Spartans are seeking redemption vs. Army
The San Jose State Spartans still have a sour taste in their mouths from the last time they faced Army.
The Black Knights embarrassed the Spartans by scoring 52 unanswered points on their way to a 52-3 win on Oct. 13, 2018. It was one of the worst beatdowns San Jose State has received since head coach Brent Brennan took over in 2017.
But San Jose State has a chance to redeem itself.
Traveling 2,952 miles on a six-hour flight, the Spartans (3-4, 1-2 Mountain West) will take on Army today at West Point with an opportunity to avenge last season’s bitter loss.
“We know we need to have to have an incredible week of practice to play against a very disciplined, extremely hard-playing, very, very good football team team this weekend,” Brennan said.
Just how will they do that? Here are three key areas that could prove the difference in the game:
A SHOT AT REDEMPTION >> The memories of last season’s loss to Army still sting for Brennan.
“It was just an ugly football game for us,” he said, highlighting four consecutive turnovers in the second half.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium, San Jose State was overwhelmed by Army’s rushing attack, allowing 341 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
But San Jose State has reason to believe it can score more than just a field goal this time around.
In last season’s game, the Spartans were without starting quarterback Josh Love, who has already surpassed
his career high for passing yards in a season just seven games into 2019.
With 2,041 yards, 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions, Love has been exceptional for San Jose State.
Last year, the Spartans were only able to generate 171 yards of total offense compared to Army’s 395. With Love ready to go, they should expect to eclipse last year’s yard total, but it’ll take more than that to hang with Army on the road. FACING THE TRIPLE OPTION ONCE AGAIN >> San Jose State has seen this before — the triple option, which utilizes three potential ball carriers on any given offensive snap.
In fact, the Spartans saw this offensive scheme four weeks ago when Air Force trampled their defense with 382 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
“They’re both obviously extremely effective,” Brennan said. “With the group from Army, the quarterback is coming back. He’s a really good player, gave us fits a year ago. He’s hard to tackle. He’s tough. He gets downhill.”
The quarterback Brennan is referring to is senior signal caller, Kelvin Hopkins Jr, who has 354 rushing yards on 91 attempts this season. He leads the Black Knights with five rushing touchdowns this year.
Last year, Hopkins led all runners against San Jose State with 99 yards and three touchdowns.
In addition to Hopkins, the Spartans will have to pay special attention to senior running back Connor Slomka, who leads the Black Knights in rushing with 425 yards in 2019.
This season, the Spartans
have given up 225.1 yards per game on the ground.
A NEW LOOK AT RUNNING BACK >> San Jose State’s own running attack has been abysmal at best this season, averaging just 85 rushing yards per game, which ranks fourth-worst in the NCAA this season.
The Spartans’ coaching staff has not found a solution to the ground ailment all year, but they hope their latest adjustment might pay off.
Making his first collegiate start against San Diego State last weekend was running back Kairee Robinson, who stacked up 59 yards on 14 carries in the Spartans’ 27-17 loss to the Aztecs.
“I was really excited about Kairee,” Brennan said. “I thought he did a great job. And you know, he’s been kind of waiting for his opportunity.”
As a true freshman, Robinson — an Antioch native and De La Salle alum — hopped over DeJon Packer and Tyler Nevens, who had started over him in the previous six games this year.