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The biggest surprise of the young 2002 season among Western Athletic Conference teams has to be the San Jose State Spartans. SJSU was a bad team last year (3-9 overall, 3-5 WAC) and there was little reason to think the Spartans would be better this year. After all, the Spartans' best player for the last several years, RB Deonce Whitaker, is finally gone, and it was widely believed that without Whitaker, the cupboard would be rather bare in San Jose.

But the Spartans have burst out of the game, going 3-2 in their first five games, the first four of which were on the road. Included in that trio of victories was an impressive road victory over defending Big 10 champion Illinois and a convincing 58-24 thumping of UTEP Saturday night in the Spartans' home opener.

San Jose State has been outscored this year, 170-165, thanks in large part to its 63-26 loss at Stanford. Opponents also have picked up 118 first downs against the Spartans' defense, as opposed to 95 first downs for the SJSU offense.

With Whitaker gone, second-year head coahc Fritz Hill's team has taken on a pass-first mentality, with 1,313 of the team's 1,818 yards of total offense coming through the air (although nine of the Spartans' 16 offensive touchdowns have come on the ground.) Starting junior quarterback Scott Rislov (5-10, 218) has completed 92-of-155 passes (59.4 percent) for 1,223 yards. He has thrown six touchdown passes and has been intercepted five times.

The running game is led by Lamar Ferguson, a diminutive (5-5, 144) sophomore who has rushed 70 times for 228 yards (3.3 per carry) and four scores.

But the Spartans prefer to attack through the air, where junior Kendrick Starling (6-4, 188) of Marshall, Texas, has a team-high 24 catches for 354 yards (14.8 yards per catch) and a pair of touchdowns. Another Texas product, junior wideout Jamall Broussard (5-9, 177) of Kingwood, Texas, has 23 receptions for 281 yards (12.2 yards per catch) and a pair of scores.

San Jose State's most dangerous player is senior receiver Charles Pauley (6-3, 160), who has 22 catches for a team-leading 16.2 yards per catch and a touchdown. He also leads the nation in kickoff return yardage (42.8 yards per return) and has two scores on returns, including an electifying 98-yarder against UTEP Saturday night. Pauley's performance against the Miners was something of a personal highlight reel, in which he returned the kickoff for the 98-yard touchdown, threw a touchdown pass and ran for another. The touchdown on the kickoff return was Pauley's second in three games.

The SJSU offensive line is led by senior tackle Tim Provost (6-2, 295) and guard Joseph Hayes (6-5, 305).

The San Jose State defense is not overwhelming by any means, surrendering 460 yards to an anemic UTEP offense Saturday night. The Spartans are led by safety Gerald Jones, who leads the NCAA with six interceptions (for 109 yards in returns) and who returned his latest pickoff 47 yards for a touchdown against UTEP.

Senior linebacker Luke LaHerran (6-2, 230) leads the Spartans with a team-high 48 tackles, including 18 unassisted stops and six tackles for losses. Jones is second on the team with 39 tackles, followed by safety C.J. Arnold, who has 34 stops. Junior defensive end Phillip Perry (5-10, 242) leads the SJSU defensive line with 32 tackles and a sack. Senior linebacker Brian Foreman (6-1, 221) has two of the team's five sacks. Cornerback Melvin Cook (5-10, 180) and safety Josh Powell (5-11, 194) have two and three interceptions, respectively.

The San Jose State defense is relatively small but is extremely fast and athletic and plays a swarming style in which the whole team chases the ball effectively, and has been effective enough that the Spartans now play with the swagger of an effective, confident defense.

Much attention has been given to the impending return of junior safety Neil Parry (6-1, 177), who is trying to return to the field after having part of his leg amputated following a horrific injury two years ago against UTEP. After numerous surgeries, Parry had hoped to return to the field (covering kickoffs) Saturday against UTEP, but his recovery has been slowed by swelling that developed in his leg in recent weeks. The university reports that Parry still hopes to return to the field this year.

If San Jose's running game is that weak, maybe we can go the whole game with nickel and dime packages on defense, allow the defensive line and Viloria to stop the run and use fast LBs and DBs to shut down the passing game.

I'm comin' to Dallas this weekend. Beat the Spartans!

Kris Briggs and Daniel Francis have got to play more. Kris has been the only guy to get in the end zone three times this year, and Francis is skinny but he makes plays. Get the ball to him and see what he can do.

I like Lefty's idea. If we went with a nickel package for most of the game, using KG, Jonas, Moodley, Harper and Humphrey, and then added one more DB for the dime packages when San Jose is in obvious passing situations, that's a really fast group. They'd have to prove they can run the ball.

James Orr needs to be in that mix somewhere. He's been an excellent player for us, and he's never gotten the recognition he deserves.

BEAT SAN JOSE

I've been to a few practices this year, and Harper makes play after play after play. The kid can run all day, and even though he's extremely fast, he seems to be under control most of the time. This is a guy who needs to be on the field.

Watched SJST play UTEP on Saturday before I watched the SMU/HAWAII game. SJST did not look bad. We will have our hands full with their passing game. Considering the general lack of a pass defense we have exhibited the last couple of games in particular, that is of great concern.

I have been a big supporter of Tate but agree it is time something changed. The offense last Saturday was so predicatable.
At times Hawai'i had 9 guys in the box daring us to throw.

Be patient though, I know it will take time to turn things around.

I went to the SJSU - U Washington game earlier this year. They shut out the Huskies in the first half by forcing a ton of turnovers, and confused the defense by runnning a serious of slants, draw plays, and QB options from the shotgun.

Unfortunately for SJSU, they stuck to the same game plan in the second half and fell apart both offensively and defensively.

I also saw some of the San Jose/UTEP game. San Jose has terrific speed all over the field on defense. I think SMU will be able to run on them, but throwing the ball will be tough. Their linebackers and secondary can really run.

When a team has that kind of speed, we might need to play more zone coverage to compensate. Although our secondary isn't exactly slow.