Week 1 - #8/10 Sac State at San Jose State
The 8th/10th ranked Hornets open the 2024 campaign with a bus ride to the Bay Area to play the San Jose State Spartans for a Thursday game on national TV. SJSU starts a new era under incoming and experienced Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo and are looking to return to a bowl game and exceed preseason projections of finishing near the bottom of the Mountain West.
Based on the College Football News preview, Coach Niumatalolo and Offensive Coordinator Craig Stutzmann are implementing a pass heavy attack. I envision the SJSU offensive philosophy being similar to what Hawaii did (when they were good) with their wide open attack with some read option mixed in. This is a far cry from what Coach Niumatalolo ran in his more recent head coaching job at Navy and explains how the Spartans were able to retain their top wide receiver, Nick Nash (48 rec, 728 yds, 8 TD), from bailing via the portal this past offseason. The SJSU offense will also have Malikhi Miller (24 rec, 290 yds, 1 TD) and Justin Lockhart (36 rec, 578 yds, 1 TD), who is coming back from a season long injury, as targets in the passing game. SJSU landed a talented transfer in Floyd Chalk IV at running back that should give the Spartan offense plenty of offensive weapons.
The question marks for the Spartan offense are at quarterback and up front on the offensive line. CFN has transfer quarterback Emmett Brown being the likely starter with Walker Eget being next in line. Up front the Spartans will be looking for a whole new slough of starters to steady the offense.
On the defensive side, Defensive Coordinator Derek Odom returns for his 8th season at SJSU. His 3-4 defense finished 2nd in total defense in the Mountain West last season in which has a handful of starters returning. Up front the Spartan defensive line will be anchored by Soane Toia (37 tak, 7 TFL, 5 sac) but will be looking for players to step up on the line. At linebacker, the Spartans return a couple of starters in Jordan Pollard (79 tak, 4 TFL, 2 INT) and Taniela Latu (44 tak, 5 TFL). The linebackers, as with any 3-4 scheme, will be the backbone of this defense. The SJSU secondary returns a starter at cornerback in Michael Dansby (15 tak, 1 TFL, 1 INT) but will be looking for players to step up this season.
The Spartans kicking game was fairly reliable last season with kicker Kyler Halvorsen (10/15 FG, 54/55 PAT) making more than he missed. He has a long of 41 yards. The Spartans will be looking to see who wins the punting role between Trent Carrizosa and Dino Beslagic. SJSU has a talented kick returner in Jabari Bates (18.1 ypr).
Position Advantage
This is a winnable game for the Hornets and it’s advantageous for the Hornets that they face the Spartans early in the season before they get their passing attack worked out. The Spartans have a lot of question marks on their starting lineup, but they have some offensive weapons that should be able to open things up given the question marks on the Hornet defense.
The key for the Hornet defense is to get pressure on the inexperienced Spartan quarterback(s) and make open field tackles when they get the ball to their playmakers in space. I think the Hornet defense will struggle with a pass happy offense, especially if SJSU goes up tempo.
The experienced Hornet offense should be able to move the ball on the Spartan defense. There are some good players on the Spartan defense, but they do not look to be a dominant force given what was lost in the offseason.
Special teams should slightly favor the Hornets in this one. The kicking game could prove crucial in a close game.
I’m picking the Hornets to pull the upset against SJSU. Vegas has the Hornets a 7.5 point dogs, and I don’t have an issue with a one possession assessment. I think KB and his playmaking abilities will be the difference in another FBS victory in the Bay Area.
Hornetsports SJSU preview.
Stingers Up!
The 8th/10th ranked Hornets open the 2024 campaign with a bus ride to the Bay Area to play the San Jose State Spartans for a Thursday game on national TV. SJSU starts a new era under incoming and experienced Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo and are looking to return to a bowl game and exceed preseason projections of finishing near the bottom of the Mountain West.
Based on the College Football News preview, Coach Niumatalolo and Offensive Coordinator Craig Stutzmann are implementing a pass heavy attack. I envision the SJSU offensive philosophy being similar to what Hawaii did (when they were good) with their wide open attack with some read option mixed in. This is a far cry from what Coach Niumatalolo ran in his more recent head coaching job at Navy and explains how the Spartans were able to retain their top wide receiver, Nick Nash (48 rec, 728 yds, 8 TD), from bailing via the portal this past offseason. The SJSU offense will also have Malikhi Miller (24 rec, 290 yds, 1 TD) and Justin Lockhart (36 rec, 578 yds, 1 TD), who is coming back from a season long injury, as targets in the passing game. SJSU landed a talented transfer in Floyd Chalk IV at running back that should give the Spartan offense plenty of offensive weapons.
