By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012):
Not every college football game is a 10-degree, 1950 Michigan-Ohio State Snow Bowl in Columbus.
In a game that featured 55 punts, four of which were blocked, a safety and a 9-3 final score, every Wolverine and Buckeye on that frozen field would likely say mother nature won that day.
Not sure how many players were injured that Saturday after Thanksgiving (I’ll get to that in a bit) but it’s safe to say the long term wounds far outweigh the short term ones.
Near-zero temperatures aren’t a problem for San Jose State football, but injuries have been.
Now, in the final stretch of a 13-game season and quite frankly one of its worst ever, a whopping 23 Spartans have been couched with season-ending injuries, but to head coach Brent Brennan, you play with who you have.
“The moment we start letting our team make excuses about our injury situation is the moment we fold the tent,” Brennan said.
As Brennan and the rest of his staff know, college football isn’t like the NFL or NBA. The team with the worst record does not earn an off-season privilege of drafting the best rising star. You can’t just tank at the collegiate level.
Instead, you play for self-pride, choosing to go out and sweat, bleed and try and win every given Saturday.
To SJSU football head coach Brent Brennan, players pen their name next to that “x” on signing day for a reason, and if you’re not suiting up mentally and physically every week, you belong on the sideline.
“Physical is the name of the game,” Brennan said. “It’s football. If you’re a competitor, it doesn’t matter what the conditions are, you just want to play.”
There is a price being paid however, especially when a defense is left on the field for two-and-a-half quarters per game.
Not taking anything away from junior linebacker Frank Ginda, he’s a great player who’s fun to watch, but it would be stupid to think he leads the nation in tackles because he’s bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else at the position.
No, he’s the nation’s leading tackler because of the amount of time he’s on the field, along with his skills, which ties back to the point made earlier. Ginda hasn’t had a serious injury all season, although he may feel it.
“Everytime I walk out of a game, I feel like I just got into a car accident,” Ginda said. “But by Tuesday, I’m good.”
The wear and tear that comes with being out on the field for 65 percent of a game has got to be painful, and when a 1-10 record is in the back of your mind, finding motivation must be a challenge.
“I got to dig deep and find that inner-drive in me,” Ginda said. “I just got to fight through it. It’s all heart. It’s all mental.”
Spartan running back Tyler Nevens has had a heavy workload this season, as he leads the Mountain West and is sixth in the nation in rush attempts by a freshman with 143.
He credited the training staff which has to be one of the busiest in the country with Spartans dropping like flies every week.
“I’m just a little sore and all, but thanks to the treatment room,” Nevens said during fall camp. they’re treating us right and that’s what’s really helping me.”
The cost football has on the body is non refundable. You pay with pride, heart, sweat and bruises and if that means winning one of 13 games, the pot at the end of the rainbow better be filled with gold.