Utah’s defense give SJSU quarterbacks nightmares

It was no secret going into Saturday’s matchup against Utah that SJSU would have to play its best football to beat the Utes.

Photo by Kavin Mistry

Considering how well the Spartans bounced back last weekend against Portland State made the idea of a upset in week 3 more intriguing. The Utes defense left all those thoughts in the dust Saturday night at CEFCU Stadium.

It was nearly impossible for the Spartans to find any consistency on the offensive side of the ball, especially when the Utes’ D were flying across the line and attacking the quarterback.

“They have an outstanding defense,” said Spartans head coach Ron Caragher. “That is how we sputtered, especially playing a team with a defense that good.”

Utah’s defense and special teams caused three Spartan turnovers resulting in 17 points. Utah also sacked SJSU quarterbacks 10 times (Utah school record).

“They did a good job getting our quarterbacks,” Caragher said. “We tried changing it up to a three step drop to get the ball out more quickly and they still got pressure on the quarterback.”

The Spartans’ offensive line had no chance against the size and speed of the Utes’ defensive line which gave Spartan quarterbacks little to no time to make a play with the ball.

Quarterback Kenny Potter spent countless plays maneuvering in and out of the pocket with the football to avoid taking big sacks.

Photo by Kavin Mistry

“Their defense upfront is pretty impressive,” Potter said. “We did a good job fighting even though we made mistakes including myself, and I take ownership of those.”

The Spartans starting QB was forced from the game after a long scramble play late in the third quarter resulted in him hitting the ground hard and he came up limping.

“I was just trying to make a play,” Potter said. “I told my guys I am going to keep competing and I was going to go for the first down no matter what it looked like.”

Despite all the struggles offensively, SJSU could have found its quarterback of the future.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Love stepped up in the third quarter after Potter left the game and showed signs of life in the passing game.

“He did some nice things,” Caragher said. “He made some throws and made some plays.”

Love finished the game with 184 yards passing on 11 of 21 completions and connected with running back Zamore Zigler on a 46 yard touchdown.

Photo by Kavin Mistry

The running game was a lost cause against the Utes only recording 56 yards. The rushing attack has been up and down after going from 53 yards in week 1 to 409 in week 2.

The Spartans will have to gather themselves and check their wounds as they prepare for a tough road game against Iowa State on Saturday.

“We are optimistic about ourselves going forward,” Potter said. “We showed signs of good football out there but we just could not put it all together.”

The missing link

While the Spartans defense had another disappointing showing against the running attack, linebacker Christian Tago could be the answer.

“He does a great job on the sidelines as an extra set of eyes for us,” Spartans linebacker Frank Ginda said. “We are excited for him to come back soon.”

Photo by Kavin Mistry

Ginda said without him they are doing a pretty good job defensively, but he will only help them improve once he is able to get back on the field.

Tago is still on the mend from injury and Caragher said he will be out again this week against Iowa State, but once he returns, he will make an immediate impact.

A football story: Big Play Andre

It is not everyday that a San Jose State defender gets compared to the number one cornerback of the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers.

Cornerback Andre Chachere made two interceptions Saturday against Portland State. He is the first Spartan to pick off multiple passes in one game since current Panthers cornerback Bene Benwikere did in 2013.

The former Spartan was watching his old teammates play on Saturday and commented on Twitter about the play by Chachere, “keep reppin that number right young fella! Gotta get three though.”

Both Chachere and Benwikere wear the number 21 on their uniforms and both are the number one corners for their respective teams.

“I was not expecting to see that, usually I text him after the game and tell him how I did,” Chachere said. “When he saw it and tweeted it to me I thought that was pretty cool.”

Chachere’s football influence is not only through his former teammates who are now in the NFL, but through his father Derrick Chachere. The elder Chachere played seven years in the Arena Football League, five with the San Jose Sabercats.

“My dad, every since I was born, has been playing football,” Chachere said. “He got me into it and I have been playing since I was eight years old.”

Chachere said his dad is his football world, he talks to him before and after games and he looks up to him for advice on how to improve.

“When I was young we used to watch those little tapes that he had of his games,” Chachere said. “We watched on those old VHS tapes and it was amazing watching the great athlete that he was.”

He said he talks to his dad and little brother before every game as his pregame ritual to prepare for the game.

“The day before a game I go out and buy at least two or three Pedialytes,” Chachere said. “I got to drink all of those and then game day I wake up, come to the stadium and play some pump up music and watch a little film on the other team.”

Before every game he tells his teammates to just go out and dominate, they have prepared all week and game day is the chance to show what they are made of.

“My best friend of the team is number 10 Maurice McKnight, we came in together and we are as close as they get,” Chachere said. “We (the defense) are all a pretty chill group.”

