Sept. 10, 2017
San Jose State football weekly release
Upcoming game (Game #4):
San José State at RV/#24-Utah
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, Utah,
8:00 p.m. (MT) ESPN2
San José State record: 1-2, 0-0 Mountain West. The Spartans lost at Texas, 56-0, on September 9.
Utah record: 2-0, 0-0 Pacific 12 Conference. The Utes topped BYU, 19-13, on September 9. Utah has three consecutive wins dating back to the 26-24 win over Indiana in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl.
Series history: Utah leads the series, 7-1. The teams are completing their second home-and-home series in eight years. The Utes have wins in the last four meetings including a 34-17 decision in San Jose a year ago. The Spartans' only victory in the series was a 24-6 triumph in Salt Lake City in 1974 when Darryl Rogers was San Jose State's head coach.
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. The Utah broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. (PT) with a pregame show.
San José State has two network affiliates.
KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas)
ESPN Desportes (860 AM, San Francisco)
Television: ESPN2 will provide play-by-play coverage of the San Jose State-Utah game. The telecast begins at 8:00 p.m. (MT)/7:00 p.m. (PT).
The telecast also will be available on WatchESPN.
Weekly News 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).
The Mountain West Network streams the press conference live through www.sjsuspartans.com/videos. The press conference also is archived at sjsuspartans.com.
The Utah Spartans & perhaps the Beehive Boot: San José State's game at Utah is the first of three Spartan opponents this year from the state of Utah. San Jose State hosts Utah State on September 23 in the Mountain West opener for both teams. On October 28, the Spartans take on BYU. San Jose State is the only team to face all three Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from Utah this season. In a previous era, BYU, Utah and Utah State would have a round-robin series and the team with the best record in those three games would house the Beehive Boot until the next season. Presently, Utah is in possession of the Beehive Boot.
Homecoming: San José State defensive coordinator Derrick Odum was a defensive back on the 1989 through 1992 Utah football teams and centerfielder for the 1992 and 1993 Ute baseball teams. He would begin his coaching career in 1996 as a Utah football graduate assistant and return as the safeties coach for the 2005 through 2007 seasons.
First to 40: Linebacker Frank Ginda is the first Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) player this season to be credited with at least 40 tackles. Ginda has 42 tackles in three games after a game-high 12 at Texas on September 9 and heads into the Utah game ranked second nationally in total tackles per game at 14.0.
Takeaways matter: The San José State defense recovered three fumbles and turned them into 14 points in the 34-13 win over Cal Poly.
In San Jose State's two losses, five turnovers turned into 28 points, 14 each for USF and Texas.
Pass defense holding up: San Jose State opponents completed just 50.8 percent of its pass attempts against the Spartans through three games. Among Mountain West schools, only Wyoming at a 45.5 percent completion rate had a lower opponent completion percentage figure.
Opponent punt returns still negligible: San José State's Michael Carrizosa has 24 punts this season. The 2015 Ray Guy Award finalist is averaging 44.0 yards per punt with a long of 68 yards. Only four of his 24 punts this season were returned for a net of minus-1 yard. San José State enters the Utah game ranked 22nd nationally with a 43.2 net punting average.
Paso Robles pair leads Spartan pass catchers: Wide receiver Bailey Gaither and tight end Josh Oliver, teammates since their Paso Robles (Calif.) High School days, are the team's top two receivers. Oliver had seven career receptions in his first two seasons and after catching three passes at Texas is the team leader with 12. Gaither came into the season with four career receptions as a redshirt freshman. He has 10 catches and leads the team with three touchdown receptions.
Click on the link above for the complete weekly release containing game notes, depth charts, team rosters, and team and individual statistics.