks of data, listen, we know about Luke Weaver. He was hyped coming in and he he's performing 316 yards. I believe in three touchdowns at Eastern Michigan. But you start to learn about other guys too. And we talked to you about Jabari Bates. They're running back who had over 100 yards at Eastern Michigan. So that was cool. But now you start to see other players emerge. And I'm looking at why receiver Cooper Hoke. Six foot three kid at a Costa Mesa went to Corona Del Mar high school down there in the Newport Beach area. Five catches 115 had some big plays. What are we learning about this kid? Again, Cooper is another kid that you know, he's a walk on.
Came here. He's a guy that just constantly works. He doesn't, you know, he doesn't complain. The same thing I just said and doesn't, you know, cry about where his situation was. He was a backup last year, but you can see every day he came to work. And I think his process and away he attacks his, you know, his work every day is work ethic is work habits. I've proven, you know, great results for him. I could be more happy for a kid like that because he's such a great person. Such a great kid. And the scene play like he's played and produce like he's produced has been really, you know, exciting for us. Like I said, you're barry played awesome. You know Carson Clark is a guy that's coming to his own to he's made a couple games now. He played really well. You know, two linebackers. I thought a two inside linebackers not as bad as sent and Dylan Lee had really good games last week. And they were solid and so like you said, as a season progresses, you see guys emerge. But a lot of guys that we've seen are guys that have been doing well in camp, but you never know how guys are going to plan the lights.
And so really excited for Cooper and like I said, you root for kids like him because he's such a great person. That's such a great story. I didn't know he's a walk on set to touchdowns in that game and that's that's really, really cool. By the way, I neglected to mention, there's every know that the San Jose State kicker's last name is Sinatra. I mean, I'm a Frank Sinatra guy coach. I'm like, I want to like blast. I don't know. We got to blast some Sinatra on every P 18 field goal. We got to get and we got a lot of songs to choose from. So let's do that. Right. That's a great idea. We definitely need to do that. But he's he's another kid. I mean, he was actually our first recruit. It was our top priority in off season. We had to get a kicker and you know, Trajan has been awesome. But you know, we have a walk through doing camp. We had walkthroughs at night every night doing camp. And when kids were guys are leaving the field, they recognized that one guy stayed on the field to walk through his pregame or his pre kicker team all by himself on the field. And I know our kids noticed that you know, he just did on his own.
And so for just him to kick the how he's kicked right now. I know our guys have seen like what this guy has paid the price. He's mentally focused. He's a guy that's done everything he can to be the best kicker he can for us and super excited for all the things that Trajan's doing for us too. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason. And Silverado keeps its rhythm. You feel it in the Turbo Max engine with best in class standard torque. And available Z71 off roadpack is the keeps you rolling when the road turns rough. And the most functional truck bed with best in class cargo space. They're trucks that work as hard as you do. So you can do more of what you love without missing a beat. See your Bay Area Chevy dealer today. Based on latest competitive information excludes other GM vehicles. Trajan Sinatra will get a little summer win the way you look tonight. Whatever it is. It's keep making kicks kid. I love it. I love it. Well listen, good win on the road. Really exciting and fun to see. Or of course, rooting for you. Makes for better shows too when you when you guys win.
And and six o'clock tonight. Like you said, listen, I know Vegas has you guys as a big favorite. And you got to get your kids on. And in a belief mode that they got to attack Cal Poly. So I'd imagine the way you start this game Saturday is going to be important to you. No doubt. I mean, we got to get up to great start. I was able to stay after our game versus Eastern Michigan. My son coaches at Michigan. Oh, nice. And so I was able to stay for that game and watch that game. And you could just see as a game progress, you know, between Western and Michigan that. Westerns. And so we got to make sure that we get off to fast start. You know, if there's any kind of confidence, you'll flu. We can, you know, snap that out. But we we've definitely a priority for us to get off to fast start. By the way, we won't mention was your son. The one who put the second back on the clock. Coach. No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't have that kind of power. No, but you're right. I mean, Western got belief and that's what you got.
You got to. You got to snuff out Cal Poly's belief early in that game. Otherwise, you might have a situation on your hands. So it is sports after all. So all right, coach. Well, listen, enjoy. We'll be watching the game on Saturday. Good luck. Hope you guys played great. We'll talk to you next week. Yeah. Thanks, coach. All right, guys. I was great talking to you guys. Take care. Yeah. Fun stuff. Coach Kenney and Matalolo. Fun stuff. They're 20 and a half point favorites. But he's right. You give it. You give it. All it takes is an underdog to get a little belief. He's like, hey, I'm a guy. I feel like I've been surprised to see you guys. I can't believe we are young Tony show on Open the crowd. did Cal Poly said little sand but we've got, uh, triple E. Uh, Tony, young Tony TV Tony at Kyle, right. Kyle, how are some other. Other others. Um, I think we've had a couple other sprinkler in. I can't think off the top of my head. Uh, but we, yeah, so we've got to deal with the S. Today, it's a low arm and I believe we have a Cal Poly guest coming home next. Uh, a Cal Poly Humple. Yes, indeed. Maio go from Cal Poly Humble. Shout out, Dani done. Also Cal Poly Humble. Play the horns. play the horns. Uh, Walt, because I haven't done it because we had Zander McGuire on from
a prime savior. Oh, God, Zander. Uh, Zander McGuire, uh, from NBC News seven or seven news Melbourne. I'll get that right eventually. Zander McGuire from seven news, Melbourne was when we usually play the horn. So, well, sponsored by Elcerito Honda more than just a car dealership. We're family. Spit out that guest list, buddy. Yeah. So we just had coach Ken, me and Matalolo, one of my favorite names to, uh, to do, but me and Matalolo, me and Matalolo, do you see it to a rhythm, right? Why is coach Ken? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, but like Mark has just said, Matt Mayoko coming up from Australia, 650. Okay, Mattie and then the couple of Larry's later, right, Barry? We got Larry Bear, uh, 730 cooler, content 830 and Larry Krueger at 915. Want to tell everybody the round table at noon features a mystery guest at 1215. Mysteries. We scheduled a mystery guest at 1215. Oh, I wonder who it could be. I'm going to show up and find out. I'll be there. By the way, that kid, Sinatra,
Trajan Sinatra, San Jose kid went to Silver Creek High School. Oh, wow, super Creek. Anybody trace the Sinatra Lint? No, I don't want to say like after our concert, maybe down at a circle star theater. Yeah, no, I'm not going to go to that. All right, Matt Mayoko at midnight in Melbourne, midnight in Melbourne. Next on these sports leaders. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason and Silverado keeps its rhythm. You feel it in the turbo max engine with best in class standard torque and available Z71 off road packets that keeps you rolling when the road turns rough and the most functional truck bed with best in class cargo space. They're trucks that work as hard as you do. So you can do more of what you love without missing a beat. See your Bay Area Chevy dealer today. Based on latest competitive information, it excludes other GM vehicles.
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