QUARTERBACK
The Spartans’ all-time best
Nate Starkel is coming off one of the most successful debut seasons by a San Jose State quarterback. Can the senior follow with a season that will vault him into the pantheon of Spartan signal-callers?
SJSU has a rich quarterback tradition. So rich that Steve DeBerg, a member of the school’s Sports Hall of Fame who set nine school records in his two seasons with the Spartans before playing 21 seasons in the NFL, didn’t make our list of the five best QBs in school history.
Entering this season, Starkel fits in more closely with oneyear sensations such as Ralph Martini, Roger Proffitt and Chon Gallegos.
Starkel hit the ground running after transferring from Arkansas. He led the Spartans to an unbeaten regular season (7-0) and the Arizona Bowl against Ball State. Each of SJSU’s wins were by at least 10 points.
Starkel passed for 2,174 yards and 17 touchdowns, completing 64.2 percent of his attempts in his debut season. He was intercepted only seven times.
If Starkel can duplicate or improve on what he did last season, he has a chance to crack the top five. He’s getting a fifth college season, thanks to the NCAA’s decision to allow seniors to return after last year’s COVID-19-abbreviated campaign.
Our ranking of the Top-5 San Jose State quarterbacks:
1. DAVID FALES (2012-13)
Credentials: Fales helped revive a program that went 6-19 overall in the two years before he arrived, including a home loss to UC Davis. With Fales leading the way, the Spartans went 11-2 in 2012, losing by three points to No. 21 Stanford, and beating Bowling Green in the Holiday Bowl. Fales passed for
4,193 yards and 33 touchdowns and was rated the most accurate FBS quarterback. Fales had almost identical stats the following season, throwing for 4,189 yards and 33 TDs. Fales left SJSU as its all-time passing leader and was picked in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.
One more reason we picked him No. 1: Fales originally signed with Nevada out of Palma High in Salinas. But while redshirting and watching the Wolf Pack’s No. 1 quarterback — Colin Kaepernick — he came to the following conclusion. “I realized what they wanted to do wasn’t a good fit for me,” he told the Bay Area News Group’s Jon Wilner. “They wanted me to be more of a runner.”
So he transferred to Monterey Peninsula College for two years before joining the Spartans. Fales’ career rushing total at SJSU? Minus-132 yards.
2. MIKE PEREZ (1986-87)
Credentials: If the benchmark of a quarterback is his won-loss record, then Perez belongs high up on this list. In Perez’s two seasons, the Spartans were 20-4. Three of those defeats came against schools in what was the then-Pac-10 Conference. The other was in a bowl game. SJSU had identical 10-2 records in 1986 and ‘87. It won the Pacific Coast Athletic Association title in ‘86, then captured the Big West championship the next year. In ‘87, the Spartans beat Cal and Stanford in the same season for only the second time. Perez had individual achievements, too. He led the nation in total offense with 329.89 yards per game in 1986. He also threw two touchdown passes in the final 1:15 to lead SJSU to a come-from-behind 45-41 win over Fresno State. He was a seventh-round pick of the New York Giants in the 1988 NFL Draft.
One more reason we picked him No. 2: In only his second game as a starter, in 1986, Perez took a late hit during a 20-13 victory over Washington State. No flag. So Perez, who bench-pressed 350 pounds, stiff-armed the guy who hit him and drew a penalty flag. “Mike’s a lineman version of a quarterback,” SJSU offensive guard David Diaz-Infante told Sports Illustrated. “He’s no pretty boy.”
3. STEVE CLARKSON (1979-82)
Credentials: Nearly 40 years after finishing his career at SJSU, Clarkson is best known for his success at developing quarterbacks. He has mentored Ben Roethlisberger, Terrelle Pryor, Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and many others. Joe Montana enrolled his two sons in Clarkson’s quarterback school in Pasadena. SJSU was 24-10 during Clarkson’s three years as a starter from 198082. He is second all time at SJSU with 56 career touchdown passes, fourth in total yardage and fifth all time in passing yards. He became the first Spartan QB to lead SJSU past Cal and Stanford in the same season (1981).
One more reason we picked him No. 3: Not only was Clarkson successful on the field, he was also a winner in the classroom as a two-time member of the national academic All-America team, in 1981-82.
4. JEFF GARCIA (1991-93)
Credentials: It would have been interesting to see what Garcia might have done if the SJSU coaching situation had been more settled. He played for three head coaches in three seasons, but the Spartans still went 13-8-1 in Garcia’s first two seasons. Garcia left SJSU ranked sixth all time in career passing yards, fifth in touchdown passes and third in total yardage. After going undrafted in 1994, he signed with the Canadian Football League and became a four-time all-star. Then he played for 11 seasons with the 49ers, beginning in 1999.
One more reason we picked him No. 4: Garcia is one of only three quarterbacks in the CEFCU Stadium Ring of Honor. The others are DeBerg and Dick Vermeil.
5. GENE MENGES (1948-50)
Credentials: There are former Spartan QBs with better credentials if you look strictly at the numbers. But consider what Menges, who died in 2016, did overall. He helped lead the Spartans to nine-win seasons in 1948 and ‘49. He was the first SJSU quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in a career. During the 1949 season, he ranked fifth nationally in passes completed and broke the school record with 16 touchdown passes.
One more reason we picked him No. 5: Spent 17 seasons as a Spartan assistant football coach, recruiting Vermeil and Bill Walsh, but from 1969-86, Menges coached the baseball team. He had a 483-451-5 baseball record and took the Spartans to the NCAA tournament in 1971.