In his mid-week press conference, Spartans HC Ken Niumatalolo addressed multiple topics regarding his team and the Texas matchup on Saturday.
Coach Niumatalolo has always been a respectful and well-liked guy amongst the college football world, and he publicly praised Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns this week:
"With as much disappointment I have in the loss (to Central Michigan in week 1), super excited for this opportunity to play against this Texas Football team. One of the blue bloods of college football. Coach Sarkisian is one of the best coaches."
"This is the best team we will play all year. That’s not a secret."
"We’re going to have to play our very best to even have a shot."
He named other coaches like Kyle Flood, Duane Akina, and Pete Kwiatkowski and spoke incredibly highly of them as well.
When asked about playing in the loud SEC environment this weekend, Coach Ken said:
"We recognize it’s going to be a tough environment just playing who we’re playing. You add on the crowd, 100,000 fans. That’s tough. If we played their players in an empty parking lot, it would be tough."
He was then asked a series of questions regarding his thoughts on the specific matchup in week 2 and if he's ever played a team with the talent level that Texas has in 2025.
"This is one of the best teams I’ve ever played. But every year at the Naval Academy we played Notre Dame. I coached against Ohio State at The Horseshoe, they weren’t too bad either. Then South Carolina when they had Jadeveon Clowney…I’ve been coaching a long time, so I’ve been to some tough places and gone against some tough teams."
Needless to say, Coach Ken understands the magnitude of this weekend's game, and is very welcoming to the fact that it's going to be tough for San Jose State on Saturday.