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PROVO -- BYU will play host to the Spartans of San Jose State University in a late game Saturday night. Although at the beginning of the season the Spartans may have been in the "cupcake" category, they are coming off a two-game winning streak beating New Mexico State and Colorado State. Those two wins are one more than the Spartans achieved all of last year when they finished 1-12, 0-8 in the Western Athletic Conference.
SJSU has been in the football scene since the beginning with their program being active since 1893. In the 1930's and 40's, the Spartans won eight conference championships over an 18-year span. In 1939 they achieved their only undefeated season at 13-0.
The Spartans joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 and are yet to win a conference championship and have been to just one bowl game, a 20-12 win over New Mexico in the 2006 New Mexico Bowl. That year the Spartans finished 9-4. Since then SJSU has finished 5-7, 6-6, 2-10 and 1-12 last year under first year head coach Mike MacIntyre.
SJSU leads its series with BYU 9-5. The last time these two teams met was in 1998, BYU won that shootout 46-43 behind 31 carries and 250 yards rushing from running back Ronnie Jenkins.
In their two wins this season the Spartans have done it with a decent offensive attack having scored 34 points against New Mexico State and 38 points against Colorado State respectively and gaining 450 or more yards in both games.
OFFENSE SJSU appears to be pretty balanced when it comes to their offensive attack. Overall they have achieved 1,026 passing yards, and 734 rushing yards in five games (352 total yards per game). However, they have struggled to gain yards and score points in their losses. The Spartans have the 89th ranked offense and are near the bottom (98th out of 120 teams) in scoring offense. BYU is ranked 103rd in total offense and 106th in scoring offense.
The team is led by senior running back Brandon Rutley, who averages 5.7 yards a carry over 103 yards a game with 519 rush yards and one touchdown. He ranks 24th nationally and third in the WAC.
Senior quarterback Matt Faulkner is more of a game manager than a playmaker, having thrown for 864 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. Last week Faulkner threw for a career high 313 yards in the 38-31 win over Colorado State. In fact, Faulkner has thrown 38 passes in each of the last two games (completing 49 combined passes) for a total of 549 yards. Before the last two games Faulkner hadn't thrown more than 26 passes in a game.
SJSU will bring in sophomore quarterback Dasmen Stewart sporadically to run the option, much like how the Cougars have used Riley Nelson up to this point. Stewart has rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries.
Faulkner has three targets in particular that he likes to throw to in junior tight end Ryan Otten, sophomore receiver Noel Grigsby and freshman receiver Jabari Carr. Otten is the big-play receiver with 264 yards on just 15 receptions. Grigsby is the possession target who has 28 catches for 248 yards and Carr rounds it out with 207 reception yards and 16 receptions.
Otten particularly appears to be the go-to-guy for the third and long situations, and also when SJSU is close to the goal line. Otten has three of the four receiving touchdowns for the Spartans.
However, the Spartans are turnover prone. In their five games SJSU has turned the ball over 13 times (eight fumbles, five interceptions) - four times in their two wins.
If the Spartans can't establish a decent running game they may be in trouble against a solid BYU defense. The Cougars are ranked 49th in total defense and have done a great job early in ballgames setting the tone and forcing opponents to make adjustments.
DEFENSE The Spartans return all of their defensive starters from last season led by sophomore linebacker Keith Smith, who is the only Spartan to be on a post-season list from last year achieving second team all-WAC for defense.
Smith leads the team in tackles with 35 and 2.5 tackles for loss, tied with freshman defensive lineman Travis Raciti. Junior defensive back James Orth leads the team in interceptions with two, and two pass breakups to go with that.
Senior linebacker Pompey Festejo appears to be the most rounded defensive player. Festejo has a total of 30 tackles, 1.5 for loss, one sack, and one interception.
Ironically, the Spartans were able to hold Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to his lowest passer rating all season even though they would end up losing to the Cardinals 57-3.
However, the Spartans are not a dominant defensive team. They give up over 400 yards and 31 points a game and may be just the right medicine for a struggling BYU offense. SJSU gives up just 222 passing yards a game, but a whopping 186 yards on the ground. Expect to see a steady diet of JJ DiLuigi, Brian Kariya and Josh Quezada from BYU's offense.
SPECIAL TEAMS The Spartans have average special teams. Kicker Harrison Waid has hit only two of his four field goal attempts, but is ranked 29th nationally in punting with a 43 yard average. They rank 89th and 93rd in punt and kick returns providing less than stellar game-changing ability.
SJSU appears to be a team that is catching fire right as they're preparing for BYU. They're definitely on the rise with a lot of young talent. The Spartans will not be as easy as initially thought for the Cougars.
If BYU can limit the rushing yards from the backs at SJSU, and get to the quarterback quickly, they should be able to force turnovers, and keep the game in their hands.
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