Sept. 5, 2016
Upcoming game (Game #2): San José State vs. Portland State
Saturday, September 10, 2016,
CEFCU Stadium, - Home of the Spartans, San José, Calif.., 1:30 p.m. (PT)
San José State record: 0-1. The Spartans lost their season opener at Tulsa, 45-10, on September 3.
Portland State record: 1-0. The Vikings outlasted Central Washington, 43-26, on September 3.
Series history: This is the first meeting between the two programs.
Play-by-Play Radio Coverage: KLIV (1590 AM, San José) originates San José State football broadcasts. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Kevin Richardson provides commentary. Air time for the KLIV broadcast is 1:00 p.m. (PT).
San José State has four network affiliates:
KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas), KFIV (1360 AM, Modesto), KWSX (1280 AM, Stockton), ESPN Desportes (910 AM, San Francisco)
Television: There will be no play-by-play television nor video streaming of the San José State-Portland State game.
Weekly Press Conference: The weekly San José State football press conference is in the Simpkins Stadium Center Gold Room on Mondays at 1:00 p.m. (PT). Due to the Labor Day holiday, this week's press conference will be Tuesday, September 6 at 1:00 p.m. (PT). Coach Ron Caragher takes questions from the media in a live setting that is streamed on The Mountain West Network through www.sjsuspartans.com/videos. The press conference also is archived at sjsuspartans.com.
Ron Caragher Radio Show: The one-hour weekly Ron Caargher Radio Show airs on KLIV (1590 AM, San José), Thursdays, at 7:00 p.m. The show is taped each Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at Famous Dave's in San José's The Plant shopping center located at 61 Curtner Road.
Ron Caragher on KRTY FM/KLIV AM: San José State head coach Ron Caragher is heard weekly on KRTY (95.3 FM) and KLIV (1590 AM, San José), Tuesdays at 6:30 a.m. (PT). Gary Scott Thomas and Julie Stevens serve as co-hosts.
Ron Caragher on KNBR 1050 AM: San José State head coach Ron Caragher is heard weekly on KNBR 1050 (San Francisco), Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. (PT). Ted Ramey is the host of the show.
Game Promotions for Portland State: 1.) The first 10,000 fans in attendance for the Portland State game will receive a seat cushion courtesy of CEFCU.
2.) The first 500 San José State students to sign up will have an opportunity to escort the football team on to the CEFCU Stadium field before the opening kickoff.
3.) The 2nd annual CommUniverCity free ticket promotion sponsored by CommUniverCity of San José, San José State Athletics and Pacific Gas & Electric benefits under-served local residents and their families. For tickets, send an email to Elizabeth@cusj.org
New home stadium name: Recently, San José State and Citizens Equity First Credit Union (CEFCU, pronounced SEFF-cue) agreed to a 15-year naming rights agreement for Spartan Stadium, built in 1933, to be called CEFCU Stadium - Home of the Spartans. CEFCU and San José State Athletics first became partners in 2011 with signage on the stadium scoreboard and at the West gate entry point.
Aiming for 1-1: San José State can have a 1-1 win-loss record for the fifth consecutive year by defeating Portland State on September 10. The last time the Spartans were not 1-1 after two games was in the 2011 season after losses at #6-Stanford and at UCLA.
First-time starters: Left tackle Troy Kowalski, wide receiver Rahshead Johnson, defensive tackle Owen Roberts and defensive backs David Williams, Trevon Bierria, Dakari Monroe and Jeremy Kelly started a major college football game for the first time in the opener at Tulsa.
Brothers on the field at the same time: During the Tulsa game, brothers Jeremy Kelly and Jermaine Kelly played as defensive backs together. Though San José State has had other brother combinations on the same team in the last seven years, the last time two brothers played on the field at the same time was in the 2009 season when defensive end Carl Ihenacho and his younger brother, defensive back Duke Ihenacho, were starters for the Spartans.
Promising pass rush: San José State began the season with four quarterback sacks in the Tulsa game. A year ago, the Spartans had 17 sacks in 13 games. The Spartans head into the Portland State game tied for 13th in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as of September 3 averaging 4.0 sacks per game this season.
Top-20 kickoff returns: San José State enters the week of the Portland State game ranked 17th in kickoff return average at 28.50 yards per return. Last season, the Spartans averaged 23.0 yards per return. Newcomer Rahshead Johnson handled all the kickoff returns and had a long of 41 yards.
Net punting off to a good start: In 2015, San José State set a single-season team record with a 42.4 yards per punt net average. In the season opener at Tulsa, the Spartans were better with a net punting average of 44.4 yards punt on seven punts. Tulsa attempted to return two punts and gained just 11 yards.
Still seeking the takeaway: An area of emphasis during preseason camp was increasing the frequency of causing and recovering fumbles and coming up with interceptions. The Spartans were unable to create a takeaway in the Tulsa game and gave up the ball three times on two fumbles and a pass interception. The three turnovers led to 21 Tulsa points.