Inner belief ignited the Spartans’ success in 2020
Where the outside saw darkness, coach Brent Brennan saw the light.
Before the 2019 season, Brennan showed his players screenshots of scoreboards from their 1-11 season. There were four times when the Spartans were tied or leading in the fourth quarter. They lost three of those games, but Brennan made his point:
They were close.
For the players who are still around, the message stuck. And while San Jose State’s improbable season has caught the college foot
ball world by surprise, the undefeated Spartans knew this type of success would come.
“I remember those pictures,” linebacker Kyle Harmon said. “The memory I have of those was that we are not too far off here, regardless of record or what people might be saying.”
Two years removed from the one-win season, San Jose State
will face Boise State on Saturday in Las Vegas in its first appearance in the Mountain West championship game. No matter the outcome, the Spartans (6- 0) are bowl-bound for the first time since 2015 and the fifth time in 30 years.
The historic season is a far cry from where San Jose State was just a few years ago. In Brennan’s first three seasons, the Spartans had a combined 8-29 record. Outsiders didn’t forget. When the website Mountain West Wire did a poll before the rebooted season in October, San Jose State was picked to finish 10th.
But the outside did not see what Brennan saw.
He recalled a scrimmage this past spring in which his team played with a combination of speed, physicality and precision that he hadn’t previously seen. At that moment, he realized a breakthrough was about to happen.
“I almost got a little teary,” Brennan said. “I’m like, ‘Here we go. We’ve been waiting for this and we got it.’ While I was talking to myself, sitting there watching, our offensive coordinator came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘ We’re gonna be good.’ ”
Quarterback Nick Starkel, a graduate transfer from Arkansas, noticed from the outset that the Spartans were special.
“When I first got here, I saw a team that was mature in their knowledge of the game,” said Starkel, a second-team allMountain West pick. “A team that knew not just the routes that they were running or the protections or run plays we were calling, but they knew why they were doing those things.”
San Jose State’s optimism not only stemmed from its ability to be competitive but also its youth. Last season, the Spartans’ roster was filled with underclassmen. This season, those underclassmen have become the backbone of the team.
Defensive lineman Cade Hall, the Mountain West defensive player of the year, is a junior. Harmon, a nickfirst-team all-Mountain West selection, is a junior, too.
Defensive end Viliami Fehoko, a first-team all- conference pick, is a sophomore. Safety Tre Jenkins, quarterback Nick Nash, running back Kairee Robinson and wide receiver Isaiah Hamilton are also sophomores.
“They weren’t physically mature yet, but you see a lot of those guys growing up now,” Brennan said. “You see their bodies changing and they’re eating well and they’re investing a bunch of time in the weight room. You see that development.”
Now more mentally and physically mature, the Spartans have exhibited an ability to close out tight games all season.
Several of San Jose State’s victories this season have come down to making plays in the second half — against Air Force, San Diego State, Hawaii and, of course, last weekend against Nevada.
Trailing 20-7 at halftime, San Jose State scored 23 unanswered points in the second half to beat Nevada 30-20 and secure a spot in the Mountain West championship game.
Winning in that fashion, or any fashion, were few and far between in Brennan’s earlier years.
In 2019, San Jose State would have finished with a winning record if not for breakdowns at crunch time. Of the Spartans’ seven losses, three were by three points or fewer.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s football or if it’s life,” Brennan said. “When hard stuff happens, you have a choice of how you want to handle it. As a guy leading young men, I want them to learn how to overcome adversity and how to stare it down and attack it and find ways to keep moving forward.”
For those around for the entire journey, a season like this year’s is all the more gratifying.
Saturday, the Spartans, both young and old, will have an opportunity to make more history. The team that is 6- 0 for the first time in 81 years can win its first Mountain West championship.
“It’s an opportunity for us to prove what we have, to continue to prove to the nation that we are a good football team and that we can compete with the best in our conference,” Starkel said.