On Saturday, Chachere’s two interceptions each helped change the game when Portland State was gaining momentum.

“That was the greatest feeling ever, knowing that we got the ball back for the offense,” Chachere said. “On the second one I saw Maurice tip the ball and it landed right in my hands and I took off thinking touchdown and I ran out of gas at the end.”

Previewing matchup against Utah

This Saturday the Spartans will welcome the undefeated Utah Utes to CEFCU stadium for the second home game of the season. The Utes are on the fringe of a national ranking this season.

“They are off to a great start and we will need to be at our best against them,” Caragher said. “

It will be the first time SJSU will host a Pac-12 opponent since Stanford came to town in 2006.

The biggest question will be if SJSU can effectively run its newly confident offense against the stout Utah defense?

Utah is coming off of a disappointing offensive performance against in-state rival BYU where they committed six turnovers. Despite this, the Utes still pulled out a 20-19 victory in large part because of its defense.

“The one thing that jumps out to you about them is the defensive line,” Caragher said. “They are very athletic and they look like tight ends and slot receivers at 290 or 300 pounds.”

Injuries

The Spartans will be without linebacker and defensive captain Christian Tago for the third straight week. Meanwhile, Tago is making significant improvement through his rehab.

Defensive back Brandon Monroe (concussion) and offensive lineman Nate Velichko (leg) are also out for Saturday’s game.

Attendance at CEFCU Stadium?

While the crowd was lively and loud through the first quarter last Saturday, by halftime, the student section had scarcely any fans left when the Spartans took a 28-14 lead into the locker room.

It is expected that there will be a large showing on the Utah fans’ side of the stadium this Saturday, so SJSU will have to be well represented to counter the rival fan base.

The game will be nationally televised on the CBS sports network.

Offenses collide in CEFCU Stadium

After an underwhelming performance in week 1, the Spartans’ offense came to life and delivered the boom in the home opener on Saturday.

The 66 points scored by the Spartans were the most by an SJSU team since October 6, 2004 when they scored 70 in a win over Rice University.

In just his second regular-season game in a Spartan uniform, running back Deontae Cooper rushed for over 100 yards, the first time since Nov. 23. 2013 when he ran for 166 yards playing for the University of Washington.

“He is a work-hard young man,” said Spartans head coach Ron Caragher. “He had some tough breaks his first couple of years health wise with multiple knee injuries (...) I thought he ran hard and made some people miss and he finished forward on his runs.”

Zamore Zigler and Malik Roberson joined in the Spartans’ heavy rushing attack with 111 and 92 yards respectively.

“We did a really good job running the football,” Caragher said. “I think that our guys up front responded to last week when we went three and out too many times.”

Saturday was an early wake up call for the Spartans. Their rushing attack, which mustered just 53 yards against Tulsa, man-handled the Portland State defense for 409 yards.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot last week.” Cooper said. “Everyone in that locker room said we can improve, so it was good to come out here and make some improvements.”

Despite the discrepancy of yards passing (233 pass yards) and rushing (409 rush yards) on the stat sheet, it was the Spartans’ ability to establish the run that opened the door to the passing attack.

“We want to establish the run,” said Spartans quarterback Kenny Potter. “It is huge, it opens up the passing game and when the passing game

is good it opens up the running game, so we want to work together.”

Potter, who finished last season as the most accurate quarterback in the Mountain West conference, only attempted 20 passes but made the most of his opportunities, completing 14 for 233 yards and three touchdowns.

“We came out here and proved what we can do when we are all working together,” Potter said. “It is awesome the way we bounced back, it shows how much confidence we have in our team and how we are going to stick together.”

It was important for the Spartans to win the battle up front. Their offensive line provided clear running lanes for the backs, unlike last week when Tulsa sealed those holes and left no room to run.

Throughout the first half, the Spartans ran short-yardage plays directly down the Vikings’ throat. This wore out PSU’s defense and SJSU capitalized in the second half.

Those runs helped turn the momentum in the game, which bounced back and forth in the first half with each team exchanging touchdowns before the Spartans took a two-touchdown lead at the end of the half.

The third quarter was when the Spartans imposed their will on their opponent, putting any thoughts of an upset to rest and showing an ability to break tackles and create big passing plays to set up easy touchdowns.

In the fourth, it was easy pickings for the SJSU.

They were able to give some of their backups some playing time because their lead was to much for their opposition to make up.

Welcome to the show

It was a coming-out party for sophomore receiver Tre Hartley, who finished with a game high of 93 receiving yards and a touchdown.

“Tre Hartley had a really nice catch down before half,” Caragher said. “We got the touchdown with a spectacular catch and that was a big momentum swing which started 28 unanswered points.”

