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Fantasy Football Doctor’s Podcast NFL Week 10: The Final Stretch Begins

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your hosts: Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty and Dr. Charlie O

  • Who should you start at QB this week?
  • Is “Fitzmagic” for real?
  • Should Phillip Rivers get a start?
  • What will Matt Ryan do versus the Browns?
  • Who will be the surprise RB of the week?
  • Why didn’t you draft McCaffrey? We told you to …

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  • Are any of the Browns skill players worth starting?
  • Have you checked the waiver wire today?
  • What should you with T.J. Yeldon?

The answers to these questions and many more on this week’s edition of the Fantasy Football Doctors Podcast. Grab an adult beverage, a notepad and pencil then sit back, listen and get ready to win!

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After sweeping San Antonio and Texas, Barracuda back on home ice at 7-0

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (7-0-1-0) came into Texas and swept San Antonio and Texas (4-3-1-1) on Friday and Saturday.

#2 The Stars wasted no time opening the game with a goal in the first period when Michael Mersch scored on a tip-in, a five-hole past Barracuda goalie Antoine Bibeau to get things started.

#3 The Barracuda’s Jayden Halbgewachs tied things up a minute later 2:33 later and it would be first of six unanswered goals for the Barracuda.

#4 The Barracuda scored four goals in the second period and the Stars didn’t offer any counter defense one of the reasons why the Barracuda are carrying first place in the AHL.

#5 The Barracuda host San Antonio on Friday night at SAP Center at 7:00 PM. Seeing what the Barracuda did to San Antonio last Friday and now the game is on home ice, the odds are pretty good for San Jose.

Marko Ukalovic does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda shoot down the Roadrunners in 3-2 shootout win

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Alex True was the only one to score in the shootout and that was enough for the San Jose Barracuda (4-0-0-1) as they came back to defeat the Tucson Roadrunners (3-0-0-1) 3-2 in a shootout victory at SAP Center on Monday evening. This is the best start to a season in the Barracuda’s history.

The first period didn’t feature much action as both teams combined for just 15 shots. San Jose had two descent chances to take the lead. Dylan Gambrell, just recalled back from the Sharks, had his short-handed back hand attempt stopped by Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska (1-0-1) with eight minutes left in the first period. Manny Wiederer had his shot from the slot ring off the post with five minutes remaining in the opening frame.

Gambrell broke the deadlock late in the second period. Nick DeSimone won a battle along the right boards, fed a pass over to Francis Perron who then one-timed a quick pass over to Gambrell skating in from the point and he wired a shot into the left corner of the goal for his third goal of the season at the 14:43 mark.

“I think we were getting kinda too cute at the blue line,” said Gambrell. “We started chipping pucks in (getting them) below the goal line getting stuff to the net. (The goal) shifted the momentum of it.”

Dakota Mermis would get the equalizer for Tucson just under two minutes later when he was able to keep the puck inside the Cuda zone on the left side of the blue line. He then sent in what looked like an innocent looking shot on goal that sneaked past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (2-0-1) for his first goal of the season at the 16:15 mark.

Former Cuda forward Adam Helewka, who was sent to the Arizona Coyotes in the June trade for defenseman Kyle Wood, would come back to haunt San Jose when he tipped in a pass by Laurent Dauphin just 51 seconds after Mermis’ goal. Helewka was able to skate in past the Cuda defense and was all alone to tip the puck past Bibeau for his fourth goal of the season at 17:06.

San Jose came back in the third period to tie the game up at 2-2, thanks to a delay of game penalty that sent them on a power play. They would need only nine seconds to convert as Perron rifled a wrist shot from the middle of the slot past Miska into the upper left corner of the goal for his fourth goal of the season at the 12:20 mark. Gambrell and Jeremy Roy received assists.

“It was a scrambling puck, a battle in front of the net,” said Perron. “(There was) a good screen in front of the goalie and I just picked my spot and it went in. It was a huge goal for us.”

Helewka had a breakaway attempt with under three minutes left in the overtime period, but Bibeau stood his ground and made the save on Helewka’s backhander.

