By Spear Editorial Staff
In year three under coach Brent Brennan, San Jose State fans expect improvement. What does the editorial staff of The Spear think will happen a little under two months before kick off?
Austin: 3-9
Wins against: Northern Colorado, Tulsa, New Mexico
Baby steps. Coach Brennan will double his total win total at SJSU in year three with a trio of wins early in the season. The Spartans open the season against Northern Colorado, a program that has trended toward the bottom of the Big Sky Conference recently. Chalk it up as an easy win to give SJSU its first winning percentage over .500 since 2015. In Week 2, Tulsa comes to town after its own brutal season opener at Michigan State. With issues at quarterback and the offensive line, I’ll give the Spartans the edge at home in a close one. After that, SJSU face almost the worst case scenario in terms of its conference schedule. Matchups with Boise State and Air Force will be tough, as well will be the round robin with the much improved West division. In its conference slate, I only see the Spartans coming out on top against New Mexico at home. As long as Josh Love and the offensive line stays healthy, SJSU will improve and have its best season under Brennan thus far, but will remain capped at three wins. Anything more than that would be a very, very successful season.
Madyson: 4-8
Wins against: Northern Colorado, Tulsa, Hawaii, UNLV
Building off positive momentum is going to main key to a better season this year. The Spartan offense will have more experience going into the 2019 season as the line has improved and this will be Josh Love’s third season as starting quarterback. SJSU starts out with an easy home opener against Northern Colorado. SJSU had a similar chance last season and blew it with a loss against UC Davis. A season opener win will give the Spartans the right kind of momentum to take their second win against Tulsa. It is going to be a much more difficult game, but with experience on their home field, they have an opportunity to open with a 2-0 season. I predict that the game against Arkansas is going to be the start of 7-game losing streak. SJSU needs to focus on keeping the injuries at a minimum against the SEC team as that could have a heavy impact in conference play. It is going to be a long two months against tough competitors like SDSU, Boise State and Army. I think the team has a good chance of beating Hawaii as it has had two close games against the Warriors the past two seasons. For some reason Hawaii tends to start soft against the Spartans and I predict they will do the same this year with failure to come back. The last win will be against UNLV as the Spartans beat them last year and it only has five starters returning, which makes it a perfect game for the final win. This should be coach Brennan’s best season as long as the team does not fall into a slump after facing its toughest competitors.
Ernie: 2-10 (at best)
Wins against: either Northern Colorado or Tulsa and maybe … just maybe Fresno State
If you’re wanting to read that I predict San Jose State football will have a miraculous, fairytale-type season, keep scrolling because they won’t. I will be the first to admit, as I have given this team coverage over the past two seasons, that I have gotten a little carried away with previous season predictions. Given what occurred in last season’s home opener against the UC Davis, let’s be real: anything can happen. Without a doubt, SJSU is tough enough to beat an FCS school at home on an August night. However, the Spartans have never faced Northern Colorado, a team that put up a fight last season versus the Aggies and squashed Cal Poly two years ago 42-0 — the Mustangs being the FCS team SJSU beat at home that same 2017 season. Even if the Spartans escape Week 1 with a win, it won’t get any easier as the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (awesome name by the way). The two programs last met during the Spartan’s 2016 season opener in San Jose and Tulsa silenced the Spartans 45-10 catalyzing a 10-3 season. The Golden Hurricanes have a tall task in week 1 against Michigan State, so I fully expect them to come into San Jose with a mentality of not starting the season 0-2. At best, I am marking the Spartans at 1-1 headed into their Sept. 14 bye week. Two weeks of preparation sounds like a lot, but won’t be when the Spartans travel to Fayetteville to face Arkansas for the first time ever. I don’t care that the Razorbacks (also a badass name) went 2-10 last season and were horrible. They play the best handful of teams in the country year in and year out and get to play on their home field. Sorry Spartans, automatic L. Prove me wrong. The next eight weeks, I keep trying to pinch myself and convince my fingertips to type “the Spartans will beat” but it doesn’t happen. San Diego State and Boise State highlight CEFCU’s spotlight, but this young Spartan team will not be disciplined enough to hang in there when it matters. Eliminating Turnovers, improving first down efficiency and keeping Alex Galland off the field for punting duty are of high interest in my book — then maybe, I’d chalk up a W for SJSU between Sept. 27 and Nov. 23. November 30 versus Fresno State: This is one of those you just never know type of games. Call me crazy, but the Valley Trophy game will be interesting — I’m calling it now.
Alex: 3-9
Wins against: Northern Colorado, Air Force, New Mexico
I don’t think there will be any real surprises for the Spartans this year. SJSU has only won 3 games combined in the last two seasons. However, I can see the Spartans getting three wins in their first five games. Unfortunately for them, I also believe that they will end their season on a 7 game losing streak. Opening the season against Northern Colorado is a perfect opportunity for the Spartans to start off strong, but they have blown similar opportunities in recent memory. As Madyson and Ernie discussed, the Spartans opened the 2018 season against UC Davis in a 44-38 loss. SJSU hasn’t faced Air Force or New Mexico since 2016, in which both games resulted in losses by a possession or less. Last season neither Air Force or New Mexico was able to have a successful season and I see the Spartans being able to capitalize on these two struggling teams.
Richy: 2-10
Wins against: Northern Colorado, Tulsa
There is a difference between being optimistic and realistic. While it’s always possible that there could be some sort of miraculous turn-around from coach Brent Brennan and the Spartan football program, I just do not see it happening as soon as next season. Taking advantage of a weaker Northern Colorado team seems like the best bet for SJSU to pick up a victory. Although a 10-game losing streak to end the season is a bit of a brutal prediction, I just cannot bring myself to foresee anything more than another disappointing season for the Spartans on the horizon. I still hold out hope that coach Brennan and the rest of the team can prove me wrong and start an upward trend sooner rather than later. I just can’t see it happening next season.
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