San Jose State showed a lot of expansion in its 2nd season with Mike MacIntyre at the helm. They'd quite the increase in wins with a 5-7 mark after racking up a terrible 1-12 record in 2010. 3 of their losses came by 3 points or fewer, so they were really near to being bowl eligible last season.
This season, their schedule looks to be far simpler than last year's, which could put them in the postseason for the 2nd time since 1990. Their below average offense could keep them from reaching their goals though.
Offense
The Spartans ranked 7th in the WAC in both points and total offense last year with 24.5 points and 378.7 yards/game. Their offense was often through the passing game as they came 2nd in the conference in passing offense with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all vie for the starting quarterback job after previous Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier withdrew from school in January.
Fales seems placed to take the job after connecting on 16 of 23 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown in the spring game.
Whoever wins the starting QB spot will have a powerful wide receiver corps to work with. Heading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who broke the school record with 89 catches in 2011. He completed the season with 866 receiving yards and a pair of TD catches.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection a year ago. He brought in 52 passes for 739 yards and five scores.
San Jose State lost second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who dashed for 903 yards and 12 scores last season. His numbers will clearly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are far more than able replacements.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is coming back.
Defense
The defense came 5th in the conference last season in both total and scoring defense with 425.7 yards and 30.3 points surrendered per matchup. The Spartans were virtually worthless against stopping the run as they finished seventh in the league with 204.3 rushing yards allowed per game.
San Jose State is hoping the playing time defensive tackle Travis Raciti had last season would help him improve against the run in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC performer who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front four.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 tackles last season, anchors the linebacker corps.
The secondary loses a big piece in safety Duke Ihenacho, who was a two-time first-team All-WAC performer. Now, senior safety James Orth guides the unit.
WAC Prediction: 3rd Place
It is going to be up to the man under center if San Jose wants to improve upon last year's win total. If any one of them can at least do as well as Faulkner, then they have a good likelihood of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a win at Stanford in the first game is extremely not likely, but their following two games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They'll face some serious competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with quite straightforward matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they do in their contests against Idaho and New Mexico State will determine whether or not they can make the postseason, because they finish the year with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can definitely win five times in 2012, and if their quarterback comes thru, then they can win as many as 7 games.
This season, their schedule looks to be far simpler than last year's, which could put them in the postseason for the 2nd time since 1990. Their below average offense could keep them from reaching their goals though.
Offense
The Spartans ranked 7th in the WAC in both points and total offense last year with 24.5 points and 378.7 yards/game. Their offense was often through the passing game as they came 2nd in the conference in passing offense with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all vie for the starting quarterback job after previous Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier withdrew from school in January.
Fales seems placed to take the job after connecting on 16 of 23 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown in the spring game.
Whoever wins the starting QB spot will have a powerful wide receiver corps to work with. Heading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who broke the school record with 89 catches in 2011. He completed the season with 866 receiving yards and a pair of TD catches.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection a year ago. He brought in 52 passes for 739 yards and five scores.
San Jose State lost second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who dashed for 903 yards and 12 scores last season. His numbers will clearly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are far more than able replacements.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is coming back.
Defense
The defense came 5th in the conference last season in both total and scoring defense with 425.7 yards and 30.3 points surrendered per matchup. The Spartans were virtually worthless against stopping the run as they finished seventh in the league with 204.3 rushing yards allowed per game.
San Jose State is hoping the playing time defensive tackle Travis Raciti had last season would help him improve against the run in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC performer who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front four.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 tackles last season, anchors the linebacker corps.
The secondary loses a big piece in safety Duke Ihenacho, who was a two-time first-team All-WAC performer. Now, senior safety James Orth guides the unit.
WAC Prediction: 3rd Place
It is going to be up to the man under center if San Jose wants to improve upon last year's win total. If any one of them can at least do as well as Faulkner, then they have a good likelihood of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a win at Stanford in the first game is extremely not likely, but their following two games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They'll face some serious competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with quite straightforward matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they do in their contests against Idaho and New Mexico State will determine whether or not they can make the postseason, because they finish the year with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can definitely win five times in 2012, and if their quarterback comes thru, then they can win as many as 7 games.
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