San Jose had a glorious chance to end it in overtime. A slashing penalty on Kyle Capobianco with 1:47 left in overtime gave the Cuda a power play to finish out the game. Then Dauphin took a tripping penalty with 41 seconds left to give the Cuda a two-man advantage. However, San Jose was unable to capitalize.

“I think so,” said head coach Roy Sommer when asked if this was the most satisfying win on the season thus far. “When you’re down and you find a way to tie it up and then you win it in overtime, it makes it a little special.”

Both goalies put on a clinic in the shootout. Bibeau, who was perfect in the shootout, finished the game with 31 saves on 33 shots for the victory. Miska had 34 saves on 36 shots in suffering the defeat.

“I was hoping we would score in overtime,” said Bibeau. “I didn’t want a shootout after what happened last game. I was ready and I wanted to be aggressive tonight and dictate their play of their shootout attempt.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 1/5 on the power play. Tucson was 0/3.

Cuda defenseman Zach Frye was injured halfway through the second period when a puck hit him in the face. He did not return to the game.

Fisticuffs!
Tucson’s Trevor Cheek took exception to a clean hit by San Jose’s Jeffery Viel and the two had a spirited brawl at center ice with just under three minutes left in the third period.

The announced attendance was 2,095.

UP NEXT: The Cuda travel up to Stockton on Saturday, October 20 to begin a home and home series with the Heat at 6:00 pm PT at Stockton Arena.

Jazz refuse to quit with 132-93 pounding of Kings

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Photo credit: sacbee.com

By Jeremy Harness

SACRAMENTO — The Golden 1 Center was half-empty on Thursday, and the brave souls who showed up probably wished they had not.

The Sacramento Kings sure didn’t. They were smacked around in every way imaginable right from the opening tip-off in a 132-93 drubbing at the hands of the Utah Jazz, the team’s first home preseason game against an NBA opponent.

Let’s put it this way: The Kiss-Cam got more applause than the Kings did.

The boo birds, as well as the occasional shout of “you suck” started midway through the second quarter. It only intensified after a Rudy Gobert fast-break dunk gave the Jazz a 62-29 lead. The booing did cease, however, in the second half, possibly due to either a strong sense of resignation or a general lack of interest.

The majority of Utah’s field-goal attempts were uncontested, which explains why the Jazz converted 60 percent of them (51 of 85), including 14 of their 30 3-point shots. The Kings, meanwhile, were flat broke the entire game, starting with DeAaron Fox’s jumper from the free-throw line clanking off the base of the rim.

What followed were missed layups and other point-blank attempts as well as a complete lack of defense. Utah used the first 12 minutes of the game to get out to a 39-10 lead.

It got no better during the course of Thursday’s game. In fact, it got painfully worse. The Kings were a woeful 34 percent (32 of 93) from the floor.

Sacramento was losing it on the court, and it seemed to trickle down to the head coach, and that didn’t take very long. After calling a timeout upon Sacramento going down 32-7 late in the opening quarter, Dave Joerger waited exactly seven seconds–about the time it took for Sacramento to get the ball across half-court–to call another one.

The second quarter was simply an extension of the first. While going down 45-10 in the first two minutes of the quarter, Buddy Hield missed a wide-open fast-break layup and watched as the putback attempt got wedged in between the basket and the backboard. Meanwhile, the Jazz built up a 36-point halftime lead and led at one point by 44 points.

The Jazz were led by Rudy Gobert, who caught numerous alley-oops for dunks and put in a few more uncontested attempts on his way to 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

Rookie Marvin Bagley III, whom the Kings selected with the second pick of this year’s draft, scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Willie Cauley-Stein had 16 points, but he was manhandled by Utah big man Rudy Gobert in the process. Harry Giles III and Justin Jackson each scored 12 points for Sacramento.

NOTES: It’s probably not a good sign when Skal Labissiere–who was a first-round pick just two years ago–doesn’t see his first action of the game until the start of the fourth quarter, after the Kings had been trailing by at least 20 since the opening minutes of the game.

