By Austin Badzik (@austinbadzik15):
San Jose State’s football stadium capacity of just 30,456 people makes it one of the smaller Division I stadiums out there. Not only does the stadium hold less people, but the Spartans also struggle to fill those seats.
SJSU went in to the University of Texas and lost 56-0. It then went into Utah the following week only to get crushed again 54-16.
There was a bright spot in the game, as sophomore wide receiver Bailey Gaither had a career night against the Utes, hauling in a career-high eight receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown.
“I think every big road team has their own atmosphere, Texas was a lot more people, Utah was pretty loud.” Gaither said. “But at the end of the day you go out there and try and do you job and execute.
It’s no secret that these teams are tough, but playing in their house is even tougher.
Junior defensive tackle Owen Roberts was more than ready to go against each of these power houses.The defensive tackle started in every game last year and continues that trend every Saturday this season.
“I’m excited to go out there and play in front of all those people,” Roberts said. “It’s kinda like we were thrown into the the fire. There are lots of crazy fans, but now we are used to it all, so nothing will surprise us.”
After the blowout loss to Texas, the team moved on to a tougher task as they faced Utah and took a 54-16 beatdown. Playing on the road is inevitable in athletics, and playing in one of the loudest stadiums in the Pac 12 makes it even more difficult.
Junior kicker Bryce Crawford fully embraced the large crowd in attendance thanks to the fact he gets to call the venue his hometown.
“It was an unforgettable moment, it was really exciting.” Crawford said. “Being from Texas it was really cool playing there., It’s been a dream of mine to always play in that stadium, it was a dream come true.”
The team got handed a tough loss, and Crawford was unable to put up any points on the board against Texas.
Utah was a different story.
Despite the school’s rocking stadium, Crawford successfully converted all three field goal attempts, including a career-long 51 yarder.
“Utah was definitely a lot louder than Texas, they had a much smaller crowd.” Crawford said. “But it was ten times louder because the stadium allows all the voices to echo around.”
Rice-Eccles stadium is one of the loudest stadiums in the country, and is one of the toughest places to play in. In 2011, Bleacher Report ranked Utah’s stadium as the second-hardest Pac 12 venue to play in.
The University of Utah is an organization that has done it right for a number of years, and has provided a lot of winning teams. The Spartans on the other hand have had little success and have fallen to 1-7 on the year following a tough loss to Hawaii on Saturday.
Attendance has been a problem this year for the Spartans and so has winning. When it comes to any sport, it’s always easier to go attend and cheer for a winning team than a losing one.
Based on how this season has went, it may take some time for this team to start winning and filling the stadium.