Game Week - San Jose State

Having the pleasure of living in northern California we do get a lot of media coverage on the San Jose State Spartans. The 2020 champs in conference! They are a very different team with head coach, Brent Brennan. He has the Spartans believing in their team and destiny. The game one tape is in and while they did a tune up game by selecting So Utah they did execute during the early part of the game through halftime. After that it appeared that coach Brennan turned it down to limit the tape that coach Helton and staff would be reviewing trying to get the reads on the formations both on offense and defense.

Following a 2020 season to remember, Brent Brennan, a San Jose native and second-generation Spartan, enters his fifth season as the San Jose State University football head coach in 2021.

Dealing with the ups and downs of a global pandemic, a prolonged California wild fire season with long-term environmental impact, and interruptions to normalcy, Brennan directed the Spartans to a Mountain West championship, an invitation to the Offerpad Arizona Bowl, and a ranking of 24th in the final Associated Press poll while playing the fifth toughest schedule of the season according to the NCAA.

The conference championship was San Jose State's first title of any kind since sharing the 1991 Big West Conference championship and first outright crown since winning the Big West in 1990. The Spartans were back in the post-season bowl picture for the first time since 2015 and were ranked in the final Associated Press poll since 2012.

San Jose State's .875 winning percentage from its 7-1 record was the third best in school history and best by a Spartan team since 1940. The Spartans were one of the last four undefeated teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2020.

The accolades rolled in for Brennan. He was the Lombardi Foundation's College Coach of the Year, the Mountain West Coach of the Year, and the American Football Coaches Association Region V Coach of the Year. Brennan became the first San Jose State football coach to receive votes in the Associated Press' coach of the year balloting with three first place votes and a fifth-place finish. He was a semifinalist for the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and the George Munger Coach of the Year Award conveyed by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia.

I do believe the Trojans will prevail in this game. They are at home and they are loaded in talent throughout the roster. Key unknown is that under Coach Helton this team doesn't show up on opening day aggressively and tend to look unprepared. I'm not just refering to the "Arlington" nightmares but in general when they have their first game prep what shows up on the field of play has been unquestionably lack luster based on all the Helton and media hype that he generates.

With Helton's job on the line this year, I know I know, he has to beat the teams he is suppose to beat with convinction. He has to show the fan base and the administration that he can take that next step when given the staff, budget and talent that this team clearly has. Time will tell. I think San Jose State will exercise our Defense well. They have a good stable of running backs and a quarterback in Nick Starkel who is coming off a 4 TD victory last week against So Utah. It could have been 10 TD's had coach Brennan not cooled the Spartan jets. Running back, Tyler Nevens was running in pure daylight with gaping holes against an over matched defensive line of So Utah so lot's to see this week. Get to the Coli early and support your USC Trojans!

Fight On!