Stretching over parts of the last three seasons, defending 1990 Big West Conference football champion San Jose State has won nine straight league games. The closest it came to losing a league game in the last 22 months was its 34-27 victory at Spartan Stadium last Oct. 20 over Utah State, a win sealed by a fourth-quarter Spartan interception in their own end zone.
The '90 Spartans were 9-2-1, earned national poll ranking and won the California Raisin Bowl. First-year Terry Shea was Big West Coach of the Year.Apparently needing more challenge, the '91 Spartans play their first five games on the road and will be the last NCAA Division I-A team to have a home opener, on Oct. 19.
"Our younger players are growing up very fast," says Shea. "We're road-hardened right now."
Road stop No. 4 is Saturday, 1 p.m. in Logan, where the 1-2, 1-0 Spartans meet 0-3, 0-0 Utah State.
Preparation for the SJS four-time-zone schedule (at Florida, Minnesota, Long Beach and USU) began last spring when the Alumni wore home colors in the spring game.
Shea's fall tactic? "You tell them they'll only be wearing white jerseys. You have to create that mindset."
In preparation for meeting the one conference team that gave the Spartans a scare last year, Shea is cautious enough to have his club stay in Ogden tonight and work out at Weber State instead of Romney Stadium.
A former eight-year assistant coach at USU, Shea says, "The student body is very lively, and they have a way of working around town."
The Spartans no longer have Ralph Martini at quarterback and Sheldon Canley at running back. They graduated, and in their stead are senior QB Matt Veach (56-106 for 882 yards and three touchdowns, four interceptions) and senior tailback Maceo Barbosa (57 rushes, 245 yards, two touchdowns).
Like the Ags against Big Eight foes, SJS was limited by the early schedule, playing nationally ranked Florida and a Big Ten team strong against the rush. "We had to alter our plans," says Shea. That meant pass, pass, pass.
It unveiled the running game last week in a 32-20 BWC win at Long Beach, Barbosa hauling 42 times for 184 yards. "That was a major theme for us against the 49ers," says Shea. "We wanted one of our three tailbacks to surface. It's really important for our offense."
It became extra important when the Spartans lost all-BWC tight end Bryce Burnett for the season at Minnesota.
The Spartans also wanted to improve special-teams play and did with two punt blocks (one for a TD) and a punt return for a TD.