Ben McLemore, who was part of the trade that sent guard–and proven leader–Garrett Temple to the Memphis Grizzlies, did not get into the game until the fourth quarter as well.

UP NEXT: The Kings head up north to the Moda Center to take on the Portland Trail Blazers in their final preseason game Friday night at 7:00 pm PT on NSNW.

San Jose State to host Army at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans are set to host the Army Black Knights at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 pm PT on ESPNU and Watch ESPN.

In case you missed it, check out head coach Brent Brennan’s most recent press conference regarding the Spartans.

Here’s what you should know coming into Saturday’s matinee:

San Jose State’s record
0-5, 0-2 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans lost to Colorado State, 42-30, on October 6th.

Army West Point’s record
3-2. Most recently, the Black Knights defeated the Buffalo Bulls, 42-13, on September 29th.

What channels will the game be on?
ESPNU and WatchESPN will provide play-by-play coverage of the SJSU-Army game.  The live telecast is scheduled for 12:30 pm PT.

What stations will the game be broadcasted?
KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originates SJSU football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary.

The Army broadcast begins at 12:00 pm PT with a pregame show.

SJSU’s network affiliate is KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas).

For the first time
This will be the first meeting between the two teams. SJSU and Army are slated to play a home-and-home series through the 2021 season. The Black Knights would be the home team in 2019 and 2021.

38th school
SJSU will become the 38th school to play the three FBS service academy teams (Air Force, Army and Navy) with the completion of the Army game.

30 points
SJSU’s one of at least two teams to score 30 points in a quarter this season with its 30-point third quarter in its recent 42-30 loss to Colorado State.

North Texas scored 31 points in the second quarter of a 58-16 win over Incarnate Word on September 8th.

The last time SJSU scored 30 or more points in a quarter was a 35-point second quarter in a 69-41 win at UTEP on November 3, 2003.

Safety first
For the first time since playing in the 2012 Military Bowl, SJSU was credited with a two-point safety when Boogie Roberts tackled Colorado State running back Izzy Matthews in the Rams’ end zone on a first-down rushing attempt that started at the two-yard line.

National leader
Dakari Monroe’s the FBS national leader in passes defended with his 2.4 average. Monroe was credited with a personal single-game best four pass break-ups in the Colorado State game on October 6th.

For the season, Monroe has two pass interceptions and 10 pass break-ups.

The Josh Oliver factor
For the fifth consecutive week, Josh Oliver is the leading pass receiver among FBS tight ends. Oliver is averaging 6.20 receptions a game and has 31 catches for the season.

Oliver’s the only tight end listed among the FBS’ top-50 pass receivers in games played through October 6.

22 of Oliver’s 31 receptions this season resulted in a SJSU first down.

Oliver and Stanford’s Kaden Smith share the national lead for receiving yards by a listed tight end at 382 in games played through October 6th.

#22 is #2 again
For the second consecutive week, Thai Cottrell ranks second nationally in kickoff return average at 33.9 per return.

This season, Cottrell has returns of 96 at Oregon, 72 versus Hawaii and 44 yards versus Colorado State. Cottrell’s previous long return was 28 yards during the 2017 season.

Five-game streak in 2018
For the first time since the 2013 season, SJSU has a pass interception in five consecutive games in the same season.  With a pair of interceptions in the final game of the 2017 season, the Spartans have a six-game streak going intercepting a pass.

SJSU added two interceptions to its total versus Colorado State on October 6th. The Spartans have nine for the season–three more than in 2017–to rank seventh nationally among FBS schools.

Spartan nation, keep in mind that the Spartans have the heart, grit and energy. All the Spartans need to top off their actions is to put more than two wins in the win column this season.

Whether or not San Jose State defeats Hawaii, former Spartans to be introduced regardless

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans started the season in FCS and Pac-12, but will start their conference slate at CEFCU Stadium versus the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors this Saturday at 4:00 pm PDT on Spectrum Sports. Even if San Jose State won’t get past Hawaii, this conference game will be worth checking out.

