It is back to the field for the Spartans as they prepare for the 2016 football season. Coming off a season that ended with a dominant win over Georgia State in the AutoNation Cure Bowl, the Spartans begin the journey with a new look offense and defense and will try to jump back into bowl contention for a second straight year.
Last season, San Jose State University watched a star born in front of its eyes as running back Tyler Ervin broke out to have a career season, which included rewriting school history books.
 |
| Infographic and photo by Kavin Mistry |
Ervin, now a member of the Houston Texans, was the core of the team, providing consistent run production and breaking school records for all-purpose yards in a single game.
With his workhorse runner now off to the NFL, head coach Ron Caragher plans to lean more on his second year transfer quarterback Kenny Potter to lead the offense.
“The (Potter) does a good job making good decisions with the football,” Caragher said.
Potter, who started 10 of the 11 games last season as a junior, received an All-Mountain West honorable mention and was the Most Valuable Player in the Cure Bowl.
Unlike last year, the Spartans have their starting quarterback set on the first day of training camp and that has provided a new level of confidence for the team. This is the first time the Spartans have had a bonafide starting quarterback since David Fales in 2013.
Caragher said he likes the idea of a quarterback battle for a starting spot, but is even more excited to already know who will be giving the ball to in the season opener at Tulsa on September 2.
“It’s nice, that always becomes a focus when you have a quarterback competition,” Caragher said. “But having a veteran come back at that position who knows what he is doing, who can help teach the younger players is good to have.”
Potter said he feels confident and ready to take on the responsibility of running the team and taking on the leadership role.
“I get to take the team under my wing and show them the ropes,” Potter said. “Instead of having to worry about the competition part of it, I get to focus on winning and bringing everyone together.”
The Spartans are looking to improve on their 5-7 record from a season that saw some triumphs but more heartbreaks. The team’s biggest win came in the bowl game when they silenced the critics who said they did not belong in a bowl because they were not good enough.
“We have a lot of momentum coming into this year, we have a lot of confidence in our team and looking into the season ready to win some games,” Potter said.
While the team did lose an impactful group of players to the NFL and graduation, Caragher and the rest of the coaching staff are happy with the group of guys they have returning and expect that that they will teach the younger players.
“I really like the group of guys that we have out there,” Caragher said. “I think we have a group of really skilled athletes, starting with the offensive line, four of the five guys we have starting up front are returning guys.”
New look defense
The biggest change of the year’s team will be on the defensive side of the ball. The Spartans struggled mightily last season to stop the opponent’s running game, which put Potter and the rest of the offense in a tough spot to keep up.
To counter the struggles, SJSU hired Ron English from Eastern Michigan University to come in and take over the defense.
“Rushing defense is really important, that is one area that we needed to improve,” Caragher said. “The whole new defensive staff has done a terrific job and coach E’s (Ron English) background has been very strong against the run and that is one of the reasons he is here.”
In both the Spring game and the scrimmage on August 20, the defense has shown new life and a newfound confidence in being able to counter any team’s running attack.
The defense will be led by captain linebacker Christian Tago, who is now in his fifth season with the Spartans (three year starter) and will look to take over the leadership role after Tony Popovich completed his career as a Spartan last season.
“We want to improve as much as we can in the run game,” Tago said, “I know we finished 102 in stopping the run last year and that is one thing we have taken deeply going into camp.”
Running game
Caragher said he plans on having a running back-by-committee to begin the season and will give more opportunities to the guys he sees succeed.
Without Ervin, running backs such as Malik Roberson (5’8” 185lbs.) will be pressed into the spotlight, looking to take over what Ervin left behind.
“I definitely want to be a dominant rusher, be someone they can depend on in third and short or third and long to convert and score,” Roberson said.
Roberson said he learned a lot working with Ervin last season and will miss having him there as a mentor.
“It is hard seeing him gone since he was such a good teacher,” Roberson said. “But I think I learned everything that he taught me and I feel like I am able to put it in motion now.”
The team has its sights set on facing Tulsa University on September 3 in Oklahoma and the goal for the team and the players still remains the same.
“Winning games and winning the Mountain West Championship are really the only goals for this season,” Potter said.
