Coming off their ugly 56-3 loss to USC last week, San Jose State is being undervalued in this one. Side with the underdog Spartans at home against the Utah Utes.
Don’t be fooled for a moment following San Jose State’s ugly 56-3 loss at the hands of USC last week. Of course the Spartans were outclassed in that ballgame – a mid-level WAC team is not likely to take the mighty Trojans to the wire.
But more than that Spartans head coach Dick Tomey used last week’s game as an opportunity to shake the rust off, getting just about every player on the travelling roster onto the field, while keeping his starters fresh and healthy. That game represented nothing about what San Jose State is capable of accomplishing in 2009.
The Spartans are a strong defensive team, as we saw quite clearly in the first quarter against the Trojans, when the San Jose starters held USC scoreless on their first five drives of the game. They have an experienced senior quarterback, Kyle Reed, who has skill position talent to work with, most notably senior running back Patrick Perry and senior wide receiver Kevin Jurovich. Ninety-three career starts return on the offensive line, and six of the front seven on defense return as well. Let’s not forget to mention punter Philip Zavada, who averaged 43.4 yards per punt last week, helping San Jose State win the field position war.
Utah quarterback Terrence Cain will be making his first career road start on Saturday. Running back Matt Asiata is a plodder – his longest carry in 36 attempts against Utah State last week was only 14 yards. We saw the Utes offense get shut down at the goal line, unable to push Utah State around at the line of scrimmage behind their retooled offensive line.
Asking this year’s Utah team to win by two touchdowns in their road opener seems like a real stretch. Take the Spartans.
Free Pick: San Jose State +14 (-110)