SJSU fully recharged at midseason

At the midseason mark, the San José State football team is hoping to achieve a new feat as it pushes toward the second half of the season.

The San José State football team enters the midseason with a 2-5 overall record, 1-2 in Mountain West Conference (MWC), sitting ninth in the conference with five games remaining.

The Spartans must win at least four of their final five games to become bowl eligible. 

They’re aiming to make  four consecutive bowl appearances– a feat that would be a first in program history, as their current streak stands at three.

SJSU hasn’t had trouble putting up numbers offensively, currently sitting at 38th in the nation with 2,993 total yards, according to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) statistics.

The Spartans entered the season without triple crown winner and Biletnikoff Award runner-up Nick Nash, who signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent.

 However, SJSU appears to have found its replacement in sophomore receiver Danny Scudero, a transfer from Sacramento State University.

Scudero is following in Nash’s footsteps, currently leading the nation with 870 receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns with eight, according to the NCAA webpage.

The receiver remains focused on maintaining a winning mindset as the team enters the second half of the season.

“It’s kind of been the same mindset we’ve had since the start of the season, try to go 1-0 each week,” Scudero said. “No game’s too big, it doesn’t mean more than it does, and just try to get the W every time.”

SJSU opened the season by allowing 16 points to Central Michigan in a narrow loss, the fewest points the Spartans have given up in a game this season.

Since then, the Spartans have only lost one game by more than one possession, a 38-7 defeat to Texas the following week.

Every other loss has been within reach, and both of their wins, against Idaho and New Mexico, have also been decided by just one score.

SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said the team’s struggles aren’t because of a lack of talent, emphasizing the Spartans’ competitiveness in each game shows their potential.

“I think if we were getting blown out, we had no chance, they wouldn’t be working like this,” Niumatalolo said. “Our guys continue to keep coming to work because they recognize we’re all so close. I’m really proud of our guys, we want to practice to live in the situation.”

The Spartans’ defense has allowed 2,978 total yards this season, an average of 425 yards per game, according to an SJSU webpage.

If this pace continues, they are on track to finish the season allowing 5,103 total yards, slightly higher than last season’s 4,948 yards allowed.

The Spartans’ fourth-down defense has taken a step back from last season, when opponents converted just 16 of 32 attempts.

This season, that number has already jumped to 15 conversions on only 20 attempts, representing a 25% increase in fourth-down conversions allowed.

Third-down defense was a flaw last season, as the Spartans allowed 97 conversions on 210 attempts. 

However, as they head into midseason this year, they are only allowed 31 conversions on 93 attempts or 33%, which is significantly better than last year when opponents converted nearly half of their third-down attempts.

Spartans senior defensive back Isiah Revis remains optimistic that his secondary group can finish the season on a high note.

“Trusting DO (Derrick Odum), trusting the scheme, the technique, despite how things have shaken up right now, we’re not where we want to be, but that doesn’t mean we’re gonna freak out and start doing crazy new stuff,” Revis said.

The secondary has come up with five interceptions over their last three games after recording none through their first four.

The Spartans return home to CEFCU Stadium where they’ll face the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.