A couple of teams trying to keep their chins up after being eliminated from the Big West Conference race last weekend, will square off at Romney Stadium Saturday afternoon.
For Utah State and San Jose State, both 3-1 in league play, second-place is on the line when the two teams meet at 1 p.m. in the Aggies' final home game of 1989.It could have been a championship contest had the Spartans beaten Fresno last week, but they came up a point short in a hard-fought 31-30 duel in Fresno. That meant Fresno clinched the title and the California Bowl berth.
The big question is how the Spartans will react after the disappointing loss at Fresno. SJSU Coach Claude Gilbert called it "one of the greatest all-time efforts I've ever been associated with," but he's naturally worried about a letdown this week.
"After a tough loss it's always a big disappointment, and you wonder how you'll react," said Gilbert. "We used a lot of energy and enthusiasm last week. We'll see if we can bounce back."
USU Coach Chuck Shelton is also worried that his team might suffer a bit of a letdown, but he's more worried about San Jose's imposing team.
"San Jose is really tough - they're probably a better football team than Fresno State," said Shelton, whose team lost 34-7 to Fresno.
The Spartans have the No. 2 all-purpose runner in the country in Sheldon Canley, who returned a kickoff 97 yards against Fresno last week. He also ranks 19th in rushing.
Shelton calls Canley "probably the best running back in our stadium this year," which is saying something since Fullerton's Mike Pringle, the country's No. 1 all-purpose runner, was here earlier. But the Aggies shut Pringle down, limiting him to only 36 yards, and they hope to do the same thing to Canley.
The only problem for the Aggies is that the Spartans have a strong passing attack with two quarterbacks who can do the job.
The starter all season has been Matt Veatch, who has completed 53 percent of his passes for 1593 yards. But Ralph Martini, who once played at BYU as a tight end, has been coming off the bench to spark the Spartans the last few games. He has thrown for 339 yards, completing 54 percent of his passes, and had two TD tosses last week.