Nick Nash is an American football wide receiver for the San Jose State Spartans.
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| San Jose State Spartans – No. 3 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Wide receiver |
| Class |  |
| Major | Business administration |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | Irvine, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
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| High school | Woodbridge (Irvine, California) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Early life and high school
editNash attended and played football and baseball at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California. In 2017, he was named Pacific Coast League Offensive Most Valuable Player. Nash passed for 1,728 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also showed versatility on the ground, rushing for 1,269 yards and 17 touchdowns.[1]
College career
editOn February 7, 2018, Nash committed to San Jose State.[2] He was used as a dual-threat quarterback his freshman year, primarily entering the game as a rushing quarterback. He recorded his first collegiate touchdown on a 20-yard rush against Tulsa. He threw his first two career touchdown passes against Air Force.[3]
In 2020, Nash threw for a career high 169 yards and two touchdowns off the bench replacing an injured Nick Starkel in a come from behind victory against San Diego State.[4] Nash and the Spartans captured the 2020 MWC Championship.
In 2021, Nash started six games at quarterback when Starkel went down with an injury. He threw for a career-high three touchdowns on 15-18 passing for 193 yards in a victory against New Mexico State.[5] On the season, Nash threw for 971 yards and six touchdowns to three interceptions.
In 2022, Nash struggled to find playing time at the quarterback position with transfer Chevan Cordeiro being named the starter. He appeared in five games and caught his first career touchdown reception in the 2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
In 2023, he made the full transition to wide receiver where he played and started in all 13 games. In week 1, Nash caught six passes for 89 yards and three touchdowns against USC. He made a diving touchdown catch where he tipped the ball to himself mid-air. The play debuted #2 on the SportsCenter on August 26.[6] He ended the season leading the Spartans with a team high 48 receptions for 728 yards and eight touchdowns. In January, Nash briefly entered the transfer portal, but ultimately decided to rejoin San Jose State.[7]
In week one of the 2024 season, Nash caught a then career high 10 catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw his first touchdown pass since the 2021 season in a victory against Sacramento State. On the game, he surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards.[8] Nash had a breakout game with a school record 17 receptions and a career high 225 receiving yards in week three. He also caught three touchdowns in the 31–10 victory over Kennesaw State. [9][10] The following week against Washington State, Nash had 16 receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns in a double overtime loss.[11] Nash hauled in a touchdown the first ten games of the season, and eleven of twelve games he played. He had multiple touchdowns in four games on the season. In his final collegiate game against rival Stanford, Nash caught eight passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns. His two touchdowns broke the single season touchdown record at San Jose State. The Spartans also defeated Stanford for the first time since 2006.[12] San Jose State finished the season 7–5, (3–4) in conference play, and was selected to the 2024 Hawaii Bowl, on December 18th, 2024. Nash would later go on to opt out of the Hawaii bowl.[13] Nash won the NCAA receiving triple crown in the regular season, racking up 104 receptions, 1,382 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns.[14] Nash earned Unanimous All-American, and First-Team All-Mountain-West honors for his one of a kind season. Nash controversially lost the 2024 Fred Biletnikoff Award to Colorado's Travis Hunter despite being the NCAA receiving triple crown winner.[15]
Statistics
edit| Leads Division I FBS | |
| Bold | Career best |
| San Jose State Spartans | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||||||
| GP | GS | Record[a] | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||||
| 2019 | San Jose State | 6 | 0 | — | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 133 | 7.8 | 2 | 0 | 175.1 | 40 | 255 | 6.4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | San Jose State | 8 | 1 | — | 20 | 34 | 58.8 | 213 | 6.3 | 2 | 2 | 119.1 | 40 | 204 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | San Jose State | 11 | 6 | 3–3 | 74 | 138 | 53.6 | 971 | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 122.7 | 68 | 385 | 5.7 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 9.0 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | San Jose State | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 0 | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | San Jose State | 13 | 13 | — | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 48 | 728 | 14.9 | 8 | ||
| 2024 | San Jose State | 12 | 12 | — | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 42 | 21.0 | 2 | 0 | 606.4 | 1 | -9 | -9.0 | 0 | 104 | 1,382 | 13.3 | 16 | ||
| Career | 55 | 32 | 3–3 | 108 | 192 | 56.3 | 1,359 | 7.1 | 12 | 5 | 131.1 | 153 | 858 | 5.6 | 5 | 163 | 2,212 | 13.6 | 25 | |||
- ^ Accounts for only GS as a QB
References
edit- ^ "Orange County football: 2017 all-league teams". January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Nick Nash, San Jose State Spartans, Wide Receiver". 247Sports.
- ^ "Nick Nash College Gamelog". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
- ^ "Former Woodbridge star Nick Nash makes big impact at QB with undefeated San Jose State". November 20, 2020.
- ^ "2021-22 San Jose St. Football Games Played All games. Pg. 21" (PDF).
- ^ "Nick Nash Catch No. 2 Play on SportsCenter". SJSU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - San Jose State Spartans.
- ^ "San Jose State WR Nick Nash enters NCAA Transfer Portal". January 23, 2024.
- ^ "Nash, Brown power San Jose State to 42-24 victory over Sacramento State". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. August 30, 2024.
- ^ "San Jose State's Nick Nash sets program record with 17 receptions, 225 yards vs. Kennesaw State". NCAA. September 14, 2024.
- ^ "San Jose State still perfect as senior receiver sets new school record". Marinij.com. September 14, 2024.
- ^ "Brown Leads Spartans in Double Overtime Loss at Washington State". sjsuspartans.com. September 20, 2024.
- ^ "Spartans Win over Stanford as Nash Sets Single Season TD Record". sjsuspartans.com. November 29, 2024.
- ^ "San Jose State star WR Nick Nash opts out of Hawai'i Bowl". espn.com. December 18, 2024.
- ^ "SJSU's Nick Nash Earns College Football's Triple Crown". sjsuspartans.com. December 2, 2024.
- ^ "San Jose State's Nick Nash deserved the Biletnikoff Award, not Travis Hunter". sportingnews.com. December 14, 2024.