By BJ Querubin — Staff Writer
The San Jose State Spartans (1-1) travel to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-1) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Arkansas is coming off of a monster 55-34 win against a fellow Mountain West school Colorado State Rams (1-2) to improve the Razorbacks’ record to above .500.
The Spartans are looking to bounce back after a crushing loss to Tulsa.
The game against Tulsa was monumental because it gave the Spartans a chance to be 2-0 for the first time since 1987.
The game this week might be the most important one to the career of head coach Brent Brennan. He will need to prove if his team can hang with a good team in arguably the toughest conference in all of college football.
Arkansas is favored by an astounding -20.5 point spread against SJSU as it will be the Spartans’ first road game of the season.
The Razorbacks offense is red-hot with a total of 92 points for the season while tacking on more than 1200 yards.
Former Texas A&M Aggie and junior quarterback Nick Starkel has thrown for 554 yards and four touchdowns this season.
He looks to add on to his resume against the Spartans’ suspect secondary.
Arkansas’s running backs junior Rakeem Boyd and senior Devwah Whaley look to have a field day with them both averaging more than five yards per carry on the season.
The Spartans have struggled to slow down offenses this season, allowing more than 800 yards in two games.
On the other hand, Arkansas’s defense has also allowed 78 points against opposing offenses in its first three games.
Arkansas has a healthy roster and a big home field advantage.
The Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium fills more than 70,000 people every home game and this Saturday will be no different.
SJSU will be in uncharted territory along with handling an opponent’s home field advantage—their fans.
The Spartans’ biggest challenge will be communicating with each other in the middle of all of Arkansas’s disruptive fans screaming at the top of their lungs.
The only way SJSU can quiet the crowd is to play a near perfect game.
The Spartans will have to gunsling themselves into an offensive shootout, scoring on nearly every possession.
Their run game will be key to opening their offensive playbook. DeJon Packer and company should look forward to having a big day.
They also cannot beat themselves.
Zero turnovers, keeping the penalties to a minimum and catching the football on all targets will put them in great position to win.
The Spartans’ offensive line protecting quarterback Josh Love will be key to them extending drives and their time of possession.
Arkansas is heavily favored to win this game, with all the odds stacked in their favor. SJSU will have an uphill climb the entire game, and it will take a great game plan with impeccable execution for the Spartans to come out victorious.
Follow BJ on Twitter @Beejaycue