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s Homecoming:

SJSU’s record
0-3, 0-0 Mountain West. Most recently, the Spartans lost at #20/#23-Oregon, 35-22, on September 15.

Hawaii’s record
4-1, 1-0 Mountain West. The Rainbow Warriors defeated Duquesne, 42-21, on September 22.

The Last Meeting
SJSU 26, Hawaii 37 on October 14, 2017 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Big Plays, Costly Penalties Factor Into 37-26 Loss To Hawaii
SJSU had a season-high 504 yards of total offense, another long Bryce Crawford field goal and a kickoff return for a touchdown in its 37-26 loss at Hawaii.

Tickets
sjsuspartans.com/tickets

ticketmaster.com

Athletics Ticket Office, 1393 S. 7th Street, San Jose, CA 95112, weekdays, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.

For home games at CEFCU Stadium
New modern family plan.

Spartan alumni season ticket pricing in a distinct seating section.

Play-by-play radio coverage
KLIV (1590 AM, San José) originates SJSU football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. The Hawaii broadcast begins at 3:30 pm with a pregame show.

SJSU’s network affiliate is KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas).

KSJS (90.5 FM) also will broadcast the game. The pregame show starts at 3:45 pm.

Television
Spectrum Sports will provide play-by-play coverage of the SJSU-Hawaii game. Robert Kekaula calls the play-by-play. Rich Miano provides analysis and commentary.

The game will be available on the Stadium app for those on the mainland.

Residents of Hawaii can watch the game live on a pay-per-view basis.

Series history
Hawaii leads the series, 20-19-1, with one cancellation. The Rainbow Warriors have won the last two meetings between these teams including a 37-26 decision in Honolulu last year. The Spartans’ last win in the series was a 42-23 road victory in 2015. SJSU’s last victory over Hawai’i in San Jose was on October 14, 2011 when SJSU edged Hawaii, 28-27. The one cancellation in the series was the December 16, 1941 game in Honolulu. The game was canceled following the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Spartans traveling party arrived in Hawaii on December 3.

Mountain West openers
SJSU seeks its first win in a Mountain West opener since joining the conference in 2013. The Spartans lost Mountain west openers to Utah State (2013, 2017), Nevada (2014), at Air Force (2015) and at New Mexico (2016). The last time SJSU won a conference opener was in 2008 when SJSU staged a second-half comeback to win at Hawaii, 20-17, when both teams were Western Athletic Conference members.

Three consecutive home games
For the first time since 2007, SJSU’s playing three consecutive games as a home team starting with Hawaii on September 29. The Spartans host Colorado State on October 6 and Army West Point at Levi’s Stadium on October 13. In 2007, SJSU hosted UC Davis, Idaho and Hawaii on consecutive weeks.

Homecoming: The Hawaii game will be SJSU’s Homecoming Game for the 2018 season. SJSU has a record of 47-32-2 in Homecoming Games. When Hawai’i was in San Jose in 2016, the Rainbow Warriors were the Homecoming opponent and emerged with a 34-17 victory.

SJSU’s 1-2 in Homecoming games when Hawaii’s the opponent. The Spartans defeated the Rainbow Warriors, 28-27, in the 2011 Homecoming contest and lost 45-38 in 2005.

Hall of Fame weekend
The Hawaii football game caps a week of SJSU Sports Hall of Fame activities. The 2018 induction ceremony is Friday, September 28. This year’s Hall of Fame class will be introduced during halftime of the football game. After this year’s class, there will be more than 380 individuals and teams enshrined in the SJSU Sports Hall of Fame.

2018 Inductees
Charlie Clark (deceased), track & field & cross country–NCAA steeplechase champion; cross country All-American.

Krazy George, cheerleader (1968-present).

James Jones, football (2003-06)–Super Bowl XLV champion; Most NFL pass receptions by a SJSU football player.

Pat Martinez, softball (1993-96)–Only four-time all-region player.

Juliet Moss, women’s water polo (2006-09)–First Spartan selected to the USA National Team.

Gerardo Padilla, judo (1979-82)–Three-time Olympian representing Mexico.

