Tag: san jose

It’s one thing after another: SJSU continues to make headlines, despite tons of losses

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By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State, as the headline suggests, has been a recent victim of what appears to be a media circus surrounding the school’s athletic program.

Just hours after SJSU lost to UC Davis 44-38, a columnist at the Reno Gazette-Journal suggested that the Mountain West Conference should get rid of SJSU.

More recently, SJSU baseball was placed on a two-year probation by the NCAA for practice time violations under former head coach Jason Hawkins, who was also given a one-year show cause penalty. Hawkins was accused of asking players to participate in voluntary activities before and after practices. Hawkins then listed those activities on the daily practice schedules, which led players to believe their presences were mandatory. Other coaches observed some of those activities and held practices that ran longer than their scheduled times.

Hawkins, as you may already know, resigned in February after being placed on administrative leave.

SJSU athletics director Marie Tuite issued a statement Thursday.

Tuite said, “We are committed to adhering to NCAA and conference rules and self-reporting when we learn of violations. We have a comprehensive rules education program, and we emphasize the importance of having a culture of compliance in our program at all times. … The violations were isolated to our baseball program and occurred under the previous coaching staffs during the 2017 and 2018 academic years. The violations were discovered and self-reported by the institution.”

Tuite added, “We will continue to emphasize rules education, compliance and self-reporting of violations in our program. Compliance will always be at the core and a guiding principle of everything we do in our athletics program.”

The NCAA Committee of Infractions reportedly commended SJSU for immediately acknowledging and accepting responsibility and imposing meaningful corrective measures.

While I’m glad SJSU acknowledged and accepted responsibility, things like this should’ve have happened in the first place. As a SJSU alumna, I’ll always stand by the Blue and Gold, but enough is enough. I hate to say it, but it’s starting to become more clear as time passes by. And, it’s not really about the wins and championship seasons right now; but the culture–especially within the sports teams–has to change sooner than later.

Former men’s basketball coach Dave Wojcik also resigned just months after the 2016-17 season following an investigation along with a lawsuit filed by a former player.

In case you need a refresher, Jean Prioleau is the current head coach for SJSU men’s basketball. Prioleau, however, isn’t much better. Prioleau just racked up a 4-26 (1-17 MW) record last season, and will enter his second season as a head coach this coming November. Like Wojcik, Prioleau’s abilities aren’t just limited to the court.

According to an inside source, Prioleau has attracted tons of haters, but for the wrong reasons. Last year, SJSU star Ryan Welage (now with the Xavier Musketeers) wasn’t introduced during a sports-related banquet, and Welage was never properly acknowledged, despite receiving a phone call.

I don’t think the MWC is going to part ways with SJSU anytime soon, but I do think the Spartans should focus on picking up wins and positively shifting core values in all men’s and women’s sports.

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.

Rough night in San Jose: Nevens suffers scary injury; SJSU loses to UC Davis 44-38

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans knew how to get things going with the home crowd in their season opener versus the UC Davis Aggies inside CEFCU Stadium on a cool, breezy night.

Spartans head coach Brent Brennan officially entered his second season at San Jose State, Spartan quarterback Josh Love got the start, and the Spartan fans were a bit surprised to see a fireworks show just seconds after the Spartan Marching Band performed their typical yet talent-filled performance.

Unfortunately, the early minutes weren’t in favor of San Jose State, as UC Davis jumped to an early 7-0 lead at the 11:58 mark of the first quarter. Ulonzo Gilliam scored a 5-yard rushing touchdown and Matt Blair’s kick for an extra point was good.

Jake Maier threw a pass that was intended for a fellow Aggie, but Dakari Monroe intercepted the pass midway through the first quarter. Monroe returned the pass for 29 yards to the 1-yard line.

Just moments later, San Jose State evened the score at 7-7, thanks to a game-tying touchdown. Love threw to JaQuan Blackwell for a 5-yard passing touchdown with 9:33 left in the first.