The question marks for the Spartan offense are at quarterback and up front on the offensive line. CFN has transfer quarterback Emmett Brown being the likely starter with Walker Eget being next in line. Up front the Spartans will be looking for a whole new slough of starters to steady the offense.
On the defensive side, Defensive Coordinator Derek Odom returns for his 8th season at SJSU. His 3-4 defense finished 2nd in total defense in the Mountain West last season in which has a handful of starters returning. Up front the Spartan defensive line will be anchored by Soane Toia (37 tak, 7 TFL, 5 sac) but will be looking for players to step up on the line. At linebacker, the Spartans return a couple of starters in Jordan Pollard (79 tak, 4 TFL, 2 INT) and Taniela Latu (44 tak, 5 TFL). The linebackers, as with any 3-4 scheme, will be the backbone of this defense. The SJSU secondary returns a starter at cornerback in Michael Dansby (15 tak, 1 TFL, 1 INT) but will be looking for players to step up this season.
The Spartans kicking game was fairly reliable last season with kicker Kyler Halvorsen (10/15 FG, 54/55 PAT) making more than he missed. He has a long of 41 yards. The Spartans will be looking to see who wins the punting role between Trent Carrizosa and Dino Beslagic. SJSU has a talented kick returner in Jabari Bates (18.1 ypr).
Position Advantage
- Quarterback: Hornets. Kaiden Bennett has proven time and time again that he can live up to the moment while the Sparatns have a big question mark behind center.
- Running Backs: Spartans. SJSU’s Floyd Chalk IV has proven he is capable of carrying a heavy workload while the Hornets have more of a running back by committee approach with Elijah Tau-Toliver looking to have a bigger impact.
- Wide Receivers: Push. Both teams return their leading receivers from last season. Lots of talent on the field from both teams in this one.
- Tight Ends: Hornets. The Hornets have the most experienced tight end on the field in Coleman Kuntz. Aside from that, lots of question marks on both teams at this position.
- Offensive Line: Hornets. The Hornets have more starters and experience returning compared to the Spartans.
- Defensive Line: Push. A lot of unproven players getting opportunities on both teams. Hard to say who has an advantage here, if any.
- Linebackers: Spartans. SJSU returns two starters in Jordan Pollard and Taniela Latu while the Hornets have a proven transfer in Will Leota.
- Defensive Backs: Push. Lots of question marks on both teams. I don’t consider either team to have a good secondary until proven otherwise.
- Punters: Hornets. Cal McGough has proven to be a solid punter while the Spartans don’t have an experienced punter coming into the season.
- Kickers: Hornets. Zach Schriener has slightly better numbers than Kyle Halvorsen. Both have similar longs in the low 40’s. Slight edge to the Hornets here.
- Kick Returners: Push. Jabari Bates has about twice as many returns as Danny Scudero. Both have similar return averages.
This is a winnable game for the Hornets and it’s advantageous for the Hornets that they face the Spartans early in the season before they get their passing attack worked out. The Spartans have a lot of question marks on their starting lineup, but they have some offensive weapons that should be able to open things up given the question marks on the Hornet defense.
The key for the Hornet defense is to get pressure on the inexperienced Spartan quarterback(s) and make open field tackles when they get the ball to their playmakers in space. I think the Hornet defense will struggle with a pass happy offense, especially if SJSU goes up tempo.
The experienced Hornet offense should be able to move the ball on the Spartan defense. There are some good players on the Spartan defense, but they do not look to be a dominant force given what was lost in the offseason.
Special teams should slightly favor the Hornets in this one. The kicking game could prove crucial in a close game.
I’m picking the Hornets to pull the upset against SJSU. Vegas has the Hornets a 7.5 point dogs, and I don’t have an issue with a one possession assessment. I think KB and his playmaking abilities will be the difference in another FBS victory in the Bay Area.
Hornetsports SJSU preview.
Stingers Up!
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