“Coach’s Corner” is three haphazard observations made by football beat reporter Matt Weiner from SJSU head coach Brent Brennan’s weekly press conference. One will find themselves immersed in a splattering of football-related thoughts. Some intelligent, some well…we’ll let you figure that one out yourself.
Let Down Spot
Football coaches have a list of words that rightfully trigger them.
They don’t freak out as hard as Bradley Cooper’s character in “Silver Linings Playbook” when he hears “My Cherie Amour,” but it’s something they avoid at all costs. Mainly because they do nothing productive when it comes to preparing to win. One of those is *drumroll please*
Letdown.
“Honestly I think that’s more of a media term than something coaches actually consider.
Every game counts as just one game. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing the Chicago Bears or Western Michigan. In the final tally, they all just count as one.”
For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s used to describe a team that’s coming off an impactful, passionate win, but goes on to lay an egg in their next performance.
In my humble opinion, SJSU falls under this category.
Their 34-6 bludgeoning of Western Michigan put 600 knots of wind in their sails.
For starters, WMU flattened SJSU last year, 23-3, holding the Spartans to 119 total yards of offense and keeping them out of the red zone all afternoon. Revenge was mixed with the juice that was brought forth with brand new slick, black “408” jerseys and a complete 60-minutes of football.
The defense pitched a complete game shutout. The offensive line made their presence felt, generating a season-high 128 rushing yards. Running back Kairee Robinson ragdolled a WMU defender on the goal line for one of two rushing touchdowns on the day.
The win was signed, sealed and delivered after the first half.
What happened inside CEFCU Stadium on Saturday, Sep. 24 was a truly special experience. You could reach out, grab the lively energy and take a bite out of it.
But, that was last week. The Spartans must use it as momentum and not a reason to grow complacent.
Brennan’s response gave me a window into the stark difference between the fan/media side and the coach/players side. In retrospect, what is he going to do, open a meeting up by writing, ‘How not to rest on your laurels’ on the whiteboard?
Brent Brennan on completing the job
Between the 24-16 loss to Auburn and the 34-6 win over WMU there were a plethora of differences.
For me, the biggest one was SJSU’s ability to walk away with touchdowns instead of field goals.
Here’s where the ‘football is black and white’-part of my brain stepped in:
What I garnered here, is that there’s no true rhyme or reason as to why kicker Tarren Schive trotted out for two field goals last Saturday and not four.
“Sometimes it’s one guy missing a block or one guy making a block. I thought with Auburn there’s a little more length which makes some of those movements some of those throws a little harder to sneak in. I don’t know if I have a great answer.”
Brennan wrapped up his answer by accrediting the improvement to “execution.”
“Execution” is a great safety net word for coaches. All they have to do is say it and I’ll take it as a pearl of truth and be satisfied with the answer.
My version of “execution” is telling someone, “How interesting, I’m always open to learning about new things.” It usually comes after someone’s pelted me with a stream of words revolving around anime or politics.
Jokes aside, how the Spartans finish in the red zone will be something key to watch. I wholeheartedly believe that SJSU could’ve worn the glass slipper if they didn’t settle with a field goal on this drive:
Winning in the Mountain West is already hard enough, pulling off the ensemble you see here makes it infinitely more difficult.
How ’bout them Cowboys?!?
The Spartans’ first conference game of the year comes against Wyoming, a squad that’s shown great potential through their physicality.
“One of the beauties to me of how Wyoming plays is they play to their strengths. They play clean football, they’re super disciplined, they’re really physical. They’re going to run the ball. They’re going to hit you with a bunch of personnel, they’re going to hit you with a quarterback run. They’re going to hit you with a bunch of things that are hard to defend.”
Real quick. It’s interesting to see the word “beauty” applied here. I sometimes think football coaches look at a perfectly run I-formation dive up the gut, the same way an art connoisseur looks at a Rembrandt or a Caravaggio.
Now back to Wyoming.
The Cowboys did something no team has done and very likely will not do in 2022:
Outrush Air Force.
The Falcons average a whopping 412 yards on the ground per game. Somehow, they were out gained only put up 180-171 rushing yards in their 17-14 loss to Wyoming.
One week later against Nevada, they went back to their old ways, going for 461 yards.
Yes. That was read correctly. 461 yards.
The Cowboys in their follow-up game lost to no. 19 BYU, 38-24, and rushed for 124 yards while being outgained 525-278. Even with the disappointing performance, although it was against a very talented Cougars team, Wyoming can leave team’s shell-shocked in the trenches.
This will be the perfect test ‘are they for real test’ for the Spartans upfront, both offensively and defensively, after allowing 130 yards on the ground on 50 rushing attempts.
Congratulations on making it to the end of Coach’s Corner. If you found yourself not hating this with the fire of a thousand suns, allow me to introduce you to his brother/sister/cousin Water Cooler Talk.