Lisa Walton, women’s golf (1991-94)–Three-time All-American; 1992 NCAA championship team member.

1971 men’s water polo team–NCAA Championship runner-up with a 20-1 record.

Crawford’s kicks
Senior Bryce Crawford is listed among the top-50 kickers in three categories for the second week in a row. He ranks 33rd in both field goals per game (1.33/game) and field goal accuracy (80.0 percent) and 35th in punting (43.0/punt).

No other FBS kicker is listed in the top-50 in those three categories.

Third in the nation
Senior Dakari Monroe ranks third nationally in passes defended heading into this week’s action. Monroe has a 2.67 per game average with two interceptions, one vs. UC Davis and his second at Oregon, and six pass break ups.

SJSU’s Homecoming is going to be lit, so you should come on down and cheer for the Blue and Gold. The Spartans need more than just luck to snap the three-game losing skid and get their first conference win of the season.

O’Neill ends it with a walk-off to lift the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Giants

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Photo credit: taiwannews.com.tw

By Jeremy Kahn

Tyler O’Neill ended Saturday afternoon’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants with one swing of the bat.

O’Neill smashed a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, helping the Cardinals to their fifth win in their last six games with a 5-4 victory over the Giants at Busch Stadium.

Mark Melancon served up the O’Neill home run, as the Cards smacked their team record eighth walkoff home run of the season.

It was the ninth home run of the season for O’Neill, as they remain in the second spot for the National League Wild Card game and remain behind their division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot.

The win by the Cards gave the victory to closer Carlos Martinez, who improved to 8-6 on the season, while Melancon drops to 0-3 for the Giants, who have dropped their last three games.

Adam Wainwright made just his third start of the season for the Cards, as he went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, walking no one and striking out six.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they led the Cards 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Yadier Molina tied up the game with a two-run home run off of Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez.

Aramis Garcia came up with a big hit in the top of the seventh inning, as he gave the Giants a 3-2 lead. Garcia picked up four hits on the afternoon for the Giants.

Garcia went 4-for-4 on the afternoon, a career-high and Garcia now has hits in 10 out of his last 12 games.

Gregor Blanco extended the Giants lead up to 4-2, as he grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Garcia.

Molina tied up the game with his 19th home run of the season off of Rodriguez, whose day ended following the Molina home run.

Rodriguez went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out two and he will make one start next weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.

This was the first time since his second major league start against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on June 9 that Rodriguez allowed three or more earned runs in the same game. Rodriguez went 15 consecutive games without allowing three runs or fewer.

Joe Panik picked up three hits and drove in a run for the Giants.

NOTES: Garcia is the first Giants rookie since Austin Slater on June 15, 2017 against the Colorado Rockies on June 18, 2017, to have a four-hit game in his rookie season.

The four-hit game by Garcia came one day after the rookie struck out four times in the same game. Garcia is the first to accomplish this feat since Hunter Pence did it from July 22-24, 2015 and only the second Giants player to do it since 1913, this according to STATS, LLC.

Garcia is only the fifth rookie in major league history to strikeouts four times in a game, and then four hits in the game. He joins Andre Ethier of the Dodgers in 2006, Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians in 2003. Roberto Meija of the Colorado Rockies and Craig Paquette of the Oakland A’s also in 1993.

Panik made his professional debut at first base, as he started the game at first base and it was the first time that Panik started there on the minor league or the Major League level.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Cards wrap up their series Sunday at 11:15 am PDT.

Andrew Suarez puts an end to the road trip and the Giants 2018 road schedule, as he takes the Busch Stadium mound for the first time in his Major League career, while Mike Mikolas takes the mound for the Cards.

San Jose State men’s basketball announces 2018-19 TV schedule

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball will play on a nationally televised stage five times during Mountain West play during the 2018-19 season. The conference and its national TV partners finalized the schedule and made the announcement on Wednesday.

“I’m excited that our team will get multiple opportunities to play on a national stage, especially at home,” head coach Jean Prioleau said. “We enjoy having the chance to make some noise and perform at a high level in front of a lot of viewers. The national spotlight is great exposure for this program and I’m excited for our fans and the San Jose community as a whole.”