Hartley had two huge catches that resulted in a touchdown and helped the Spartans gain distance from the Vikings for the first time in the game This allowed SJSU to go into the locker room on a high note.

“He is a very special talent,” Potter said. “It is awesome for me to have a guy like that and weapon outside that can go up and make plays, it makes my job really easy.”

Potter said the team was excited about Hartley going into the season and thinks he can be a special player for them going forward.

Defense running wild

The Spartans defense came away with six turnovers, three interceptions (two from junior cornerback Andre Chachere) and three forced fumbles.

The +6 in the turnover game was a significant improvement from the -3 one week ago.

SJSU also made strides in stopping the run, allowing 100 fewer rush yards against Portland State than they did against Tulsa.

-For more on the Spartans defense and the big day for Chachere, check out The Mistry Spot in Thursday’s paper.

After being thrashed by Tulsa on Saturday, the Spartans look to turn it around at home

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

Despite the offseason goal of establishing a defense that could stop the run, the Spartans (0-1) had no answer against the Tulsa (1-0) running attack which ran over SJSU for 306 yards.

San Jose State’s new defensive coordinator Ron English watched his defense get man-handled on Saturday by Golden Hurricane running back D'Angelo Brewer, who ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns.

“We did have a really good fall practice,” said Spartans head coach Ron Caragher. “We had a really good week in preparation for the Tulsa game.”

It didn’t help the Spartans that defensive captain and leading tackler over the last two years Christian Tago was out because of a knee injury and safety Maurice McKnight had to sit out the first half because of a targeting penalty he received in the Cure Bowl last season.

“I think we just kind of got beat to the punch,” said wide receiver Tim Crawley. “We came out a little flat and once they scored quick, we put ourselves in a hole we unfortunately couldn’t get out of it”

The first possession of the game for the Hurricane was a sign of things to come for the Spartans defense, when Brewer exploded for a 38-yard touchdown.

While the defense continued to struggle, the offense provided little to no support.

“They ran away with it and they took advantage of our mistakes and now we’re here,” said Spartans quarterback Kenny Potter.

The Spartans were only able to score one touchdown and were unable to give the defense much time to rest on the sidelines.

The one bright spot defensively for the Spartans was their pass defense.

Tulsa’s quarterback Dane Evans was bottled up in the passing game, finishing a mere 12 of 23 for 198 yards, a severe drop off from his 332 yards per game in 2015.

Sophomores Frank Ginda and Owen Roberts led the pass rush for the Spartans, each recording two sacks in the game.

While it is easy to look at a 45-10 score and blame the defense, 21 of the 38 points Tulsa scored in the first half were due to Spartan miscues. An interception return, a fumble recovery in the end zone and a fumble by Spartans running back Deontae Cooper lead to easy points for the Hurricane.

“It was costly,” Caragher said. “We made a lot of mistakes and sometimes first year players make mistakes, it happens, but in this case veterans did in this case and that was frustrating.”

If not for those three key plays, the Spartans would have been right in the game with Tulsa, but the mistakes added to an already-horrific first half. Thirty-eight points allowed in the first half was the most SJSU has allowed in the opening half of a game since 2014 against Auburn.

“The good news is it was only one game,” Caragher said. “The team will launch forward as a result of that game and get clear of what we need to do and how we can get there.”

The Spartans will have to put Tulsa behind them as they prepare to take on an FCS opponent in Portland State this weekend in the home opener at CEFCU Stadium.

In its last 36 games against Division 1 opponents, Portland State is 4-32. Despite a lowly record, the Vikings should not be taken lightly. The Spartans still have to fix the holes they have on defense and sharpen their special teams play.

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

“We need to have a good week of practice to prepare for Portland State who is perfectly capable of creating big plays as well,” Caragher said. “They have some good players, not just guys they recruited, but a number of transfers.”

If SJSU wants to take care of business at home, it will be up to the offense to limit the mistakes while the defense will need to create takeaways and stop the run.

Injury Update

Tago completed his surgery and is now working with the team doctors on getting back into football shape so he can be ready to take the field.

Caragher said he will be out for week 2 against Portland State, but will hopefully be active when the Spartans welcome the University of Utah to CEFCU stadium next Saturday Sep. 17.

The Mistry Spot: Fresh off a bowl winning season, the Spartans look for more in 2016

Photo by Kavin Mistry

For the first time in 12 years the Spartans will make a trip to Oklahoma to match up with Tulsa University to open their season against an upstart Hurricanes team.

Tulsa is coming off a roller-coaster season that ended in a thrilling 55-52 loss in the Camping World Independence Bowl against Virginia Tech.