Spartan fans danced to “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan, as the old-school hip-hop song played just moments after Tyler Nevens scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown to help the Spartans to a 14-7 lead with 5:54 left in the first. Bryce Crawford’s kick for the extra point was obviously good.

UC Davis evened the score at 14-14 on Gilliam’s second touchdown of the game, a 1-yard rushing touchdown, with 2:21 left in the first. Blair’s kick for an extra point was good.

The score was tied 14-14 at the end of the first.

UC Davis regained the lead, 21-14, on Wesley Preece’s 22-yard passing touchdown at the 14:56 mark of the second quarter. Blair’s kick for an extra point was good. Not only that, UC Davis snatched the lead, 28-14, on Jared Harrell’s 49-yard passing touchdown just 1:30 later. Blair’s kick for an extra point was good.

San Jose State pulled within seven and trailed UC Davis 28-21 at the 11:29 mark of the second. Nevens, who scored his scored touchdown of the game, helped the Spartans with a 23-yard rushing touchdown. Crawford’s kick for an extra point was good.

The Aggies extended their lead to 35-21 with 9:54 left in the second. Carson Crawford scored a 9-yard rushing touchdown. Blair successfully kicked in the extra point.

The Spartans had a chance to pull within 11 to reduce the deficit to 35-24, but Crawford’s attempt at a 53-yard field goal was unsuccessful. Crawford was 10 yards short.

San Jose State trailed UC Davis 35-21 at halftime.

The Aggies’ first play of the second half was a safety, which extended its lead to 37-21 at the 14:51 mark of the third quarter. The Spartans, however, had something else to be excited about as the Spartans’ gymnastics team were honored on the field for their latest achievements.

Crawford made a 29-yard field goal to pull the Spartans within 13, but the home team continued to trail the Aggies 37-24 with 2:10 left in the third.

The Spartans pulled within six on a noteworthy, last-second 79-yard passing touchdown by Bailey Gaither, who initially caught the pass from Montel Aaron. The Aggies, however, continued to lead 37-31 at the end of three quarters.

The Aggies didn’t waste any time in the fourth quarter. Gilliam scored his third touchdown of the game, an 18-yard passing touchdown from Maier, to put the Aggies up by 13 for a 44-31 lead at the 13:46 mark of the fourth.

The Spartans were down by 13 for quite a while in the fourth, but the most important part of the game was that the Spartans’ top running back Tyler Nevens was fine after a reported head-to-head collision. The Spartan fans sent their thoughts and prayers to Nevens, who later returned the favor by giving a thumbs up as the trainers stretchered him off the field.

Gaither scored his second touchdown of the game, a 17-yard passing touchdown from Aaron, to pull the Spartans within six, 44-38, with 1:24 left in the fourth.

San Jose State lost to UC Davis 44-38.

Notes
Spartans’ defensive lineup

Spartans’ offensive lineup

Up Next
The Spartans head to Martin Stadium to take on the Washington State Cougars on Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 pm PDT.

Earthquakes win wild 4-3 match over FC Dallas to snap home winless streak

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The 4000 lb gorilla has officially left Avaya Stadium. Chris Wondolowski was the difference in an offensive juggernaut featured in the second half. His game-winning goal help the San Jose Earthquakes (4-14-8) defeat the Western Conference leading FC Dallas (13-6-7) 4-3 on Wednesday evening in front of a small, but raucous crowd.

The victory snapped the Quakes’ longest home winless streak in franchise history of 12 games. The Quakes hadn’t won at home since the season opening match on March 3rd against FC Minnesota.

The Quakes captain was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench as a substitute the past five games. His last start was on July 25th, a home match against the Seattle Sounders. His game-winning goal came in the 62nd minute when he received the ball just outside the defense box and made a pretty give-and-go with Vako. As two FC Dallas defenders collapsed on Vako, Wondo was left all alone and fired a strike into the upper left corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The Wondo Watch is now at 142, only three away from Landon Donovan’s MLS record of 145. It was also his 40th game-winning goal of his career. Which just so happens to be second in MLS history to guess who, Donovan, who had 41 of them.

