SJSU readies for South Florida.
SAN JOSE » Brent Brennan is embracing his opportunity as new coach of a San Jose State football program that has enjoyed one winning season in the past 10 years.
The 44-year-old San Jose native knows what he has gotten into. He spent six seasons (2005-10) on campus as an assistant coach under Dick Tomey and Mike MacIntyre, and his father played for the Spartans.
“It’s amazing. Sometimes it’s overwhelming when you think about all the different connec- tions to the place,” said Brennan, whose enthusiasm will be helpful in meeting the challenges of his job. “I’m still fired up. The main thing is I’m excited about seeing what these kids can do.”
The Spartans, 4-8 last season, jump into the deep end in Saturday’s season opener with a daunting home matchup against No. 19 South Florida at CEFCU Spartan Stadium.
Here are five things to know about the Spartans: 1. BRENNAN HAS NOT GIVEN AWAY WHO WILL START SATURDAY AT QUARTERBACK » Sophomore Josh Love, the only quarterback with
any game experience at SJSU, and redshirt freshman Montel Aaron are listed as co-No. 1s on the depth chart, although sophomore Sam Allen also continues to get practice reps.
The starter might not be announced until game time, although Brennan acknowledged that the competition doesn’t end with the season’s opening kickoff.
“At quarterback, who’s going to be the guy is decided in games,” he said. “We’ve all seen guys who look good in practice and get out there in the heat of the moment and can’t handle it.”
Love’s one starting assignment last season went poorly: four interceptions in a 44-10 loss at Iowa State. Aaron, taller at 6-foot-5 and more mobile, looked sharp during the spring game and has held his own this month. 2. WHOEVER IS TAKING SNAPS FOR THE SPARTANS WILL NEED BETTER PROTECTION THAN THE OFFENSIVE LINE PROVIDED A YEAR AGO » SJSU suffered 50 sacks — most in the country.
The Spartans hope to remedy the problem with a line that returns five regulars who combined to start 123 games last season.
“We’re going to show this year that’s not happening again. It’s unacceptable,” said guard Jeremiah Kolone, one of four senior starters. “We want the pressure on our shoulders.”
That’s where it belongs, Brennan said.
“We need them to lead the way,” he said. “I expect them to define what we’re going to be in terms of running the football and the physicality of our team.” 3. SAN JOSE STATE’S PASS DEFENSE A YEAR AGO WAS VERY GOOD STATISTICALLY, RANKED NO. 19 NATIONALLY IN FEWEST YARDS ALLOWED » But that number was impacted by the Spartans’ po- rous run defense.
SJSU allowed 246.7 rushing yards per game — 122nd among 128 FBS teams — and watched opponents pile into the end zone 33 times on running plays.
Linebacker Frank Ginda said improving the run defense has been a priority since spring ball. But even Brennan isn’t yet sure how things will look on game day.
“We’re starting the season off playing a team that has run the ball incredibly well from both the running back and quarterback positions,” Brennan said of South Florida. “It’ll be a good test to see if we have improved at all.”
4. THE SPARTANS APPEAR TO HAVE FIGURED OUT THE “FOOT” PORTION OF FOOT
BALL » Senior punter Michael Carrizosa averaged 44.3 yards to rank 14th nationally. He is the Mountain West’s preseason all-conference punter and has ranked in the top 20 nationally two straight seasons.
Junior kicker Bryce Crawford enters this season hav- ing connected on his past 11 field-goal attempts. He was 16 for 18 (88.9 percent) last season to rank 12th nationally in accuracy. 5. WE WON’T REALLY KNOW HOW GOOD BRENNAN’S FIRST TEAM MIGHT BE UNTIL AFTER ITS FIRST FOUR GAMES » SJSU opens against one of the nation’s most explosive offensive teams, and plays two more squads ranked in the preseason coaches poll — at No. 23 Texas and at No. 25 Utah — by Sept. 16.
Sandwiched in there is next week’s matchup vs. Cal Poly, which is No. 23 in the FCS preseason coaches poll and last season took Nevada — the Spartans’ Mountain West rival — to overtime on the road before losing 30-27.
“I hope we know what kind of team we are in terms of how we play, how hard we play, how we respond to road games or big crowds,” Brennan said. “Or how we handle this weekend — a ranked team coming in here.”