“They were also a bowl team, it is a tough opponent,” said Spartans head coach Ron Caragher. “We are looking forward to it; it will be a tough matchup on the road back in Tulsa, but one that our team is looking forward to.”

The Hurricanes boast a potent offensive running attack, which will give the rejuvenated Spartans defense an early test to begin the season.

“We just want to come out there and show them Spartan football,” said Spartan running back Malik Roberson. “We will set a tone for the whole Mountain West.”

Tulsa’s high-powered offense put up a remarkable 37.2 points per game, but its defense struggled to keep opponents out of the endzone.

Infographic by Kavin Mistry

“They play at such a high paced offense,” Caragher said. “People are more familiar with Baylor with the tempo they play at, but Tulsa plays at the same tempo and upbeat, so we need to do a good job in practice simulating that.”

The Spartans plan to counter the Hurricanes with a potent offense of their own. SJSU scored 27.9 points per game last season using a balanced attack of running and throwing to stifle opponents’ defenses.

“We are definitely focused on (Tulsa) and not worrying about looking past that,”said Spartans quarterback Kenny Potter. “We have been watching film on them and scheming to prepare.”

Last season, the team scored 24 touchdowns on the ground and 21 through the air. The rushing touchdowns were in large part due to the work done by now-NFL running back Tyler Ervin, who scored 13.

The previous meeting between the two teams occurred over ten years ago on Nov. 20, 2004, when the Hurricanes defeated the Spartans 34-24.

It will be up to SJSU’s new defensive coordinator, Ron English, to lead the Spartans’ defense to improve its run defense against Tulsa. The Hurricanes averaged 174.2 rushing yards per game and scored more than half their touchdowns on the ground in 2015.

“They like to spread everybody out and then run it up the middle,” said Spartans cornerback Andre Chachere. “We are sort of putting ourselves out on an island outside and then trying to stop them up the middle.”

The biggest obstacle the Spartans will face in week one will be the fast paced offense of the Hurricanes. They tend to run plays quickly to leave opponents’ defenses scrambling to make changes to counter not only the passing game but also a stout running attack.

“Tulsa runs the football well,” Caragher said. “We saw them consistently throughout the year think of the uptempo offense as a passing team and they do that well, but it is the running game that can get you in the end.”

The team knows that this will not be an easy game to start the season and they will have to come out ready on day one of the season.

“They have lost some seniors at some key positions, but we know that they have recruited well and have some good players coming up,” Caragher said. “They are coached well and we are definitely going to have to play at the top of our game.”

Expectations too high for running backs?

Hoping that one of the running backs will put up the same kind of production as Ervin is quite an unfair expectation.

Ervin was the pinnacle of the offensive attack in 2015. He set a school record with 300 rushing yards against Fresno State and finished last season with 1601 rush yards.

Now Caragher and the rest of his staff will rely on another running back to step up and fill the void left by Ervin. The Spartans will look to senior Shane Smith and Roberson for their ground attack.

Caragher said during summer training camp that the team will be working with a running back by committee scenario, but Roberson will be one of the backs they lean on.

Roberson, who is coming off a knee injury that he was rehabbing during the summer, said he is feeling about 100 percent and ready to go.

“Coming back from my knee, taking the brace off this year I feel a lot faster,” Roberson said. “So that is definitely an advantage for me.”

92 total yards and just 3.8 yards per carry in 2015 are not eye-popping stats by any means, but Roberson’s playing time was limited due to the workload carried by Ervin and only time will tell if he can increase those totals this season.

“Right now we have a committee going on at that position and Malik is one of several returners,” Caragher said. “Zamore Zigler, who redshirted last year, brings a burst of acceleration to the position and a transfer Deonte Cooper from the University of Washington (...) he brings a lot of speed and leadership to the position.”

What to expect from the 2016 Spartans

The Spartans have 15 returning members of its bowl-winning team from a season ago including Potter and defensive captain Christian Tago.

SJSU will have a new-look offense hoping to utilize Potter more until they have found a sound running back that they can count on, along with mixing in transfer students Deontae Cooper (running back, University of Washington) and Dontonio Jordan (wide receiver, Stanford University).

“It looks better, we have a lot more playmakers on the field,” Roberson said. “It will be hard to shut down one side because the other side is just as competitive.”

Potter said his goals this season are to win games and win the Mountain West, that is what the team has been preaching since day one and it has not changed.

The schedule for the Spartans is not as daunting as it was last season when they faced two teams that were ranked in the FBS poll during the year. It does however pose some challenges to a team hoping to improve on a five-win season.

Some games of note this season are week three when University of Utah comes to CEFCU Stadium and road showdowns with San Diego State, Iowa State and Fresno State.