“It’s great to get the goal,” said Wondo. “I keep using this word, but I’m so proud to be the captain of these guys. To be with them, to be out there fighting. It’s a huge win.”

FC Dallas would get off to another quick start against San Jose. In the eighth minute, Michael Barrios received a favorable bounce off a throw in and centered the ball right into the middle of the box where both Nick Lima and Quakes goalie Andrew Tarbell both went for the ball that deflected off Tarbell and right into a waiting Maxi Urruti. The Argentinian play-maker wasted no time tapping it into an empty net for his seventh goal of the season.

Vako would give the Quakes the equalizer in the 16th minute when after a nice give and goal with Magnus Eriksson, he was able to get the ball inside the box after a failed header clearing attempt by Matt Hedges left Vako all alone with a clear path to the goal where he took two dribbles and rocketed a shot into the upper left corner of the goal past FC Dallas goalie Jimmy Maurer . It was the Georgian striker’s seventh goal of the season.

Hedges would be the focus of another blunder in the 30th minute when he misfired wide right on a wide-open net after receiving a great centering feed from Barrios.

Vako proved to be a one man show in the 42nd minute when he gave the Quakes a 2-1 lead. He received a pass from Jahmir Hyka from 20 yards out, then dribbled down the middle of the box where he magically was able to get the ball through three FC Dallas defenders and once again had a clear path to the goal. He snapped a shot past a diving Maurer into the right corner of the goal for his eighth goal of the season leaving FC Dallas stunned.

“We had a lack of balance from our side tonight,” said FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja. “When you get three goals on an away game and don’t get points, obviously something didn’t work out well.”

FC Dallas tied the game in the 51st minute when substitute Santiago Mosquerea, who came in to start the second half, was rewarded after taking a centering pass from Urruti and fired a shot from 10 yards out past Tarbell for just his second goal of the season.

However, the deadlock wouldn’t last long when three minutes later at the 54th minute, Eriksson scored on a spectacular shot from 20 yards out. Eriksson worked a give-and-go with Wondo and on the return feed bent one in just inside the upper left corner of the post that Maurer had no chance at. It was the Swedish midfielder’s seventh goal of the season.

“I think the combination play up front has been better,” said Eriksson. “We have gotten to know each other better. It has worked well for the moment. We finally took three points at home and it’s a good feeling.”

FC Dallas would not go quietly as just four minutes after Eriksson’s goal at the 58th minute. they would get the equalizer at the 57th minute when Dominque Badji finished a pretty tic-tac-toe of a goal. Urruti sent a pass over to right side to Jacori Hayes, who then centered the ball over to a wide-open net. Badji, who one-timed the ball into an empty net for his team-leading ninth goal on the season.

“Not happy,” Quakes head coach Mikael Starhe jokingly said when asked about how he felt about the four-goal span in 10 minutes. “We talked about it in the locker room that we have to continually play our game and follow our game plan.”

Things would settle down after Wondo’s goal. However, FC Dallas put the pressure on the Quakes in the final minutes of stoppage time. Lima made a game saving sliding deflection to knock out the ball past the net in the final seconds of stoppage time.

GAME NOTES: The Quakes were without the services of defenseman Harold Cummings who was suffering from a thigh injury.

FC Dallas was without midfielder Carlos Grueza due to a suspension from yellow card accumulation.

There were no yellow or red cards issued in the game by referee Sorin Stoica.

The Quakes are now undefeated in their past four games against FC Dallas 3-0-1, including 3-1-4 in their last eight against FC Dallas. Overall, they are 16-8-8 against FC Dallas.

Jahmir Hyka’s goal streak was snapped against FC Dallas. He scored his last three matches against them.

UP NEXT: The Quakes travel to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps on Saturday, September 1 at BC Place at 7:00 pm PDT.

San Jose State to kick off 2018 season in home opener vs. UC Davis on Thursday night

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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.

