By Max Bechtoldt — Graduate Assistant
San Jose State fans weren’t given a whole lot to be thankful for, as the Valley Trophy is on its way back to Fresno after a blowout loss to the Bulldogs at CEFCU Stadium. The Bulldogs’ 40-9 victory put them in position to contend for the MW title, while the Spartans will likely be at home during bowl season. Here are the Spartans’ grades for each unit.
Offense: D
At this point, there isn’t a whole lot to say about this unit. This entire season has been a struggle for the Spartans offensively, but those struggles really came to a head as San Jose State couldn’t find the end zone against the Bulldogs. In the first half though, the Spartans were moving the ball relatively well with three scoring drives of over 40 yards. San Jose State got a bit of a lift from the run game, as Tyler Nevens and Kairee Robinson combined for 80 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Nick Starkel and the receivers struggled in their connections though once again as Starkel only completed 19 passes on 42 attempts. The biggest issue with this offense throughout much of the season has been the lack of balance, and the discrepancy between the rush attempts and pass attempts was glaring once again. Mistakes reared their ugly head again as well, with two fumbles from the quarterback position and a penalty in the end zone which resulted in a safety. The offensive coaching staff will have its hands full improving this unit next season.
Defense: C
I am not one to mince words or make excuses, but Fresno State probably has the most talented offense in the Mountain West conference. Quarterback Jake Haener will likely win MW Offensive Player of the Year and he has a lot of weapons to spread the ball around to. Fresno State had a successful game plan to keep the Spartans’ defense on the field for long periods of time, thus completely wearing it out. The scoring drive yardage totals for the Bulldogs were staggering, with drives of 75, 78, 58, 37, 92 and 66 yards. Haener was nearly flawless and lived up to every bit of the hype, throwing 27-36 for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Seven different receivers had multiple catches. It is hard to contend with a team that will spread a defense out and toss the ball in all directions. All this to say, the defense still gave up 38 points to this Fresno State offense, and though it has been a stronger unit than the offense this season, it still has a lot of improvements needed.
Special Teams: A
It’s hard to argue the special teams didn’t do their job. Kicker Matt Mercurio was a perfect 3-3 on field goals and Will Hart was above his season average in average punt yardage at 49.8 yards per punt. The Spartans denied anything from the Bulldogs in the return game and had some decent field position themselves at times. You couldn’t really expect much more out of this unit in this game or this season.
Overall: C-
I have to make this clear, Fresno State is a very good football team. In my opinion, this is the best team in the MW despite some of their odd slip ups. Fresno State almost beat the top-15 Oregon Ducks on the road and beat UCLA at the Rose Bowl earlier this season. They also handed San Diego State its lone loss in 2021. There is no shame in losing to the Bulldogs, but the manner in which it happened capped off the disappointing season with one final letdown.
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