The Spartans showed a large amount of growth in its second season with Mike MacIntyre in charge. They'd quite a jump in wins with a 5-7 mark after posting a dismal 1-12 record in 2010. Three of their defeats came by 3 points or fewer, so they were extremely close to being bowl eligible last year.
This year, their schedule looks to be a lot easier than last season's, which could get them in the postseason for the second time since 1990. Their mediocre offense could keep them from reaching their goals though.
Offense
San Jose State 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 mostly thru the air as they came 2nd in the conference in passing yards with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all compete for the starting quarterback job after former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier dropped out of the college in Jan.
Fales appears poised to take the job after connecting on 16 of 23 passes for 194 yards and a score in the spring game.
Whoever takes over the starting QB spot will have a robust wide receiver corps to work with. Leading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who broke the team record with 89 catches in 2011. He ended the year with 866 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown grabs.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection last year. He caught 52 passes for 739 yards and 5 scores.
San Jose State parted ways with second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who dashed for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. His production will clearly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are rather more than able fill-ins.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is returning.
Defense
The defense ended up fifth 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 rush as they came seventh in the league with 204.3 rushing yards allowed per game.
The Trojans are hoping the experience defensive tackle Travis Raciti earned last year would help him improve against the run in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC player who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front 4.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 tackles last season, leads the linebacker group.
The secondary loses a key player 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's going to be up to the quarterback if San Jose wants to better last year's win total. If any one of them can at least perform as well as Faulkner, then they have a good possibility of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a victory at Stanford in the opener is highly not likely, but their following 2 games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They will face some tough competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with reasonably straightforward matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they do in their games against Idaho and New Mexico State will determine regardless of whether or not they can make the postseason, because they finish the season with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can win five games in 2012, and if their quarterback comes thru, then they can win as many as 7 times.
This year, their schedule looks to be a lot easier than last season's, which could get them in the postseason for the second time since 1990. Their mediocre offense could keep them from reaching their goals though.
Offense
San Jose State 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 mostly thru the air as they came 2nd in the conference in passing yards with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all compete for the starting quarterback job after former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier dropped out of the college in Jan.
Fales appears poised to take the job after connecting on 16 of 23 passes for 194 yards and a score in the spring game.
Whoever takes over the starting QB spot will have a robust wide receiver corps to work with. Leading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who broke the team record with 89 catches in 2011. He ended the year with 866 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown grabs.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection last year. He caught 52 passes for 739 yards and 5 scores.
San Jose State parted ways with second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who dashed for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. His production will clearly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are rather more than able fill-ins.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is returning.
Defense
The defense ended up fifth 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 rush as they came seventh in the league with 204.3 rushing yards allowed per game.
The Trojans are hoping the experience defensive tackle Travis Raciti earned last year would help him improve against the run in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC player who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front 4.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 tackles last season, leads the linebacker group.
The secondary loses a key player 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's going to be up to the quarterback if San Jose wants to better last year's win total. If any one of them can at least perform as well as Faulkner, then they have a good possibility of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a victory at Stanford in the opener is highly not likely, but their following 2 games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They will face some tough competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with reasonably straightforward matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they do in their games against Idaho and New Mexico State will determine regardless of whether or not they can make the postseason, because they finish the season with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can win five games in 2012, and if their quarterback comes thru, then they can win as many as 7 times.
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