BYU football: Three things to know for the San Jose State Spartans
In a meeting of a resistible force and a movable object, 1-7 BYU football takes on 1-7 San Jose State this weekend. Here are three things to know for the game.
BYU football is a bit of a mess, but the Cougars still have a very real chance to get a win this weekend. The San Jose State Spartans might be the worst team left on BYU’s schedule, plus the game is at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
A loss would be unacceptable, and it might force Tom Holmoe to make some tough decisions.
So hopefully BYU football can avoid another embarrassing showing and pick up its first FBS win of the season on Saturday night.
The Spartans aren’t dangerous
Offensively, the Spartans are as big of a mess as BYU football.
They’ve scored 20+ points just three times all season – one such game coming against a FCS team. SJSU has just one rushing touchdown on the year, and its leading receiver has just 389 yards.
This should be BYU’s chance to wreak some havoc and impose its will. Last week, in a loss to Hawaii, SJSU’s leading rusher (Tyler Nevens) averaged just 3.8 yards per carry. As a team, the Spartans fumbled the ball three times in that game.
If SJSU is that loose with the ball this week, BYU football can definitely make them pay.
Love or Aaron?
San Jose State is much, much better with Montel Aaron under center. While he’s just a freshman, he’s a good athlete with a really nice arm. He made his first career start last week against Hawaii, but couldn’t finish the game.
The Spartans’ backup quarterback is sophomore Josh Love. Love is lackluster as a signal caller, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and throwing seven interceptions to five touchdowns this year.
Aaron, on the other hand, is a much better player.
He’s completing 57.6 percent of his passes, is averaging 8.6 yards per attempt and has six touchdowns to two interceptions. Last week against Hawaii he had more than 300 passing yards before leaving the game.
Aaron isn’t much of a runner, but he’s shown shiftiness and mobility in the pocket and he’s not afraid to let it rip. Plus, the Cougars are allowing a completion percentage of 70.3 and an efficiency rating of 158.6 to FBS opponents this year.
BYU the favorite?
Bet you didn’t think you’d read that in 2017. But yes, BYU is the favorite in this matchup – which goes to show you just how terrible SJSU is.
The Cougars opened as 14 point favorites and ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives BYU an 86 percent chance of winning.
The Spartans are allowing 480 yards per game – which is a far cry from ECU’s 600 last week. But still, you’d have to think that BYU can get something going at home against a pretty porous defense.
However it is worth noting that BYU is 0-8 against the spread this season, while SJSU is 3-4-1. So we might not be getting the blowout we all want.
But at this point, a win is a win, and I’ll happily take one.