SPARTANS COACH

knows the challenges he faces.

FAYETTEVILLE — San Jose State Coach Brent Brennan, speaking on his weekly television show Wednesday, went into detail about the toughest issues facing his Spartans (1-1) in Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game against the University of Arkansas (2-1).

Brennan separated the question into two parts: the atmosphere and the personnel for the Razorbacks.

“The football part is going to be just dealing with their size. They have some skill players that are fantastic,” Brennan said, before describing Treylon Burks, De’Vion Warren, Rakeem Boyd, Trey Knox, Cheyenne O’Grady, Grayson Gunter and Nick Starkel, though not by name.

“They have a punt returner [Burks] and kick returner [Warren] who can break any kick you kick to them. They have a running back [Boyd] who can take it to the house every time he touches it. And then they’ve got two big-body wideouts [Burks and Knox]. And then they’ve got two tight ends [O’Grady and Gunter].

“Starkel, in this game last weekend, he made every throw you need to make. … Some of those personnel things are going to be great challenges.

Brennan particularly praised Burks and Knox.

“They’re freaks,” he said. “They’re so big and so fast and it’s really, because of Coach [Chad] Morris’ history as an offensive coordinator and putting up huge numbers … in the passing game, they’ve been able to recruit some really high-profile wideouts.”

Brennan said the Razorbacks’ defensive front is the strength of that unit.

The third-year coach said he and his staff have been watching Northwest Arkansas weather reports for three weeks.

“I think the toughest thing for West Coasters to deal with when they go East is humidity, because we don’t even know what that is, right? That’s a huge challenge.”

Brennan said he’s seen projections of a high of 80 to 82 degrees, 80% humidity and 40% chance of rain in Fayetteville on Saturday.

“It’s like you have a chance to have it all,” Brennan said. “It’s a grass surface. What does that mean? Is it gonna be slick? Is it gonna be dried out? You just have no idea. Those are some of those things you have no control over, but you have to have the conversation.

“We started our guys on a hydration plan two days ago to make sure they’re hydrated for the battle.”

The remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda, local forecasters say, will likely drop both the temperature and the humidity, and rain, on Northwest Arkansas by Saturday.