San Jose State ventures into SEC territory at Arkansas

SAN JOSE >> After watching his undersized Spartans get outmuscled in a 34-16 home loss to Tulsa, San Jose State coach Brent Brennan wasn’t surprised how things played out.

“We knew that Tulsa was going to be a big, physical, talented team,” Brennan said. “And that’s exactly what they were.“

But that was American Athletic Conference football. This week, the Spartans will face an even steeper challenge as they head into SEC country.

San Jose State will take on Arkansas in Fayetteville today — the Spartans’ first SEC opponent of the Brennan era. San Jose State (1-1) will attempt to avoid back-toback losses coming off of an early, Week 3 bye.

Here are things to watch as the Spartans take on Arkansas (2-1):

More size trouble

It’s no secret that San Jose State is an undersized team. SJSU’s

offensive line checked in as the 10th-smallest unit in NCAA football in 2018 with an average height of 6-foot-4 and weight of 290.8 pounds.

This season, the Spartans offensive line averages the same height but has added weight, partially thanks to graduate transfer Quinn Oseland, a 6-6, 305-pound tackle from Minnesota.

Against Tulsa, this offensive line struggled, allowing one sack, two quarterback hurries and seven tackles for loss. Clearly, the unit had trouble dealing with Tulsa’s size. Taking on Arkansas, which boasts a tall, lanky and athletic defensive line, the Spartans are expected to deal with very similar issues up front.

“It’s not like we’re going to gain 40 pounds in a week,” Brennan said. “We’re going to have to do a good job of mixing up the looks.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the Spartans will be fighting the same uphill battle against an Arkansas offensive line that helped the Razorbacks amass 215 rushing yards against Colorado State last week.

Brennan meets the SEC

In his first two seasons at the helm in San Jose, Brennan has won a total of four games.

Among the 23 losses, Brennan has faced tough matchups against Oregon (35-22) and Utah (54-16) of the Pac-12 and Texas (56-0) of the Big 12. Will his SEC debut be any different?

“Everybody has a ton of respect for that conference and what they’ve done,” Brennan said. “We’ve seen a ton of success come out of that conference on a national stage. We’ll be excited to play. These are the kind of moments you dream of growing up.”

• Spartans starting linebacker Ethan Aguayo enters the game leading the nation in total tackles per game.

Averaging 17 per game, the senior is also tied for first in assisted tackles with 19 per game.