Better late than never, Spartans open Saturday
Before the Mountain West Conference reversed course and decided to go ahead with its football season in 2020, San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan experienced a few trying weekend days.
“Watching college football on a Saturday in September and not being a part of it, it was just devastating for so many of us ( who) love it so much,” Brennan said during his Zoom news conference Monday.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mountain West went from an Aug. 5 postponement of the start of the season until Sept. 26, to an Aug. 10 announcement of an indefinite postponement of all fall sports, to the Sept. 24 decision that football teams would play an eightgame schedule beginning Oct. 24.
Well, Oct. 24 is Saturday, and San Jose State hosts Air Force at 7: 30 p. m. After all the upheaval and uncertainty of the past few months, the fact that the Spartans are about to play a game requires some adjustment.
“It is very weird, to say the least,” junior defensive lineman Cade Hall said on a Zoom interview with The Chronicle on Tuesday night. “I did not think that this was going to happen. I know everyone on the team feels the same way. I think it’s really starting to sink in for everyone.”
Because Santa Clara County rules prevented San Jose State from holding fullsquad practices until the middle of this month, the Spartans spent nearly two weeks practicing at Humboldt State while taking online classes.
Hall, the son of former Cal and 49ers defensive lineman Rhett Hall, credited Brennan “with helping us with our discipline” on the way to returning to the field. Hall said Brennan kept “explaining to us that the better we can go along with the COVID protocol and everything like that, the higher the likelihood is that we’re going to get to play and that we’re going to do well.”
Who will replace quarterback Josh Love, who threw for 3,923 yards last season and was named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Year, remains a question. The Spartans’ depth chart lists Nick Starkel, a grad transfer from Arkansas who began his college career at Texas A& M, or sophomore Nick Nash, who threw for 133 yards and ran for 255 last season, as the starter.
“There’s a lot of good competition there,” Brennan said. “There’s a lot of pressure there, so they’re happy to compete every day and complete throws and make the right reads. I’m excited about the distribution of the ball and how it’s being moved around the yard.”
The Spartans return their top three receivers from last season, wideouts Tre Walker ( 79 receptions, 1,161 yards), Bailey Gaither ( 52, 812) and Isaiah Hamilton ( 43, 718).
Because of the pandemic, there won’t be any fans at CEFCU Stadium.
“I’m really excited to see how it’s going to change the dynamic of the game,” Hall said about the absence of fans. “I think a lot of it is going to come down to the sideline, and the players who aren’t in the game picking up the slack for what the fans usually do in terms of energy and changes in momentum and things like that.”
Air Force already has played a game; the Falcons ripped Navy 407 on Oct. 3. Air Force beat San Jose State 4124 in Fort Collins, Colo., last year.
The Spartans haven’t had a winning season since they went 112 in 2012. They were 57 last year.
“I think this team is ready to take it to the next level,” Hall said. “Guys were really excited about this season, but we weren’t sure if we were going to get to go out and prove that we were a different team — but we get to do that now.”
Briefly: Air Force fullback Timothy Jackson, a junior from Vacaville, ran for 118 yards on 19 carries against Navy. … Brennan raved about the new scoreboard at CEFCU Stadium: “Oh my god, it’s fantastic. It’s massive. You’re not going to believe it.”