HOW BIG GUYS IN TRENCHES PAVED WAY FOR SJS’S UNDEFEATED SEASON
There are many reasons for San Jose State’s historic success this season.
Quarterback Nick Starkel has been the Mountain West’s most efficient passer.
Running backs Tyler Nevens and Kairee Robinson and backup quarterback Nick Nash provide the offense with some balance on the ground.
The secondary, headlined by Tre Jenkins and Tre Webb, has made life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
But the roots of the team’s success reside in the trenches.
“It’s been said over and over and over: everything starts up front,” defensive line coach Joe Seumalo said. “We go into a game, whether it be offense or defense, everything starts up front. This is a critical piece with our football team and with our success because these kids
love to play with each other.”
The big bodies have been at the core of the team’s undefeated season, which will end on Thursday in the Arizona Bowl against Ball State.
The defensive line, led by Mountain West defensive player of the year Cade Hall, is almost unrecognizable from last year, hounding quarterbacks and clogging running lanes. The offensive line, captained by Jack Snyder, has been a near-impenetrable wall.
San Jose State is one of four teams in the country, along with Indiana, Western Michigan and Georgia State, that rank among the top 15 nationally in sacks and fewest sacks allowed per game.
Suffice to say, the lines have fed off one another.
“Going up against those guys every day during training camp, we kinda go back and forth with those days where the O-line will do better, and there’s days when the D-Line will get us,” Snyder said. “The competition between the two groups has been able to elevate us even higher.”
The offensive line was expected to be a strength after it allowed only 14 sacks in 2019, tied for the fifth-fewest in the nation. The unit did lose some contributors, including allMountain West honorable mention selection Troy Kowalski, but returned veterans such as Snyder, Kyle Hoppe, Trevor Robbins and Tyler Stevens.
The returning group has given Starkel plenty of time to find his slew of receivers. The Spartans have allowed only seven sacks and are tied for eighth in the nation with BYU in the fewest sacks allowed per game.
And they’re probably better than that.
Air Force and Army, which rank third and sixth in fewest sacks allowed per game, respectively, run more than 50 times per game. Buffalo, Louisiana, UAB and Washington run about 40 times per game. No team prevents fewer sacks that throw as often as San Jose State does.
Leading that charge was Snyder, who was named Pro Football Focus’ Mountain West Player of the Year, an honor that has gone to only three other offensive linemen in conferences across the country since PFF started handing out awards in 2014.
While the offensive line was expected to be sturdy, the defensive line was a question mark.
In 2019, San Jose State allowed 232.1 rushing yards per game, the sixth-worst mark in the country. The Spartans also were among the nation’s worst at applying quarterback pressure, finishing with just 17 sacks.
This season, San Jose State ranks among the top 20 nationally in sacks per game (15th, 3.14) and rushing yards allowed per game (16th, 111.0).
“If you were to look at film of them from two years ago to now, it would be a night and day difference,” Snyder said.