The Spartans showed a lot of growth in its 2nd year with Mike MacIntyre in charge. They had quite a jump in wins with a 5-7 mark after racking up a dismal 1-12 record in 2010. 3 of their losses came by three points or less, so they were really near to being bowl suitable last year.
This season, their schedule looks to be far simpler than last season's, which could get them in a bowl game for the 2nd time since 1990. Their mediocre offense could keep them from realising their goals though.
Offense
San Jose State ranked seventh in the WAC in both points and total offense last season with 24.5 points and 378.7 yards/game. Their offense was mostly through the air as they came second in the conference in passing offense with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all fight for the starting QB job after previous Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier left the college in January.
Fales seems positioned to take the job after completing 16 of 23 throws for 194 yards and a score in the spring game.
Whoever takes over the starting QB job will have a robust wide receiver corps to throw to. Leading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who set the team record with 89 catches in 2011. He completed the year with 866 receiving yards and 2 touchdown grabs.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection last year. He caught 52 passes for 739 yards and five scores.
San Jose State lost second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who ran for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. His stats will glaringly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are more than able fill-ins.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is coming back.
Defense
The defense ended up fifth in the WAC last season in both total and scoring defense with 425.7 yards and 30.3 points permitted per matchup. The Spartans were just about worthless against halting the rush as they came 7th in the league with 204.3 rushing yards surrendered per game.
San Jose State is hoping the experience defensive tackle Travis Raciti had last season would help him improve against the rush in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC player who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front four.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 stops last year, leads the linebacker unit.
The secondary loses a important part in safety Duke Ihenacho, who was a two-time first-team All-WAC performer. Now, senior safety James Orth leads the unit.
WAC Prediction: 3rd Place
It is going to be up to the signal caller if San Jose wants to improve upon last year's win total. If any one of them can at least perform as well as Faulkner, then they have a good chance of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a victory at Stanford in the opener is very improbable, but their next 2 games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They'll face some strong competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with fairly easy matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they fair in their contests against Idaho and New Mexico State will decide irrespective of whether or not they can make a bowl game, because they end the year with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can definitely win 5 times in 2012, and if their QB comes through, then they can win as much as 7 times.
This season, their schedule looks to be far simpler than last season's, which could get them in a bowl game for the 2nd time since 1990. Their mediocre offense could keep them from realising their goals though.
Offense
San Jose State ranked seventh in the WAC in both points and total offense last season with 24.5 points and 378.7 yards/game. Their offense was mostly through the air as they came second in the conference in passing offense with 276.8 yards/game.
Junior college transfer David Fales, sophomore Blake Jurich and junior Dasmen Stewart will all fight for the starting QB job after previous Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier left the college in January.
Fales seems positioned to take the job after completing 16 of 23 throws for 194 yards and a score in the spring game.
Whoever takes over the starting QB job will have a robust wide receiver corps to throw to. Leading the group will be junior wideout Noel Grigsby, who set the team record with 89 catches in 2011. He completed the year with 866 receiving yards and 2 touchdown grabs.
Senior tight end Ryan Otten was a first-team All-WAC selection last year. He caught 52 passes for 739 yards and five scores.
San Jose State lost second-team All-WAC running back Brandon Rutley, who ran for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. His stats will glaringly be missed, but former Minnesota tailback DeLeon Eskridge and former Washington tailback David Freeman are more than able fill-ins.
Three starters left along the offensive line, but second-team All-WAC left tackle David Quessenberry is coming back.
Defense
The defense ended up fifth in the WAC last season in both total and scoring defense with 425.7 yards and 30.3 points permitted per matchup. The Spartans were just about worthless against halting the rush as they came 7th in the league with 204.3 rushing yards surrendered per game.
San Jose State is hoping the experience defensive tackle Travis Raciti had last season would help him improve against the rush in 2012.
Senior defensive end Travis Johnson, a first-team All-WAC player who had 9.5 sacks in 2011, anchors the front four.
Junior Keith Smith, who had 104 stops last year, leads the linebacker unit.
The secondary loses a important part in safety Duke Ihenacho, who was a two-time first-team All-WAC performer. Now, senior safety James Orth leads the unit.
WAC Prediction: 3rd Place
It is going to be up to the signal caller if San Jose wants to improve upon last year's win total. If any one of them can at least perform as well as Faulkner, then they have a good chance of reaching a bowl game.
Getting a victory at Stanford in the opener is very improbable, but their next 2 games against UC Davis and Colorado State at home are highly winnable games.
They'll face some strong competition in San Diego State, Navy and Utah State, but then follow that up with fairly easy matchups against Texas-San Antonio and Texas State.
How they fair in their contests against Idaho and New Mexico State will decide irrespective of whether or not they can make a bowl game, because they end the year with BYU and Louisiana Tech.
They can definitely win 5 times in 2012, and if their QB comes through, then they can win as much as 7 times.