Brent Brennan talks upcoming San Jose State football season

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State Spartans head coach Brent Brennan held his preseason press conference at Simpkins Stadium Center on Monday afternoon.

As usual, Justin Allegri–the voice of the Spartans–started things off with his atypical announcements. Brennan was surprisingly calm in his introductory speech, which eased the media members and fans into the upcoming season. Brennan was also enthusiastic and electrified about the Blue and Gold.

Brennan first stated that he was glad that everyone on the Spartans’ roster trained hard during training camp and added that he was really excited about the leadership of the senior class.

“We’re excited to play and it feels like it has been forever,” Brennan said. “Our players are really excited to get out there and play on Thursday.”

Brennan went in-depth on the Spartans’ offense during training camp. The Spartans’ offense was most definitely a bright spot for this up-and-coming team.

“We had a good offense during training camp,” said Brennan. “They’re really coming along. The upperclassmen are playing a lot of football and doing a nice job with the rushing yards and what not…I’m excited about our first group. I’m excited about our second group. Our second group looks great and I hope they’ll be game ready.”

Brennan briefly spoke about the Spartans’ quarterback situation. Brennan said that the quarterback will be a gameday decision.

Brennan went on to talk about the culture of the Spartans. Brennan emphasized the work that he and his team has done has been “so much cleaner” and “so much better” as opposed to the work that they’ve done a year ago in his first year as a head coach at San Jose State.

Brennan asserted that Thursday’s game was the “most important game of the year” and added that everybody knows that, too. The Aggies are allegedly well-aware that they’re playing a better team in the Spartans, so they’re likely going to be extremely executed and disciplined. That being said, San Jose State has to be ready to take on UC Davis on Thursday night.

The Spartans host the UC Davis Aggies for its home opener inside CEFCU Stadium on Thursday, August 30th at 7 pm PDT. There won’t be television and live streams, but you can tune into the radio broadcasts on KLIV 1590 AM and KSJS 90.5 FM.

Countdown to kickoff: San Jose State fans should pay attention to these 10 players

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

As you should already know, San Jose State football wrapped up its second (and final) scrimmage at CEFCU Stadium on Saturday, August 18th. Both season ticket holders and media members were impressed by the Spartan defense, who shined in the scrimmage and entertained the crowd last Saturday night at CEFCU Stadium. Also, the majority of the guests enjoyed a complimentary barbecue dinner, which was delicious to say the least.

Perhaps you might’ve already figured this out, but the Spartans’ coaching staff has a lot on their minds. Yet, there’s a likely chance they could put their previous misfortunes in the rear-view mirror and focus on their current goals—one of which is to win more than two games in the 2018 season. From quarterbacks to placekickers, I’ll take a closer look at a wide variety of players who have made larger-than-life statements this off-season, and hopefully, these guys will keep up the good work when the real games kick off.

Here are 10 players San Jose State fans should pay attention to. As always, feel free to share your opinion in the comments section.

10. Montel Aaron
In my opinion, the No. 1 quarterback spot will be handed to redshirt sophomore Montel Aaron. At the moment, the Spartan offense appears to have the upper hand as Aaron has been apparently handling offensive sequences with Terrell Carter.

Aaron, however, is the current favorite among most media outlets. Of course, this decision will be made by first-year offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, who previously worked at Oregon State. But, if Aaron becomes the starting quarterback and stays healthy, he’ll likely fall into place with the running and receiving games, respectively.

9. Josh Love
Let’s talk about some more quarterbacks, shall we?

Junior Josh Love is expected to be a part of the Spartans’ rotation when it comes to veteran quarterbacks. 

Last year, Love started the first two games of the season until he suffered an injury, which was a major blow as he had the most experience in the 2017 Spartans’ quarterback department. After that, Aaron picked up the slack until he, himself, suffered an injury against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. But, to be fair, no quarterback was separating himself from the others, so…

8. Terrell Carter
In case you didn’t know, redshirt freshman Terrell Carter made a huge impact on the field in the Spartans’ second and final scrimmage this offseason. Carter completed 6-of-7 attempts for 64 yards. That statistic, my friends, also accounted for the scrimmage’s only touchdown that was scored by senior running back DeJon Packer, who caught the 24-yard reception from Carter.

