Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was sort of expected, but I have to reiterate the unfortunate fact the Spartans got on the board first and then tied the score 10-10 before the Aggies took complete control of the game for a 62-24 blowout at the Maverick Stadium in Logan, Utah this past Saturday.

Fast forward to Monday afternoon. Spartans head coach Brent Brennan delivered his weekly press conference inside Simpkins Stadium Center in San Jose, Calif.

Here’s my Q&A with Brennan:

1. Utah State seemed to take advantage of most, if not all, of San Jose State’s mistakes. A lot of people know the Aggies have a good offense, but what are a few things about Jordan Love and company that they don’t know?
I think their running backs have played well. I didn’t know how good they were until I saw them in person. Even though they’re not very big, they’re incredibly powerful and hard to bring down. I thought they did a really good job breaking tackles.

The other thing that’s hard to see if you’ve watched the game on TV is the type of temperament that they played with. To me, it reminds me of when I was coaching at Oregon State, we were playing Oregon, Marcus (Mariota) and those guys and how fast they were on every snap.

2. San Jose State had their fare share of big plays and Tre Walker had himself a day, but what could you and the other coaches do during practice to make sure that pass plays lead to scores?
I think there’s just a consistency there. On Saturday, we dropped too many passes, and I thought there were a couple of breakdowns in protection; but for the most part, the protection was better. But that was just one of the things that I thought were what went wrong with that game. We dropped too many passes and some balls weren’t on the money.

I thought Michael Carrillo went in there and threw the ball well. So I think continuing to kind of to work on those details, just absolutely specific depths on routes, our connection with the football and where the ball placement is by the quarterback are a couple of things we need to know.

3. San Jose State will honor 15 seniors before this Saturday’s kickoff versus Nevada. There’s not much to be proud of in terms of the record, but what are you most proud of when it comes to this group of guys?
What I’m most proud of this group of guys is easy. It’s how they’ve continued to work and push the team, even though we weren’t getting the results on Saturday we wanted.

Since I’ve been here, this current group of seniors has been outstanding in every way–they’re good in the classroom, they work really hard during practice and they lead the team. I’m so appreciative of how hard they’re worked to help us move this program in the direction we want to take it.

I’m disappointed we haven’t gotten the results for them. That really hurts me.