By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo via Christian Vieyra of The Spear
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.
Jeffrey Carter: @JCarterSJSU83: “There have been some epic Spartan /fsu games. My first was 81 when sjsu put up over 60 against a Jeff Tedford QB team. 86 and 89 were great Spartan wins. Will we see an epic replay? Perhaps a bulldog letdown? They’re playing for the league title. Sjs is playing for a bowl berth.”
The 1987 Battle for the Valley is the only epic replay I’m hoping to see an encore of, the theatrics were just too encapsulating.
Before SJSU won in thrilling fashion, Fresno State head coach Jim Sweeney pulled a hamstring while sprinting out to the field to fire the Bulldogs up before kickoff.
Considering CEFCU Stadium has a pretty steep tunnel, an entire team sprinting down it could provide top-tier entertainment. Should someone trip, it’ll look like this world famous race in England where a throng of Brits stampede down a ginormous hill and flail about while chasing down a massive cheese wheel.
On top of that, the people need a towel wave off between Spartans head coach Brent Brennan and Bulldogs head coach Jeff Tedford. Back in 87’, Sweeney started swinging around a red FSU towel like some half-matador half-third base coach to rile up the crowd. Which actually backfired because it riled up SJSU head coach Claude Gilbert across the sideline.
When the Spartans took a late lead, Gilbert made a mockery of Sweeney by waving around a white SJSU towel.
And from that day on, perpetual towel-waver Sweeney, never swung another towel around again.
Fast forward a couple decades to present day and I don’t think the Spartans will get the final towel wave – even as 1.5-point underdogs. I predict SJSU’s (4-5, 3-2 MW) defensive front will hang tough early, but won’t be able to contain FSU running back Malik Sherrod for all four quarters. Sherrod’s been on a burner lately, going for 120-plus rushing yards in three of his last five games.
The result is FSU taking one step toward a Mountain West title and a New Year’s Six bowl berth. And SJSU’s bowl hopes left hanging by a thread.
Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587: “Not as intimidated by those guys over there after watching their game v. Boise. Struggled to put em away at home despite the Broncos playing pretty poorly. House was able to move the ball effectively against the Broncos but unfortunately turned the ball over a couple times. (1/2)”
Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587: “Keene is very accurate when he releases the ball within 2 seconds of the snap. But the longer he holds on to the ball the more erratic his throws get. Fresno is most successful when they run some slants or curl routes. Longer developing routes not so much. (2/)”
Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587: “They also don’t seem to run the ball a lot, which could change this weekend it’s our rushing defense but we’ll see. Defensively, I think if we press the recievers and get him out of the pocket we’ll be ok as we have the speed on defense to press them. (3/)”
Ricky Delgado @RickyDe70535587: “Offensively, we should be able to run the ball with good success, and based on last night Chev might have some lanes of his own to be able to get out and create for himself. I feel confident that we’re gonna pull this one out and get to .500.”
Shoutout Ricky staying up late on a Saturday night, grinding out game film and analyzing all sides of FSU’s 37-30 win over Boise State. Unfortunately, Ricky’s analyzation morphed into informed wishful thinking.
I’ve touched on the defensive line aspect, but I also believe SJSU won’t “get to .500” because of its unbalanced attack. Though SJSU’s outscored opponents 127-45 during its three-game wins streak, each of those opponents (New Mexico, Utah State and Hawaii) are at the bottom of conference in points allowed per game.
The Bulldogs (8-1, 4-1 MW), meanwhile, have allowed the second-least amount of points per game (21.7) in the Mountain West. From my purview, what led SJSU football to starting 1-5 – chiefly a lack of play-makers at wide receiver – will come back to bite the Spartans on Saturday.
Also, history’s not on SJSU’s side for this one. The Spartans have only won five matchups since 1991, including losing four of the last five.
Matt Hamilton @MattHamilton19: “I think we’re a team that’s ascending. Could Cordeiro’s scrambling ability (also the staff needs to put in some QB draws) be the thing that puts us over the top?”
I for one appreciate how dedicated Matt is to QB draws. A quick throwback, but in my post-Toledo loss mailbag, Matt asked, “Why don’t they put the quarterback draw into the game plan and run it at least four or five times a game?”
As the offense has transitioned from pass to run first, I think play action boot legs are the best way to utilize SJSU football quarterback Chevan Cordeiro’s scrambling abilities. My reasoning stems from Cordeiro finding fullback Charlie Rogers wide-open in the flat for a touchdown against Utah State. Plus, the return of tight end Sam Olson who missed a few games because of an injury.