That being said, if Aaron or Love struggle during the season, then the Spartans may experiment with Carter to see what a younger quarterback could do.

7. Chance LaChappelle
Of course, it’s too early to tell if the brand-new players will achieve the exact same success in the regular season. But I can tell you that freshman quarterback Chance LaChapelle out of Sheldon High School in Sacramento, Calif. has been showing promise.

Therefore, LaChappelle remains a part of the Spartans’ quarterback competition. And, hopefully, LaChapelle will get to start a game sooner than later.

6. Jermaine Braddock
Again, freshman Jermaine Braddock is another player whose future remains up in the air. But I have to say, Braddock has been looking great thus far.

In the Spartans’ final scrimmage, Braddock led all wide receivers with 63 yards on three catches, including a 52-yarder from Aaron–and yes, Braddock reversed to dodge a tackle and extend his play.

Expect to see more of Braddock this season.

5. DeJon Packer
Yes, senior DeJon Packer was that guy who scored the final scrimmage’s only touchdown, but in other news…Packer is reportedly competing for playing time as a running back.

Packer may not be one of the biggest names in the Mountain West Conference, but he was fourth on the Spartans in rushing yards (290) and led his new team with two rushing touchdowns. And, like many other running backs, the best is yet to come for Packer.

4. Bryce Crawford
In case you missed it, senior kicker Bryce Crawford closed out the scoring in the final scrimmage with a 35-yard field goal…and that was his only field goal attempt that afternoon.

Crawford is the Spartans’ record-setting kicker. Not only that, Crawford is a Dean’s Scholar student who also contributes to the good of the local community in the South Bay. That’s why Crawford was named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list in July.

Let’s see if Crawford will win the Wuerffel Trophy on December 4 at the National Football Foundation’s news conference in New York City. But, in the meantime, let’s see if Crawford will keep up the great work.

3. Steven Houston
Steven Houston is a freshman who first joined the Spartans at San Jose State in 2017 for fall drills. Now, Houston is in his second season with the Spartans.

Houston should be able to work his way into the wide receiver rotation. After all, Houston is an avid long distance runner who likes to run marathons. Not the same sports, but the similar amounts of effort involved.

2. Tyler Nevens
The Spartans have been showing promise in the running game with arguably their greatest running back in modern times Tyler Nevens.

Last year, Nevens was one of the few bright spots for the Spartans, who went 2-11 (1-7 MW). That was definitely not a record for then first-year head coach Brent Brennan to brag about, but hey, you can’t always get what you want.

Anyways, Nevens has his flaws–like when his pass got intercepted by Wyoming’s Marcus Epps during the game that turned out to be the Spartans’ second win of the season versus the Cowboys. But Nevens is still an incredible running back nevertheless.

1. Tre White
There’s a lot of overlooked local kids in the Spartans’ ever-changing roster of experiments, so let’s take a look at cornerback hopeful Tre White, who is in his second season at San Jose State.

Last year, White completed a redshirt season. Coming out of De La Salle High School, White was just a three-star recruit, but now, he could find himself on the field this coming season. Plus White can also play as a running back if needed.

Wondo’s sub heroics help Earthquakes earn draw against Toronto FC 1-1

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Marko Ukalovic and Alexandra Evans

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just when the San Jose Earthquakes (3-13-8) were left for dead, the heroics of their captain Chris Wondolowski, who came off the bench as a sub rescued his team and prevented another home loss in a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC (6-12-6) at Avaya Stadium on Saturday evening. San Jose still only has one win at home on the season.

The first half would go scoreless. However, the Quakes had three great chances to break open the deadlock. In the 22nd minute, Vako dribbled between three defenders inside the box only to have his right foot shot blocked away by Toronto FC goalie Alex Bono.

