San Jose State finds itself at a crossroads as it returns to play at home following a month-long road trip.

An already struggling offense took a big hit Saturday afternoon after quarterback Nick Starkel went down with a possibly significant left-arm injury in the second half of a demoralizing 23-3 setback at Western Michigan.

“It’s big, I’m not going to lie to you,” San Jose State running back Tyler Nevens said.

The SEC transfer, in his second season with the Spartans, wore a sling on his left arm during the fourth quarter after suffering his sixth sack of the game.  On the play, Western Michigan linebacker Corvin Moment (6-foot, 250 pounds) fell on top of Starkel, who braced himself by using the left elbow and eventually shoulder.

Starkel will undergo further tests upon his return to the Bay Area to determine if he will miss substantial time.

“If that’s the situation we’re in, it’s obviously tremendously impactful, right?” San Jose State coach Brent Brennan said. “You’re talking about an all-conference player, an NFL quarterback, a team leader, a team captain. A really, really critical part of what we do schematically. So that’s a big challenge for us. If we’re in that situation, we’re going to have to get those young guys ready to go and we’re going to have to be creative about what we ask them to do and be creative in how we move the football.”

He added: “We’ll see after we get him with the doctors and get all that stuff sorted out where that’s at.”

San Jose State (2-2, 1-0 Mountain West) spent the entire month of September on the road and must regroup ahead of next week’s return to CEFCU Stadium for a non-conference matchup against New Mexico State.

It will be the first home game for the Spartans since the season opener on Aug. 28, a 45-14 rout of Southern Utah that saw a nearly sold-out crowd of 16,204 in the stands.

“I’m hopeful that our student base, our alumni and our fans will show up like they did for our opener and support this team,” Brennan said. “Having a home crowd makes all the difference in the world.”

The Broncos (3-1, 0-0 WAC) stifled the offense throughout, with Starkel unable to find any rhythm as he finished 6-of-14 for 55 yards with an interception and a lost fumble.

His initial replacement at Waldo Stadium was true freshman Walker Eget, who went 1-of-8 for 8 yards and lost a fumble after an errant snap. Redshirt freshman Natano Woods didn’t fare any better, going 2-of-4 for minus 4 yards and was sacked twice.

The Spartans failed to find the end zone for the first time since Sept. 8, 2018 – a 31-0 shutout at Washington State.

“That was a really, really frustrating day for us, especially offensively,” said Brennan, whose team has averaged less than 10 points per game this month. “There’s a few things that in my opinion we have to address and fix, and that is where we are in the turnover battle and what’s going on with the penalties.”

San Jose State actually led 3-0 after a 32-yard field goal by Matt Mercurio on its opening possession, but couldn’t muster any points the rest of the way. One of the few positives, the return of Nevens (15 carries, 94 yards), who missed last week’s win at Hawaii with an undisclosed injury.

Meanwhile, Western Michigan quarterback Kaleb Eleby made plays when necessary. Up 6-3 late in the first quarter, Eleby converted a fourth-and-16 and a third-and-22 on the same drive, which ended on a 1-yard TD run by La’Darius Jefferson.

“That’s one of the things that we’ll look at and just be sick,” Brennan said. “That we did not find a way to make the plays in that situation and hold them to a field goal or get off the field.”

Eleby, who finished 17-of-28 for 200 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, showed his poise on a fourth-and-4 play that resulted in a 37-yard catch by Corey Crooms to make it 20-3 at intermission.

“There’s a very small margin of error when it comes to playing defense, especially against good teams,” San Jose State defensive end Cade Hall said, “and those plays mean so much. Even though they were just three plays, they turned the tide of the whole game. So that’s absolutely something we need to fix.”

Brennan was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the touchdown to Crooms.

“The only thing I’m going to say about that is it’s never OK for me to get a 15-yard penalty,” Brennan said. “I’ve been coaching for 25 years, I’ve never been flagged before. Ever. That’s my fault and that will not happen again.”

The Spartans rode a bus to Grand Rapids for a flight back home, culminating a trek of 8,700 miles from Honolulu to Kalamazoo.

Up next is New Mexico State at home, but who will take the snaps under center is yet to be determined.

“I think the biggest thing is that the team stays together,” Brennan said, “and continue to put in the work that gives us a chance to play good football. And how that turns out and how that plays out depending on who’s available to us, we’ll find out. But more than anything we need to stay together and put in work together. I believe in this team, I think they’ll do that.”

Of note: This was the first-ever meeting between the schools, with San Jose State set to host Western Michigan next year. Broncos coach Tim Lester missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19 following a 44-41 upset at Pitt, leaving defensive coordinator Lou Esposito as the interim coach. SJSU linebacker Kyle Harmon missed first half after he was flagged for targeting at Hawaii.