Loaded Spartans enter opener without looking back
San Jose State went 7-1 last year, its first winning season since 2012. The Spartans beat Boise State for the first time, and that 34-20 victory came in the Mountain West Conference championship game, giving San Jose State its first outright conference championship since 1990.
Even after a 34-13 loss to Ball State in the Arizona Bowl, the Spartans finished the season ranked 24th in the country.
What does the success of 2020 mean for the Spartans as they prepare for their 2021 opener against Southern Utah at CEFCU Stadium on Saturday night?
Not a whole heck of a lot, in head coach Brent Brennan’s estimation.
“No one cares what you did yesterday. Last year was an amazing moment in time — and it’s long gone,” Brennan said during his weekly Zoom news conference Monday. “Everything’s different. So for us to expect anything just because we played well a year ago would be foolish, and we’re not moving in that direction.”
The Spartans have good reason to believe they can keep moving in the right direction. Partly because of the NCAA rule that meant last season didn’t count against a player’s eligibility limit, the Spartans boast a roster deep in experience.
Take, for example, their projected starting offensive line. Right tackle Jaime Navarro has the fewest career starts at 11. Left tackle Jackson Snyder, a first-team All-MWC selection last season, has the most: 40.
The offensive line will be protecting quarterback Nick Starkel, who redshirted at Texas A&M as a freshman in 2016, played two seasons for the Aggies and one for Arkansas before blossoming with San Jose State in 2020. He hit on 64.2% of his passes, throwing for 2,174 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The Spartans must replace their top two receivers from last season, Tre Walker (45 receptions, 627 yards) and Bailey Gaither (41, 725).
“It will be a little bit by committee,” Brennan said, adding he’s “looking for some people to establish themselves.”
The Spartans list juniors Isaiah Hamilton (13 receptions, 206 yards last season) and Jermaine Braddock (11, 109) and redshirt freshman Terence Loville as their starting wide receivers. Loville, a Serra grad, is the nephew of former 49ers running back Derek Loville.
Cade Hall, the son of former 49ers defensive lineman Rhett Hall, was named the Mountain West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year last season as he recorded 10 sacks. Hall, fellow defensive lineman Viliami Fehoko (six sacks) and linebacker Kyle Harmon (9.8 tackles per game) are returning first-team All-MWC selections.
After the Spartans face Southern Utah, an FCS school that went 1-5 in its spring schedule, they take on No. 15 Southern California in Los Angeles on Sept. 4. Harmon said the Spartans won’t look past the Thunderbirds.
“Those guys are no joke. We’ve definitely got our work cut out this week,” Harmon said in a Zoom call with The Chronicle. “If someone from outside of our circle thinks that we’re just going to come in and roll these guys, they’re definitely sadly mistaken because Southern Utah is a hell of a team.”
Brennan cited the Spartans’ 44-38 season-opening loss to UC Davis, another Big Sky school, in 2018 as a cautionary tale.
He said the players’ parents “want to talk about the SC game and their girlfriend wants to talk about the SC game and the fans want to talk about the SC game, but none of it matters if we don’t play good football against Southern Utah.”
The coronavirus pandemic both delayed and reduced last season’s schedule. The pandemic also prevented the Spartans from playing in front of fans.
So simply getting to play a full schedule with people in the stands has provided strong motivation for the Spartans in their preparation for Saturday.
“It’s been a blast,” running back Tyler Nevens said. “We only played half a season last year. … It’s nothing but a true blessing and a God-given opportunity just to be able to play the sport again.”
Briefly: Though Nevens didn’t start a game last season, he led the Spartans in rushing with 515 yards and averaged 7.8 yards per carry. He is listed as the starter for Saturday. … Four of the Thunderbirds’ five spring losses came by three points or fewer. … Brennan is entering his fifth season as the Spartans’ head coach. This also will be Derrick Odum’s fifth season as SJSU’s defensive coordinator. Offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven is beginning his fourth season in his role.