Vako would create another chance three minutes later when he dribbled in to the right of the box, back flipped the ball to defenseman Joel Quiberg, who made a perfect cross over to Eriksson, whose rocket of a shot was thwarted by Bono.

“Feels like those chances reflect on (how) our season (has gone) so far,” said Eriksson. “We are playing better as a team, creating chances. But we still missed the three points, especially (here) at home.”

The best opportunity for the Quakes came at the 35th minute when Danny Hoesen received a ball from 12 yards out and centered a ball off the hands of Bono that trickled out to the middle of box where Eriksson had a wide-open net to shoot at. His attempt was deflected over the net on a desperation tackle by Justin Morrow.

“From my perspective, it was the best 45 minutes of the season,” said head coach Mikael Stahre. “We created five really big chances in the first half. If we score in the first half, we would win the game.”

Toronto FC’s best chance in the first half came when Marco Delgado centered ball into the middle of the box where Jordan Hamilton was one-on-one with Quakes goalie Andrew Tarbell, but Hamilton was whistled offside at the 17th minute.

Lukas Janson, who made his debut for the defending MLS champions, drew first blood for Toronto FC in the 59th minute after taking a pretty centering feed from Gregory van der Wiel, who came in as a substitution for Ashtone Morgan a minute earlier. Janson tapped the ball into an empty net for his first career MLS goal.

Wondolowski’s equalizer for the Quakes in the 77th minute came on his own rebound. His initial shot from eight yards out was stopped by Bono, but he was not able to hold on to the rebound. Wondolowski crashed the net and kicked the ball into an empty net for his seventh goal on the season.

“You want to prove that you deserve time out there,” said Wondolowski. “Earn minutes anyway you can. I try to make any impact I can. I do like starting though. But I don’t mind coming off the bench.”

San Jose had one last chance to escape with a win late in the match, but Kashia’s header off a Chris Wehan free kick in the second minute of stoppage time sailed wide of the net.

GAME NOTES: Defenseman Shea Salinas had to sit out the game due to a red card he received last week against the Colorado Rapids. Toronto FC was without forward Jozy Altidore and defenseman Chris Mavinga, who were both suspended.

WONDO COUNTDOWN! Wondolowski is now four goals away from the all-time lead in MLS history with 141 goals. Former Quake Landon Donovon is the leader with 145 goals.

Dominic Oduro made his debut for the quakes as a substitute for Eriksson in the 89th minute. Oduro was acquired in a trade on August 8th that sent Quincy Amarikwa to the Montreal Impact.

Guram Kashia received a yellow card in the 52 minute of the match when dragged down Janson.

The Earthquakes are in the midst of a 10-game home winless run (0-5-5), tied for their longest such streak in club history, June–August 2000.

Tarbell has conceded 10 goals from outside the box this season. Since 2010, only one keeper has allowed more such goals in a single season.

Toronto FC has one win in their last seven-league away games (0-3-3), allowing 2+ goals in five of the seven matches.

The overall series is now 5-5-5.

UP NEXT: The Quakes take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, August 25 at Avaya Stadium at 7 pm PDT.

Pride and persistence in San Jose State scrimmage

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Photo credit: @AnaKieu

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — While the Mountain West Conference continues to innovate by combining modern music and high-end technology, the San Jose State Spartans are simply looking to pick up more than two wins in 2018.

Like I’ve mentioned many times before, San Jose State has no choice but to Spartan up and give it all they’ve got to prepare for this coming season. SJSU held their second (and final) scrimmage of this year’s Fall Camp at CEFCU Stadium, and although there wasn’t a sold out crowd, there were plenty of positive things to say about the current Spartans’ roster.

College football is just around the corner, and the Spartans embodied the City of San Jose’s character and temperament with their grit and toughness. The best is yet to come for the generally young Spartans, who hope to prove the know-it-alls wrong.

Both the Spartan offense and defense looked pretty good on the field. The offensive line moved the ball in an exceptional manner, while the defensive line did a decent job in stopping the runs, going after opponents and coming up with turnovers.

