Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans had a much-needed day off, thanks to Labor Day. The Spartans’ football activities resumed Tuesday afternoon, as head coach Brent Brennan addressed the media members in his weekly press conference at the Simpkins Stadium Center.

As you should already know, SJSU has a lot of things which they must do this season. And, I mean a lot of things. In fact, multiple sources have blasted the Spartans’ football team for everything from Brennan’s lack of experience to Tyler Nevens’ injury. While both arguments may be true, things have gone overboard.

Chris Murray, a columnist at the Reno-Gazette Journal, recently published a 1,000 word column on how the Mountain West Conference should do something about San Jose State. Murray wrote, “I’VE COME CLOSE TO WRITING about his topic before but haven’t pulled the trigger. It felt a bit too soon and perhaps a touch mean. But the time has come. The Mountain West needs to seriously consider San Jose State’s future in its conference. Like I said, I’ve thought about this in the past but haven’t broached the subject. But after SJSU’s 44-38 season-opening loss to FCS school UC Davis–a team picked to finish ninth in the 13-team Big Sky–in which the Spartans allowed 589 yards and was flagged 12 times for 125 yards while turning it over three times, does SJSU really belong in the conference anymore?”

Murray has brought up some valid points, but I thought his opinion that SJSU should’ve never been invited to the MWC in the first place was a tad bit harsh, as the Spartans have upgraded their facilities–CEFCU Stadium and Simpkins Stadium Center–and commercialized its features to attract the younger generation.

But, right now, I’m going to focus on the question, “Where do the Spartans go from here?” and I promise you that I won’t be a jerk about it.

SJSU is 45-152 in games against the Pac-12 Conference. SJSU’s winning percentage against the Washington State Cougars is 36.6 and tied for the best, but it has been 12 years since SJSU has picked up a Pac-12 win. As a head coach, Brent Brennan is going to ensure the Spartans will run away with a win in Pullman by not doing the same things they did versus UCD.

Brennan told me, “First and foremost, we need to win the turnover battle, which we didn’t do last Thursday. Secondly, we gotta do a great job just being sound. I felt like we settled down in the second half and we played well offensively and defensively and we need to take a deep breath, walk out on that stage, and execute at a high level. Third, we just need to play in order to have a chance to win.”

The Spartan defense has given up 40 points or more in 10 of its last 14 games and 39.9 per game since the 2017 season opener. In Brennan’s opinion, there are a couple of guys who can take on larger roles this coming Saturday for the Spartan defense.

“I think there’s a couple of guys,” Brennan said. “I think the biggest part would be just upfront–how we handle it. Washington State has a big offensive line and their quarterback does a great job getting the ball out of his hands and they’re doing a nice job–they got some running backs who are mixing in some of the run game.”

“I think our defensive front has to show up. They need to be the ones that give us a chance to play sound defense and be able to be a little bit disruptive and get them off the field.”

It was pointed out that the Spartans haven’t put together a winning season in any of the major sports, including football, in Murray’s recent column for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Moreover, SJSU’s most recent winning season came in 2012 when they went 11-2 and defeated Bowling Green 29-20 in the Military Bowl. The past can’t be changed, but there are some things that the 2018 Spartans could do in order to prove the critics wrong.

“Well, I think we’re doing a lot of those things right now,” Brennan said. “And I think the process takes time. There’s a significant push from our institution to upgrade our facilities here, to increase our recruiting base, and to continue to raise the profile of our program. And that’s what we’re doing. As we do those things, we’ll continue to improve our football products on the field…The players are working really hard with that. Me and my coaching staff are working very hard with that. And I believe this can be a great place. I really do. And, even though the results aren’t instant, they never really are in situations like these. It takes time…As frustrating as that is for me, our fans, our students, our alumni, our faculty, all that–I promise you that lots of pieces are coming together and give us a chance to build a great program here.”

The Spartans take on the Cougars this Saturday at 8:00 pm PDT on the Pac-12 Network.