Should San Jose State even continue having a D-1 program? After another dismal 2017 season, the Spartans’ schedule looked as if there were two games in which they would be favored. Thursday night, SJSU played one of them, D-1A UC Davis. They managed to “hold” Aggie QB, Jake Maier, to 354 passing yards — IN THE FIRST HALF! A 44-38 loss dragged the Spartan program even lower — if that was possible.
A month ago, we would have guessed that Hawaii would be a winnable game for SJSU. However, last Saturday the Rainbow Warriors looked great for the first 35 minutes in an upset win at Colorado State. Army looks to be a bit down this year so perhaps the Spartans could pull the upset at Levi Stadium. If not, 0-12 looms.
The San Jose State teams of my youth were often quality teams that would periodically upset neighboring Stanford. In Jack Elway and Claude Gilbert, SJSU had two terrific coaches. Recent years have been a nightmare save for Mike McIntyre’s one excellent season before bolting to Boulder. They play in an aging stadium that has seen better days. A shame, because the views are magnificent. Just as the Odyssey opined that Idaho should drop down to FCS (which they finally did this year in rejoining the excellent Big Sky conference), SJSU should consider the same option. Being a punching bag and laughing stock is no fun — especially when the fan base is small and relatively disinterested.
On Friday night, 25 minutes to the north, Stanford opened against a dangerous SDSU team. The Cardinal went into the game with one Heisman Trophy candidate and finished the game with two. All American Bryce Love was absolutely stoned by the Aztec defense– held to 29 yards rushing or, put another way, 1.6 miniscule yards per carry. SDSU dominated much of the first half until a 40-yard TD strike from KJ Costello to JJ Arcega-Whiteside just before half gave Stanford a 9-7 lead at the break. Because the Aztec defense sold out to stop Love, their DBs were often in one-on-one coverage. The result: Once David Shaw starting dialing up numerous pass plays, the Cardinal rolled by a 31-10 tally. One piece of advice to USC when the Trojans come to Palo Alto next week: Give your corner some safety help on Arcega Whiteside! A&W wound up with 6 receptions (3 TDs) for 228 yards. His 3 TD catches were no fluke as he did the same in last year’s Alamo Bowl against TCU.
KJ Costello was utterly magnificent. 21/31/322 is a nice stat line. In one of the game’s key plays, he did throw one pick to SDSU’s excellent Noble Hall. Alas, Hall, no running back, fumbled on the return so no harm done to Stanford.
Stanford’s front 7 held up better than the Odyssey expected. Even when SDSU QB, Christian Chapman, had time, Stanford’s DBs provided very good coverage. I thought Stanford was a bit overrated going into the season. But that is the beauty of Week 1 in college football: So many surprises that cause us to change our minds. I now believe Stanford has a good chance to beat USC in next week’s marquee matchup.