Here are the post-scrimmage questions I asked Spartans head coach Brent Brennan after the scrimmage.

1. The Spartans have a lot of cornerbacks, but do they have starting-caliber cornerbacks?
I think that group is coming along. I think they’ve been doing some work. Obviously, Dakari (Monroe) is a good player and he’ll continue to show great leadership and great play. He didn’t play today, but the other guys that are starting to come along in that group like Zamore Zigler, who has made some plays, but I think some of this is going to have to be battle-tested before we know who the other cornerback is. But those guys are ready.

2. How are the Spartans going to replace the position and leadership of Frank Ginda last year?
Ethan Aguayo was off to a great start and I think the senior class is really taking the respective leadership and they’re the ones that are really driving the team right now, which is the way it needs to be. They’re the ones that are playing the games, and anytime you get great leadership from your senior class–and the guys that have been here the longest and invested the most–it gives you a great chance.

3. What’s the thought process on kickoffs right now?
Well, the new rule…I think it’s going to change the way people return kicks and kick the ball. It’ll be interesting to see what people say about that. You know, there’s all kinds of schools of thought out there, so everyone is going to have their own theory on it. But it’s definitely an interesting rule because now you can fair catch the ball anywhere inside the 25 and you get the ball on the 25. So if you have a strong-legged kicker, you can still kick it out of the end zone, and if you don’t, you can try kicking it for some time, and hopefully a fair catch.

Notes
The male and female Spartans spent some time Friday voluntarily helping out students with moving into their dorms on the San Jose State campus.

33 youth football teams held their under-18 scrimmages prior to the Spartans’ scrimmage of the offseason at 5 pm PDT.

Senior cornerback Dakari Monroe celebrated his birthday Saturday.

Up Next
San Jose State has two much-needed day offs on Sunday, August 19 and Thursday, August 23. SJSU has practices from August 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29. SJSU will kick off the 2018 season with a home opener versus UC Davis on August 30 at 7 pm PDT.

No. 1 seed Garbine Muguruza forced to withdraw from Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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Photo credit: @livetennis

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic No. 1 seed Garbiñe Muguruza has been forced to withdraw from the event due to a right arm injury. Muguruza will be replaced in the draw by lucky‐loser Anna Blinkova, who will play two‐time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka tonight at 7 pm PDT.

“I’ve been feeling some pain in my right arm for a couple of days and realized I am not ready to play the match, so hopefully I can recover for the next tournaments,” said Muguruza.

“The facilities in San Jose are very nice, especially the courts. This is a tournament I always play at the start of the US Open Series so I hope to come  back and see all my fans next year.”

“We were really looking forward to seeing Garbiñe compete here at the tournament, but the players’ health must always be the number one priority,” said tournament director Vickie Gunnarsson. “She’s one of the WTA’s bright young stars and we hope she is able to recover quickly.”

Tickets for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic are available at www.MubadalaSVC.com.

Seven‐time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams takes the court against Heather Watson Thursday at 7 pm PDT, while defending champion and No. 2 seed Madison Keys will play Ajla Tomljanovic during Thursday’s day session.

Formerly known as the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto, the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is a week-long WTA Premier event bringing the worlds of tennis and technology together in a festival of sports and entertainment. The new venue at San José State University will provide a high‐end, family friendly atmosphere and will put fans close to the action as they watch their favorite stars compete.

Highlighting the best the region has to offer, the tournament will showcase a complete entertainment experience including locally sourced cuisine, fine wine and cheese selections, interactive fan exhibitions, premier hospitality options, daily autograph signings, and of course, incredible tennis action.

Featuring a 28‐player singles draw as well as a 16‐team doubles draw the tournament will bring the best female tennis players in the world to the Bay Area and serves as the opening women’s event of the US Open Series.

With several different ticket options available, the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic has something for everyone. To purchase tickets go to www.MubadalaSVC.com or call 1 (866) 982‐8497.