Matt Weiner (@Mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
Talking SJSU football ain’t easy. It’s an art form that requires your nose to be nailed to the grindstone. Matt Weiner’s “Get Smart” column is here to prepare you for tailgates and watch parties with tidbits that are bound to make you sound smart, sophisticated and interesting. If you bring up any of these three topics and no one’s intrigued, find some new company to keep.
Mathematical Red Panda
I’m kicking this off by being a literary JUGS machine, but instead of footballs, it’s with stats prepping you for San Jose State as they take on Wyoming.
Please approach this with caution. Reciting stats is a high-risk, high-reward play. It’s like the Red Panda halftime show.
If done fluidly and correctly, you’ll feel like the bell of the ball. But if you misquote this silverware set of facts, you’ll fall off your 15-foot-high unicycle and end up with a shattered ego, coccyx and set of fine china.
SJSU head coach Brent Brennan is 1-3 in his first conference game of the year (2020 COVID year excluded) and has been outscored 159-92
SJSU is 4-1 all time against Wyoming:
| 2013 | W 51-44 |
| 2014 | W 27-20 |
| 2017 | W 20-17 |
| 2018 | L 24-9 |
| 2021 | 27-21 |
Stats against Wyoming for the following players:
| QB Chevan Cordeiro | 49-86, 581 passing yards 5 Passing TD, 3 Int, 110 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD |
| WR Elijah Cooks | 5 catches for 55 yards |
| WR Justin Lockhart | 4 catches for 26 yards |
| WR Charles Ross | 2 catches for 57 yards, 1 TD |
| RB Kairee Robinson | 5 rushes for 51 yards |
Down goes Air Force!
Until Friday, Sep. 23, Air Force looked like they were going to be the shiny, golden star of the Mountain West. Pre-season contenders like SDSU, BSU and Utah State were floundering and the Falcons used their triple-option offense to bully their way through the competition. In their two games before, they scored 89 total points on 1,017 rushing yards.
The unforgiving attack wasn’t completely shut down by Wyoming, but it was held in check to the tune of 171 rushing yards.
Down 14-17, no. 19 Air Force had six minutes left in the game to retake the lead. It was plenty of time for running backs Brad Roberts or John Lee Eldrdige III to mow through the Cowboys’ defense, just like they’d done all year.
But, Wyoming prevailed to force a three-and-out, and running back Titus Swen had a huge 17-yard run on 3rd &13 to seal the upset.
Cracks in the armor have been revealed by Wyoming. They opened up 2022 with a 38-6 thumping via Illinois, needed a doink off the upright to escape Tulsa in a 40-37 2OT win and lost to BYU last week 38-24.
This is what makes the Mountain West a rollercoaster ride with one whirling dervish of a statistical anomaly after the next.
The Cowboys’ best defensive performance of 2022 came against an offense that’s on track to smash any and every Mountain West rushing record.
Which is extremely dangerous.
As a fan, you can’t lick your chops and drool over the idea of Cordeiro, Cooks, Lockhart and Ross shredding their defense for 400-plus yards and 35 points. Yes, they’ve allowed 37 points on three occasions this year, but that strong, merciless front that gave Air Force nightmares is always lurking.
Bedlam In Laramie
Piggybacking off that, playing in Laramie gave Wyoming the boost they needed to upset Air Force.
Wyoming’s fan base is top two in the Mountain West and they ain’t number two.
Some of it has to do with playing in Laramie, Wyo. What else is there to do on a Friday or Saturday night?
Anywho, as it relates to the Spartans, this will be a phenomenal ‘are they for real?’ test following the 34-6 route over Western Michigan.
Saturday, Sep. 24 felt like a once-in-a-lifetime night for SJSU football. There was a thick flow of energy that felt so real, one could grab it like an apple and take a chomp out of it.
The freshly debuted “408” jerseys provided a juice that sparked a relentless, fast and focused brand of football that was seen on both ends.
Defensively, the Spartans pitched a shutout, allowing a season-low 201 total yards and taking three crucial fourth-down stops.
This sack was the first one of the night and it told the Broncos, ‘You’re going to be flattened under our iron fist all night long.’
Well, something along those lines.
On the other side of the ball, running back Kairee Robinson went for a career-high 81 yards and two touchdowns.
It was the first time in 2022 that the Spartans made their presence felt in the trenches and afforded Cordeiro the opportunity to spread the ball out amongst his stout receiving core.
What the Spartans did is one thing considering everything at hand.
Doing it on the road, against a staunch Wyoming squad surrounded by Doug Dimmadome-sized Cowboy hats is a whole other.
Condolences to any SJSU football fans that has to sit behind him.
Consider yourself armed with enough SJSU football artillery to be an intellectual menace at any tailgate or watch party you attend this Saturday.