WAC countdown: San Jose St.

With football camp a week away, it’s time to take a look at the Western Athletic Conference. Check back daily for a look at each team, starting at the bottom of the WAC preseason coaches poll.

First up, the No. 9 San Jose State Spartans

San Jose State
2009 Record, 2-10 (1-7 WAC)
Returning starters: 17 (9 offense, 7 defense, kicker)
Coach: Mike MacIntyre, first year
WAC Preseason Polls: 9th coaches, 9th media

The Spartans suffered through one of the worst seasons in school history and subsequently parted ways with one of the truly good guys in college football when Dick Tomey retired after the 2-10 season.

Mike MacIntyre takes over with 17 returning starters but that’s not necessarily a good thing. SJSU’s offense scored only 13.8 points per games (118th in the nation) and managed just 76.7 yards of rushing per game (117th). While the passing offense had a semi-respectable 207.3 yards per game, the total offense of 284 yards per contest was good enough for only 115th.

Things were only mildly better on defense. The Spartans had the No. 109 defense in terms of yards allowed and gave up a whopping 34.5 points. Worst of all, the rush defense might as well have not been there. SJSU gave up an incredible 259.2 yards per game on the ground.

Safety Duke Ihenacho is the top returning player while defensive end Mohamed Marah will be asked to make an immediate presence.

But with a new coaching staff, new schemes and new players it may take a while for the Spartans to be competitive. Perhaps not surprisingly, SJSU was a unanimous pick to finish last in the conference by the nine coaches in the WAC.

The schedule certainly won’t help matters much, either.

Season-opening trips to Alabama and Wisconsin will probably leave the Spartans in an 0-2 hole before they host Southern Utah. A trip to Utah is followed by a second game against a I-AA team (UC Davis) and then a rough start in the WAC with the three top teams in a row.

It’s not a stretch that we might see the Spartans open the season 2-6 before they see a winnable game against a FBS school.

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