San Jose State’s Nick Nash (left) with associate head coach Derrick Odum after practice this week. Both played football at Woodbridge High School in Irvine. (Photo courtesy Cam Radford, San Jose State University football)
A day after having the biggest game of his college career with San Jose State’s football team, Nick Nash’s cell phone lit up with congratulatory text messages and phone calls from his friends.
“I didn’t even count, it was overloaded,” said the former Woodbridge High standout quarterback and defensive back. “It was cool that we were in LA too which was so close to home.”
The 6-1 Nash, the leader on Woodbridge’s 2017 team, has been a big contributor as a sophomore for a San Jose State squad which is attracting lots of attention with a 4-0 start, the first for the program since 1955.
Nash came on in the first quarter of the Friday, Nov. 6 game when starting quarterback Nick Starkel left with an injury early in the game. He went on to play a big role in the Spartans’ 28-17 Mountain West Conference victory over San Diego State at the Dignity Health Center Stadium.
He finished the game completing 16-of-25 passes for two touchdowns and 169 yards and wound up as the Spartans’ leading rusher with 53 yards on 11 carries.
‘REALLY FUN GAME’
“That was a really fun game,” Nash said. “I think I came in kind of cold and a little bit nervous and I just wasn’t playing like myself and then I rounded up all my offensive teammates and said, ‘listen guys, I know I haven’t been playing like myself, but I’m here for you guys and I’m going to play for you guys,’ and that really flipped the switch and allowed me to really connect with my teammates and start playing better.
“Our defense really stepped up big like they have been every week because without them making those critical stops, there’s no way we would be able to get back into the game with our offense which was really cool to see.”
In the following week’s game, Starkel returned as the starting quarterback but Nash also saw playing time at quarterback, rushing eight times for a single-game personal best 94 yards helping San Jose State defeat UNLV 34-17. That included Nash’s season-long 28 yard run. Four of Nash’s eight runs resulted in first downs and he also connected on his only pass on the night for seven yards.
DOUBLE THREAT ON OFFENSE
Nash has shown he can run effectively and pass when needed to. He leads the team in rushing with 177 yards on 26 carries for a 6.8 per carry average and one touchdown.
Nash has completed 18-of-28 passes with an interception for 190 yards and two TDs, both in the San Diego State win.
“Running has always been a strong suit of mine I feel like and I’ll probably keep doing it until I can’t anymore, but I’m having a lot of fun with it and as you can see we’re starting to incorporate more throwing which is also awesome for me in my development as a young quarterback,” Nash said.
During his freshman year, Nash played in the Spartans first six games and on the season completed 12 of 17 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He noticed the big difference in college was the “speed, everybody flying around faster, bigger guys was the main adjustment for me.”
Nash seemed to handle it well. He was also second in rushing yards (255) and the team’s top rusher by average (6.4). He’s played a bigger role this season.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot since then physically and mentally as a quarterback,” he said. “I feel like I’m a quarterback still in development. This year has been a lot more fun than last year because I know what’s coming.”
Nash has been excited to see the Spartans rise this year.
PLAYERS COME TOGETHER
“It’s pretty awesome seeing all the guys come out and come together, I feel like we have a real brotherhood and I feel that really shows on the field with how energetic and how together we play,” he said. “We’re all playing for each other; we’re not playing selfishly. We’re all playing for one common goal which is to win those games. We’re trying to go one and O each week. We’re just worried about that week and I think that’s really helped us.”
While at Woodbridge High School, Nash said that San Jose State’s coaching staff, which included former Woodbridge star Derrick Odum, now the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at San Jose State, reached out to him first.
“I really liked their coaching staff and that’s what made me go there,” he said. “At first I was going for defense and then the offensive staff seemed to like me so now I’m on the offense.”
Odum, who was also a basketball and baseball standout at Woodbridge and later played football at University of Utah, focused much of his attention on recruiting Nash.
“He is a really cool guy and he kind of took me under his wing when I got here,” Nash said. “We’ve been best pals ever since, even though I’m not on the defense. He still gives me advice every once in a while and makes sure I’m good and asks me about my parents.”
