Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans kick off the 2018 season in its home opener versus the UC Davis Aggies at CEFCU Stadium on Thursday night.

There will be no television broadcast, just radio broadcasts on KLIV 1590 AM and KSJS 90.5 FM.

Radio Station Details
KLIV 1590 AM originates San Jose State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play, while Kevin Richardson provides commentary.

The UC Davis football broadcast begins at 6:30 pm PDT with an Aggies pregame show.

KSJS 90.5 FM will also broadcast the game live. Ashton Hughes and E.J. McCarthy have the calls.

2017 San Jose State record
2-11 (1-7 Mountain West). The Spartans finished the season tied for fifth in the Mountain West’s West Division.

2017 UC Davis record
5-6 (3-5 Big Sky). The Aggies were in eighth place in the 13-team Big Sky Conference.

The lowdown on San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan
Brennan is in his second season as a college head coach. Brennan has a college coaching record of 2-11–all with the Spartans. Brennan returned to San Jose State in 2017 after six seasons as a receivers coach at Oregon State. Brennan worked as a Spartan assistant coach from 2005 to 2010. Brennan 0-0 as a head coach against UC Davis.

The lowdown on UC Davis head coach Dan Hawkins
Hawkins is in his second season as the Aggies head coach. Hawkins has a 5-6 record at UC Davis. Overall, Hawkins begins his 17th season as a college head coach and has a 117-67-1 record. Hawkins is 5-0 as a head coach against the Spartans. Hawkins won all five games as Boise State’s head coach from 2001-04.

Series history
The Spartans lead the series, 6-4-2. San Jose State has wins in three of the four games played in the 21st century. These teams are meeting for the first time since the 2012 season when the Spartans won a 45-13 laugher. UC Davis’ last win in the series was a 14-13 triumph in Spartan Stadium.

This is the third time these two teams are opening a season against each other. The most recent was in 2008 when the Spartans edged the Aggies 17-13. The first was on October 12, 1929, when UC Davis shutout San Jose State, 13-0, just 17 days before the start of the Great Depression in the United States.

More on weekly San Jose State press conference
The weekly San Jose State football press conference is in the Simpkins Stadium Center Gold Room on Mondays at 1:00 pm PDT.

The Mountain West Network streams the press conference live through www.sjsuspartans.com/videos. The press conference also is archived at sjsuspartans.com.

The Brent Brennan Show

The one-hour Brent Brennan Radio Show airs on KLIV 1590 AM on Thursdays, at 7:00 pm PDT. The show is taped each Wednesday at 6:00 pm PDT at the Hukilau Restaurant on 230 Jackson Street in San Jose. Justin Allegri, the voice of the Spartans, is the host.

Brent Brennan on KLIV 1590 AM
San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan is heard weekly on KLIV 1590 AM on Tuesdays at 6:30 am PDT. Tony Michaels is the host.

Tickets
• sjsuspartans.com/tickets
• ticketmaster.com

The Athletics Ticket Office is located on 1393 S. 7th Street, San Jose, CA 95112, and is open on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm PDT.

• New modern family plan
• Spartan alumni season ticket pricing in a distinct seating section

Game sponsor
Los Gatos Roofing, Inc.

Season openers
San Jose State has three wins in its last five season openers. Since 1898, San Jose State is 41-52-4 all-time in season-opening games.

A master’s degree in their futures
Quarterback Michael Carrillo and defensive lineman Boogie Roberts are two San Jose State players playing as graduate students. Carrillo graduated with cum laude honors, majoring in business administration with an emphasis in marketing in May 2018. He is pursuing a M.B.A.

Roberts majored in communication studies. He is enrolled in the master’s program in interdisciplinary studies and tailored his curriculum towards classes that focuses on sports broadcasting.

Young Spartans
The current San Jose State football roster consists of 40 freshmen. In the last nine seasons, the 2018 squad is the fourth one to begin a season with at least 40 freshmen. The 2012 (41), 2013 (45) and 2017 (47) teams had more than 40 freshmen on the opening-game roster.

The fewest freshmen on a San Jose State opening-game roster since 2010 was 35 in 2013 and 2014.

14 returning starters
San Jose State heads into the season opener with 14 returning starters (7 offense, 6 defense, 1 kicker) from last year’s roster.

Possible first-time starters
Based on an August 20 depth chart, five Spartans are in line for their first college start.

On offense, sophomore Trevor Robbins tops the depth chart at center and redshirt freshman Jesse Chamberlain is No. 1 at right guard.

Defensively, junior Jesse Osuna tops the depth chart for the first time at a linebacker position. Senior John Toussaint and sophomore Tre Webb are two possible first-time starters in the secondary.