By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter // Photo via Titus Wilkinson
Hello and welcome to Matt’s Monday Mailbag™ your go-to destination for all pressing SJSU football matters.
Enough chit-chatting. Let’s get into it.
Moreno: @morenolopez11: “With Toledo coming up and MWC games starting soon, where should we expect SJSU to be by the time they play Fresno State?”
It’s too difficult to predict because the level of competition SJSU saw rests on two opposite sides of the talent spectrum. First, SJSU lost by an average of 26.5 to No. 6 USC and No. 16 Oregon State. Both teams could likely be in the last PAC-12 Championship matchup of all time (rip). Then came the Spartans’ 59-3 drubbing of FCS’s Cal Poly.
How SJSU fares against reigning MAC Champion Toledo will offer better insight into how it’ll handle Fresno State. Toledo just demolished Texas Southern 71-3 a week after nearly upsetting Illinois 30-28.
Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587: “The crowd doesn’t seem to get super loud even dating back the last couple years in most cases. Do you get the sense that [it] bothers the players when they compare it to other Mountain West home fields like Fresno or Boise?
Follow up, do you know if anything is being done behind the scenes to encourage the crowd to get involved a little further.”
Well, within the last few years, there was COVID-19. So in 2020, when SJSU achieved its best regular season in program history only, empty bleachers were the only eyewitnesses.
Fan support, by SJSU standards, is better than it’s been in recent memory. Last year, SJSU notched its most single-season ticket sales in roughly 15 years and the Oregon State home opener was SJSU’s first sellout since 2003. I think crowd participation was fine considering SJSU’s first two games were blowouts.
Now for crowd comparison. I believe a wise man and many self-help Pinterest boards once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” So yes, if players compared SJSU’s fan support to Fresno State’s or Boise State’s, I sense they’d feel some envy. But each Spartan knew the fan support situation before committing.
I wrote an in-depth piece about what SJSU is doing to increase fan engagement here.
Fake Matt Mumme @FakeCoachMumme: “When is Wine and Beer fest this year?”
This was too ambiguous, so I just looked it up and the closest thing I found was the Santa Clara Art and Wine festival on Sep. 16-17. This is the video promoting the one from 2019:
I’ll be honest, I yawned at the adult things like the art vendors, wine sampling and live music. But then they showed the kids activities and those looked way sweeter. They have one of those big slides you wear a potato sack on before going down. Seems more fun than being fake interested in someone selling a painting of their cat.
Jeffrey Carter @JCarterSJSU83: “Nick Nash has gone from big time to nearly invisible. Is he being covered more and when will Lockhart return?”
Nick Nash carries the burden of setting expectations unrealistically high.
In SJSU’s season opener and his first start at wide receiver, he went for three touchdowns and 89 receiving yards against No. 6 USC. Lofty, very lofty. Then he fell short against Oregon State – seven catches for 31 yards – but nobody on SJSU’s offense was outstanding.
And against Cal Poly, Nash was like you said “invisible.” He totaled one catch for -3 yards, but I think this was more about how the game unfolded. Running backs Kairee Robinson and Quali Conley kept getting fed because SJSU had the line of scrimmage in the palm of its hand. Plus, Cordeiro spread the ball to nine different pass catchers, none of which had more than 39 yards.
When asked about the status of Justin Lockhart last week, SJSU head coach Brent Brennan said “I don’t talk about injuries.”
Like everyone else, I’d like to know because he’d boost the offense, but it doesn’t get under my collar. Unlike the NFL, college coaches have the right to not inform the public of injuries.
Charles Myer @CharlesMyer_UT: “The new athletic center is fantastic from the inside. Watching the game on TV it looks kind of weird. Are there future plans to add some seating in that area? How has it impacted crowd noise in the Stadium?”
Not sure, but the top row of the facility is for suites. Last week, they showed SJSU alum and Hall of Fame head coach Dick Vermeil soaking up sun on the outdoor patio area.
As for crowd noise, this is my second season covering SJSU so I can’t give a great answer because I don’t have much to compare to.
I think not having seats on the east side will affect crowd noise. When you have a filled bowl the noise is coming at you from directions, not having any seating on the east side allows a way for the noise to escape. I have been following SJS football for a long time. I was at the 1975 PCAA title game where an 8-1 SJS team (4-0 PCAA) drubbed a 4-0 San Diego State squad 31-7. The stadium was SRO and the 19,500 in attendance created a noise that was deafening. The crowd was totally engaged just as the 1990 crowd of 33,000 was for the 42-7 blowout of Fresno State. Too often SJS fans sit on their hands because we have been trained by years of mediocre football (interspersed with a few brilliant flashes) to always expect to be deflated by the action on the field. Only consistent winning and exciting play will get the fans into the games.