Odum, who joined Head Coach Brent Brennan’s staff in 2016, said Nash has made tremendous strides.
COMFORTABLE ON OFFENSE
“He’s doing really well; he’s more comfortable with the offense and they’ve given him more to do inside the offense and his athleticism and his escapability to extend plays puts a lot of pressure on defenses that they don’t see at practice all the time,” he said. “I’m really happy for him that he’s excelling and doing a nice job. I’m really proud of where he started and where he is at now.”
Odum said he remembered a call from former Woodbridge High School football coach Rick Gibson who told him Nash was a player, “you would really like because he reminds me of you when you played.”
So Odum took a look at some game film of Nash, who was also a standout defensive back at Woodbridge, and was impressed.
“We didn’t have a position at quarterback for him really because we were kind of full at that position, but I wanted to get him here any way I could so I was going to have him as a defensive back,” Odum said. “When he came in in January, we only had two quarterbacks in the program because a couple of them left at the break in December,” Odum said.
So the coaches took a look at Nash during the spring game and “he started to do really well over there and they kept him,” Odum said. “I’m glad it worked out for him, he’s doing a really nice job.”
Nash and his teammates have been playing games without fans because of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. But people around the campus and in San Jose have been excited about the team’s success, Nash said.
“It’s pretty cool, sometimes you will see people on the street that you don’t really know and they say, ‘4-0, hey good job, keep it going,’ which we didn’t really get a lot of in the past couple of years.”
The baseball players, who aren’t allowed to see the games in person because of the pandemic, gathered to welcome the football players home from their victory over San Diego State.
“Our baseball team has been super supportive of us, they’re always cheering us on,” Nash said. “I was just super excited and I think our whole team is ready to pay it forward when baseball eventually has a season.”
FAMILY WATCHES ON TV
The pandemic has also kept the team’s family members, including Nash’s family from attending games. But Nash’s family, including his father Kenny, who played at San Jose State in 1985 and 1986, have been able to catch the games on television. “He’s my dad so he’s just over the Moon about it,” Nash said. “He calls me after every game.
“It’s been tough but I feel kind of like the distraction of college football has been really good for me, because I’m not really worried about anything other than trying to get a win on Saturdays and that’s helped to distract from the pandemic, although we still have to wear masks and still have to test.”
Nash still has many fond memories of his days at Woodbridge. In 2017, he led the Warriors to an 8-4 record and was named the Pacific Coast League offensive player of the year.
“That was cut short by my meniscus surgery,” he said.
Woodbridge defeated Aliso Niguel 35-10 in the opening round of the CIF Division 9 playoffs, but Nash suffered a season-ending injury in the game. Woodbridge lost to Mayfair 42-7 in the next round.
Nash said he has favorite games, including a showdown with Corona del Mar for the league title. The Warriors gave the Sea Kings a battle before falling 41-21.
“Probably playing Irvine High School, just that rivalry we had and definitely my senior year when we played against CdM was one of the closest games we had to beating them,” Nash said. “It was a lot of fun and loud games and obviously the Uni games were always packed and I think I scored eight touchdowns against Uni in my senior year against them which was really fun.”
Nash has been playing quarterback since he was about 12 years and fondly recalls his days playing with the Irvine Chargers youth football team.
“I loved it, there were always just really good, competitive people and I always wanted to be the best when I was there so it made me the competitor I am today,” he said. “The Irvine Chargers and their football coaches have a lot to do with my growth as a football player…. and just life in general, learning to be respectful of elders and just kind of getting through life and learning to respect the people around you, your peers was a really cool lesson I got from playing in Irvine sports.”
Nash remains in contact with many in Irvine and said “I want to show love to all my people back home and all the people supporting me and my family and friends because I know they’re out there sending me text messages and calls.”
Nash, who is majoring in business, also hopes that football is in his long-range plans too.
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet but obviously the dream is to go to the next level of football and kind of figure it out from there, hopefully something football affiliated because I really love the sport,” he said.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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