San Jose State Spartans set to take on Western Michigan Broncos
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This Saturday is an interesting matchup between San Jose State Spartans (2-1) and Western Michigan Broncos (2-1). The Spartans come into this matchup after winning a close game against Hawaii while the Broncos come in riding a two-game win streak after defeating Illinois State and Pittsburgh.
If you view this game on paper, it is a pretty even matchup for both teams. They have similar offensive numbers, and they have defenses that have allowed similar yardage up until this point in the season. San Jose State has had the slightly better defense while Western Michigan has a slight advantage on defense in the early portion of the season.
Western Michigan is a slight favorite in the matchup based on what its performances have shown this season. The Spartans will be underdogs on the road and will look to be pulling off the upset at Waldo Stadium. For the Spartans to come home with the win, they’ll need these players and units to play well.
Nick Starkel
For any chance of coming out of this game with a win, they’ll need their starting quarterback to have a good game. While Starkel has been putting up over 300 yards per game in the air, he’s been inconsistent to say the least. He had a very good game versus Southern Utah by throwing for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns. The next two games, he’s been near or below 50% completions versus legit FBS competition in USC and Hawaii. While putting up the yards is nice, doing it efficiently is also key to sustaining drives and giving your defense time to breathe and recoup. Look for the Spartans’ coaching staff to reign Starkel in to increase his efficiency and keep the Broncos off the field.
Tyler Nevens
While the Spartans have been able to put up yards on the ground, they haven’t put up many yards on the ground. This isn’t about productivity. This is more about opportunity in this situation. While averaging 5.5 yards per carry, he hasn’t had many opportunities in each game to tote the ball for his team. For San Jose State to have a chance at winning this game, a more balanced attack will be needed to squeak out this win on the road. That starts by giving Nevens the ball more often. By giving him a couple more touches in both the run game and screen game, this will do wonders for this offense and help Starkel be in more manageable situations. I’d expect 20 carries and over 100 yards from Nevens in this one if they plan to win this game.
San Jose Defense
If this team to win this game, they need to force Western Michigan quarterback, Kaleb Eleby, into mistakes. Through three games, Eleby has no interceptions. The Spartans need to change that in this game. By getting an interception, they will give themselves an extra opportunity to put points on the board. The Broncos have a balanced attack so stopping the run would make them one-dimensional. Having Western Michigan abandon the run would help them get turnovers. San Jose should look to make a couple plays in the secondary in this game.
Overview
This evenly matched contest could come down to a possession or two and the Spartans will need some breaks to go their way to get this win. I expect the coaching staff of San Jose to play more conservatively and have a more ball control offense this week. A close game is what I am expecting and I think it will be a close game at Waldo Stadium.
Final Score: SJS 27 – 24 WMU
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