Two of the five games broadcasted will be played in the Event Center. The Spartans welcome UNLV for a 2 pm PT contest on Sunday, February 16, and New Mexico for a 7 pm PT tip on Tuesday, February 26. Both games will be broadcasted by AT&T SportsNet.

The Spartans’ fans’ first chance to catch SJSU on television will be Wednesday, January 9th at Nevada on CBS Sports Network. The Spartans also have televised road contests slated for Saturday, January 19th at UNLV and Wednesday, February 13th at New Mexico.

Additionally, any SJSU men’s basketball game not on national television will be broadcasted on the MW Network via watchstadium.com. Links for those games will be available all season long on the MBB schedule page and TheMW.com.

Date                                     Location                            Opponent         Network                           Time

1/9/2019                           Reno, Nev.                          Nevada               CBS Sports Network     8:00 p.m. PT

1/19/2019                         Las Vegas, Nev.                 UNLV                    AT&T SportsNet             4:30 p.m. PT

2/13/2019                         Albuquerque, N.M.          New Mexico      AT&T SportsNet             6:00 p.m. PT

2/16/2019                         The Event Center            UNLV                    AT&T SportsNet             2:00 p.m. PT

2/26/2019                         The Event Center            New Mexico      AT&T SportsNet             7:00 p.m. PT

Three takeaways from SJSU’s home opener vs. UC Davis

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In case you missed it, the San Jose State Spartans welcomed the UC Davis Aggies to its home turf inside CEFCU Stadium on Thursday night.

As you should already know, SJSU went 2-11 (1-7) last year under first-year head coach Brent Brennan, who’s now in his second year as the Spartans’ head coach. And, of course, there are a lot of folks–mostly non-Spartan fans–who doubt that the 2018 Spartans will be an improved team, but that’s fine. It’s still too early to throw in the towel.

Here are three takeaways from SJSU’s home opener vs. UC Davis.

3. Tyler Nevens is in our thoughts and prayers 
The Spartans’ 2018 season is off to a rough start. Tyler Nevens, who’s arguably the Spartans’ top wide running back, suffered a serious injury following a head-to-head collision. Nevens was on the field for nearly 20 minutes before being taken off the field on a stretcher for an evaluation at a local hospital. Nevens was released late Thursday night and has been resting since then.

Many people sent their thoughts and prayers to Nevens, who scored two touchdowns prior to his injury, and it appears to be working wonders on the Spartan star. While it’s unclear if Nevens will be cleared to play in next Saturday’s game at Washington State, Spartans’ head coach Brent Brennan said that Nevens’ replacement at running back would be DeJon Packer, Jamar Williams or Brenden Manigo.

2. Montel Aaron is more confident this year
Spartans’ quarterback Montel Aaron, who’s now a sophomore, told the local media that he felt more confident this year compared to last year.

The only issue is that Aaron hasn’t had much experience last year, so he has a lot of things to learn and a lot of strides to make, but it’s a process, so he’d say that it’s all about mental techniques, so he has to have the required confidence regardless of who’s starting the game or what they’ve done in the offseason, as you’ll have to go after what you want to achieve.

1. Where’s the Spartan defense?
If you listened to the radio broadcast and/or followed live updates on Twitter, you’d notice that the Spartan defense was pretty much non-existent during the SJSU vs. UC Davis home opener at CEFCU Stadium. The Spartan offense, however, was a force that just happened to be reckoned with.

The Aggies are far from a good college football team in the Big Sky Conference, but they were able to hold off the Spartans, who are in the Mountain West Conference, for a 44-38 win in San Jose, Calif. Ulonzo Gilliam became the ninth Aggie to score three touchdowns in a single game in UC Davis’ Big Sky history, and the second to do so against an FBS opponent.

