San Jose State at Stanford--Stanford
versus San Jose State is a matchup between teams on opposite ends of the
spectrum. The Cardinal just finished a season in which they went 11-2 and
outscored their opponents by 21.3 points per game. They had a Heisman trophy
finalist and were one regular season loss from playing for a national title.
San Jose State was on the other end with a 5-7 record in which the Spartans
were demolished by Stanford in the season opener.
Offense: Stanford was one of the best
offenses in all of the FBS with 43.2 points scored per game last fall. Behind
an even offense averaging 489 yards of total offense in 2011, 278 in the air
and 210 on the ground, Stanford was nearly unstoppable offensively last fall.
The Cardinal offense ended the season with 70 touchdowns. San Jose State was a
passing heavy offense that struggled running the football effectively in 2011.
The passing game was good for 276 yards per game, good for 23rd ranked in the
nation. The passing game struggled to score with only 13 touchdowns in the air
compared to 15 interceptions. The rushing game could only muster 101 yards per
game on the season with only 3.4 yards per carry. The Spartans did account for
17 rushing touchdowns on the season. EDGE: Stanford
Defense: Stanford was the 28th ranked
defense in the nation in 2011 with 341 yards given up per game. The rush
defense was spectacular giving up only 84 yards per game with a 3.0 yards per
carry average. The defense did give up a surprising 16 rushing touchdowns on
the year. The Cardinal pass defense was also very solid only giving up 253
yards per game and 18 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. The Cardinal defense was
able to hold opposing offenses to only 21.9 points per game, putting them in
the top 30 nationally. San Jose State struggled on defense in 2011 giving up a
whopping 30.3 points per game which put the Spartans in the bottom 35
nationally. Opponents were able to run all over the Spartans to the tune of 4.9
yards per carry, over 200 total rushing yards per game, and 256 rushing touchdowns.
The pass defense was actually stronger with only 221 yards per game allowed and
19 touchdowns. San Jose State was able to pull in 13 interceptions to stop
opposing offenses. EDGE: Stanford
Coaching: David Shaw is the head coach
of the Stanford Cardinal where he is entering his 2nd season as the head coach.
Shaw started coaching in 1995 as the linebackers coach for Western Washington.
After Western Washington, Shaw coached with the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland
Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, University of San Diego, and finally Stanford. After
4 years as an assistant at Stanford, the Cardinal offered Shaw the job last
year. Shaw is 11-2 with a #7 finish nationally in his single season as head
coach. Mike MacIntyre is the head coach of the San Jose State Spartans where he
is entering his 3rd year with the program. MacIntyre has been coaching since
1990 where he assisted at Georgia. After Georgia, MacIntyre coached at
Tennessee-Martin, Temple, Ole Miss, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, and Duke
before taking the job at San Jose State. In his previous 2 years with the
Spartans, MacIntyre has gone 6-19 but improved by 4 wins from year one to year two.
EDGE: Stanford
The two programs have played 65 times in
school history with Stanford holding a 51-14-1 overall lead over San Jose
State. Stanford won the most previous meeting 57-3 in 2011's season opener.
Overall, Stanford has won by an average of 33.4-16.8 in the 65 meetings.
After a 1-12 season in 2010, the San
Jose State Spartans jumped up to 5-7 with a much better team than SJSU has
produced previously. The Spartans are an up and coming WAC team that will be
moving to the MWC after this upcoming year. While SJSU has been improving, they
are still not on the level of the most recent incarnation of the Stanford
Cardinal. Stanford lost Heisman finalist and NFL #1 pick Andrew Luck so the
game should be much closer than the 57-3 score last fall. Expect Stanford to
win easily again this year but it will be much closer.
No comments:
Post a Comment