Spartans at home, seeking MWC win
SAN JOSE » After opening conference play by getting trampled on the road at Air Force, San Jose State will happily play its first home game in nearly a month tonight against New Mexico.
“We’ve both taken turns playing well this season and then not playing our best football,” Brennan said of the two Mountain West teams. “There are some real similarities between our two teams that’s going to make for an exciting matchup on Friday night.”
Here are three keys for the Spartans to get on the board in the Mountain West. CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE
BALL » The San Jose State ( 2- 2, 0- 1 Mountain West) offense looked inept for the majority of its game against the Falcons last week, failing to convert on four
fourth- down attempts to sustain meaningful drives.
The one time it did shine, however, was during the Spartans’ first offensive possession of the evening. Quarterback Josh Love led the Spartans 75 yards on 10 plays, starting completed all seven of his passes for 63 yards. More importantly, he did so by connecting with six different receivers.
Overall, Love completed passes to 11 receivers — his highest total so far this season.
“As an offense, if you get too focused on throwing the ball to certain people, we can get one-dimensional,” Brennan said. “We want to be able to spread the field. We want to be able to have good distribution with the football.”
Facing a Lobos defense which has given up 1.518 yards through the air and 13 touchdowns through four games, the Spartans will attempt to exploit New Mexico’s (2-2) secondary as well.
So far this year, Love has thrown for 1,013 yards and is statistically on track to best his career high of 1,963 yards in a single season. But his success will rely on his ability to spread the ball out to different receivers.
“It’s important for everyone to know that when they’re running those routes, they have to be full speed,” Brennan said. “They have to be detailed, they have to be at the right depth and they have to have the proper spacing because Josh is going to find them.” CAPITALIZE IN THE RED ZONE
» Red-zone offense was a glaring issue for San Jose State against the Falcons, which was strange considering it had only botched two opportunities inside the 20-yard line through three games.
Before backup quarterback Nick Nash entered with just 7:48 to play in the fourth quarter, the Spartans had cashed in on only one of their five redzone opportunities. They finished the night with just two touchdowns on six chances within 20 yards of the end zone.
“We had great, sustainable drives that we didn’t finish,” Brennan said. “We don’t make the play in the end zone when we need to. I think that’s all about capitalizing on those moments when we get the opportunity to do that.”
San Jose State got all the chances it could have asked for, creating drives of 60, 67 and 64 yards to place itself in prime scoring position.
But after being stopped on fourth down on two of these drives, the Spartans were only able to add three points from a 25-yard field goal from Matt Mercurio in the second quarter. San Jose State can redeem itself, however, facing a shaky Lobos red-zone defense.
Through its first four games of the season, New Mexico has given up 15 touchdowns in the redzone, including seven breaches against New Mexico State on Sept. 21.
While it’s been proven that the Spartans can move the ball inside the 20s, effectively getting in the end zone will be essential if San Jose State wants to win its first Mountain West game of the season. WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE » Starting linebacker Ethan Aguayo said after the first game of the season that he wanted the Spartans to be top-25 in the NCAA in turnover margin. After four games, San Jose State is tied for sixth in the nation with a plus-six advantage in takeaways.
“I firmly believe that if we continue to make great strides in the turnover margin, we’re going to end up on the good side of the win column,” Brennan said. “It’s such an important thing and I’m proud that we’re taking care of the football as an offense.”
Love, who threw nine interceptions in 2018, has cleaned up his play this year by only throwing one pick in his first four games. This coupled with only two fumbles lost has resulted in a mindful offense that’s placed great importance on ball security.
Meanwhile, the Spartans defense has been on the hunt for turnovers, even snagging five interceptions against Arkansas, just one shy of the program record.
Overall, the San Jose State defense has picked off seven passes while recovering two fumbles.
“I think the defense and their mentality about going after the ball and making plays when they have a chance to has been extremely positive,” Brennan said.