That being said, the Spartan defense has to show up sooner than later if the Spartans want to win games this season. The Spartans’ defensive lineup of Bryson Bridges, Owen “Boogie” Roberts, Sailosi Latu, Jesse Osuna, Tysyn Parker, Ethan Aguayo, Jamal Scott, John Touissaint, Tre Webb, Jay Lenard and Dakari Monroe looks pretty darn good on paper, but in the game versus UC Davis, SJSU’s defense allowed an FCS quarterback to pass for 446 yards and three touchdowns and an FCS running back to rush for 132 yards and two touchdowns. The Spartan defense clearly got destroyed by the Aggies in 2018’s first-ever FCS over FBS upset, which was extremely disappointing.

Up Next
SJSU heads to the Pacific Northwest to take on Washington State at Martin Stadium on Saturday, September 8th at 8 pm PDT on PACN.

Holland beats his former team–Rangers–for the first time, 3-1

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Derek Holland faced his former team in the Texas Rangers for just the third time in his career, but it was a rookie that came up with the biggest hit of the game.

Steven Duggar hit a two-run triple that helped the San Francisco Giants defeat the Rangers 3-1 before a crowd of 39,260 at AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon.

Duggar’s triple off of Yovani Gallardo scored Hunter Pence and Nick Hundley with what proved to be the winning margin, as the Giants took two of three in a rematch of the 2010 World Series.

That triple was the first of Duggar’s career.

Gallardo got the first two batters out in that fateful fourth inning, but Pence singled and then Hundley walked before Duggar launched a Gallardo pitch into Triples Alley to give the Giants the lead for good.

Holland went 6.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out four, as he won for the seventh time on the season.

This was the first career win for Holland against the team that drafted him in the 25th round of the 2006 Major League Draft. Holland played his first eight seasons with the Rangers, where he went 62-50 with a 4.35 earned run average in 179 games (158 starts).

The 158 starts by Holland with the Rangers is the eighth-most in Rangers history, and his 62 wins are the ninth-most.

Evan Longoria got the Giants going in the bottom of the first inning, as he tripled to the appropriately named ‘Triples Alley,” and then Brandon Belt singled to score Longoria. As for Longoria, that was his third triple of the season, the most for him since the 2013 season, when he also hit three.

The Rangers tied it up in the top of the third inning, as Elvis Andrus hit a double to left field that Hunter Pence bobbled in left field to allow Rougned Odor to score the tying run for the Rangers.

Following the Andrus double that tied up the game, Brandon Crawford came up with the defensive play of the game, as Adrian Beltre hit a ball into the hole that looked like it was going into left field; however, Crawford dove for the ball, got up and was able to throw out Beltre to keep the score tied at one. Not only did Crawford make another fantastic play, but Brandon Belt dug the ball out of the dirt for the final out of the inning that kept Andrus from scoring the potential go-ahead run.

That was the only hit that Holland would allow until he gave up two in the top of the seventh inning.

Duggar gave the Giants the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning, as his triple scored the eventual winning runs for the Giants.

Holland got into a bit of a jam in that seventh inning, as he gave up two hits in the top of the seventh inning; however, both Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were stranded at third base, when Tony Watson struck out Robinson Chirinos and then got Odor out on an attempted bunt to end the inning.

Without the services of usual closer Will Smith, Mark Melancon came on to finish the game, and despite the fact that he gave up a pinch-hit single to Shin-Soo Choo with one out in the top of the ninth inning, Melancon was able to get the last two batters for his third save of the season.

NOTES: Buster Posey will undergo season-ending hip surgery on Monday in Vail, Colorado to repair a damaged labrum and remove bone spurs in his right hip.

Posey was placed on the 10-day disabled list, and to replace Posey on the roster will be Aramis Garcia, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.

This was the first time that Melancon picked up back-to-back saves in consecutive games since May 19 and 20, 2017 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

By winning the series finale against the Rangers, the Giants won their 65th game of the season, surpassing their total of 64 from just one year ago.

UP NEXT: The Giants host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series starting Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Giants’ Chris Stratton will look for his ninth win of the season on Monday night, as he takes the mound against Patrick Corbin of the D-Backs, who is looking for his 11th win of the season for the Diamondbacks.