Fresno, California
At 5:00 PST Fresno State (4-3) travels to San Jose State (5-2) in the Battle for the Valley. Last week, Fresno State snuck out of Reno, Nevada with a 24-21 win. Meanwhile, San Jose State led comfortably the entire time in their game against Wyoming leading to a 24-14 victory.
The History
Fresno State is located in the San Joaquin Valley while San Jose State is in the Silicon Valley making the namesake, “The Battle for the Valley” fitting. The teams first met back in 1921 when San Jose State beat Fresno 14-2. This was the first year Fresno had organized football on the campus. From 1949-2001, San Jose State led the rivalry. Up to this point, Fresno leads the series 44-39-3. Over the last twelve meetings, the Valley Cup has been split between the two programs making a matchup that included a 42-18 win for the Spartans last year. Meaning, that both teams have a lot to play for heading into matchup #87.
Stop the Pass
Last week, the Bulldogs allowed Nevada to get it to their top guy, Jaden Smith. He ended up catching nine balls for 134 yards. In addition, one of their touchdowns came on a 46-yard lob that took the top off the defense. In addition, Smith also had a big gain catch going for 55 yards on an opening drive third down. The drive resulted in a touchdown. While the defense stepped up in the second half, San Jose State has a much stronger pass offense.
To start with their offense let’s begin with the quarterbacks. Notice the -s, as the Spartans have bounced between two guys this season. First, Emmett Brown passed for 1290 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 4 Interceptions in the Spartans’ first four games. In those games, he led them to a 3-1 record where his only loss was a two-point overtime loss to a 6-1 Washington State team. Then he had 170 passing yards and two touchdowns heading into halftime against Nevada. Judging from these stats one may question how he is not the starting quarterback but in the second half, he was benched for junior, Walker Eget. Walker Eget has thrown for 574 passing yards in his two starts where he is 1-1.
Onto the wide receivers, where the obvious top guy is Nick Nash. Once a quarterback, Nash is one of the top wide receivers in the country. He has 72 catches which leads the nation by eight yards as well as 904 receiving yards which is second in the country. It is no secret the ball is going to be headed to Nash as he also has four games with ten or more catches. The Spartans also have Justin Lockhart who has 29 catches for 532 yards.
Also, San Jose State’s run offense is not anything special. First, it is the first time in a few weeks that Fresno will not need to put as much attention on the quarterback scramble. Both Eget and Brown have less than 70 rushing yards. In addition, San Jose State is just attempting 26 runs per game which ranks 130th or 5th worst in the nation. If the Bulldogs can hone in on the pass they have a good shot in this one.
No Turnovers
Mikey Keene played an amazing first half last week. He had zero turnovers and led the Bulldogs to three scoring drives on the four times he touched the ball. Then, in the second half, Keene went to his old form, throwing an interception and failing to score a touchdown in a goal-to-go scenario to start the fourth quarter. Fortunately for Keene, he was not the only quarterback struggling in the second half which helped the Bulldogs win.
San Jose State is hungry for interceptions. They are among the top in the nation when it comes to picking off opposing quarterbacks. Thirteen interceptions which ranks a joint second in the country. This could produce a problem for Keene as we know how turnover-prone he has been with his nine interceptions in seven games. This equals to a third worst in the nation.
Additionally, the Spartan’s defense has successfully recovered five fumbles this year. If Sherrod misses this game the younger Fresno backs could potentially fumble with the lack of experience. Regardless, Fresno will need to play a pretty clean game to win.
Spread the Love
Fresno has many capable wideouts. Mac Dalena will continue to lead this group and be Keene’s go-to guy but others have stepped up in the last few weeks. Junior, Raylen Sharp continues to produce and he 37 yards last week which was low for him. Additionally, Nathan Acevedo stepped up even registering a rush attempt.
Gilliam had a big gain screen pass on a third down inside the Fresno 10 showing he can also be a part of the passing attack. When Gilliam gets downhill he can be a problem for the Spartans defense. The Spartan’s defense ranks among average in almost every passing stat besides interceptions.
Look for quick completions to start the game for Keene. Last week screen passes were a big part of the gameplan, so look to see them utilized again. Keene has the talent around him to succeed, it will just be the question of when. If this is the game, Keene will have completions to many different receivers.
Final Thoughts
Coming off last week’s win against Nevada spirits are high for Fresno. This week, they have the chance to not only beat their rivals but also knock the Spartans off the top of the Mountain West. Looking ahead, the schedule seems to get much easier meaning a win this week could allow Fresno to make a late Mountain West push.
