2012 San Jose State Spartans football team

The 2012 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Spartans were led by third year head coach Mike MacIntyre and played their home games at Spartan Stadium. They were members of the Western Athletic Conference. This was the Spartans' final season as members of the WAC. They joined the Mountain West Conference on July 1, 2013.[1] They finished the season 11–2, 5–1 in WAC play to finish in second place. They were invited to the Military Bowl where they defeated Bowling Green.

2012 San Jose State Spartans football
Military Bowl champion
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
APNo. 21
Record11–2 (5–1 WAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBrian Lindgren (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorKent Baer (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumSpartan Stadium
Seasons
← 2011
2013 →
2012 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 16 Utah State $   6 0     11 2  
No. 21 San Jose State   5 1     11 2  
Louisiana Tech   4 2     9 3  
UTSA *   3 3     8 4  
Texas State *   2 4     4 8  
Idaho   1 5     1 11  
New Mexico State   0 6     1 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * Texas State and UTSA were not eligible for conference title or bowl games as part of their transition to the FBS.
Rankings from AP Poll

Head coach Mike MacIntyre resigned at the end of the regular season to take the head coach position at Colorado. Defensive coordinator Kent Baer was the Spartans' interim head coach for the Military Bowl. San Diego head coach Ron Caragher was hired as the Spartans new head coach beginning in 2013.

Schedule edit

The 2012 schedule was officially released on March 5, 2012. The schedule had six home games and six road games.[2] Because the WAC had only seven football member schools by 2012 due to conference realignment, San Jose State played six conference games and six non-conference games for the season. San Jose State played against all six other WAC member schools: Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Texas State, UTSA, and Utah State. The non-conference games were against: Colorado State and San Diego State of the Mountain West Conference, Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference, UC Davis of the Big Sky Conference, and FBS independent schools BYU and Navy.

On November 3, San Jose State became bowl eligible for the first time since 2008 after beating Idaho and attaining six wins against FBS schools.[3] However, the win over UTSA did not count, because UTSA was not yet a full FBS member school.[4]

Six games were nationally televised this season. ESPN showed the Military Bowl on December 27, ESPN2 showed the games against BYU and Louisiana Tech, CBS Sports Network showed the game against Navy, and Pac-12 Network showed the game against Stanford.[5] WatchESPN also streamed the games shown on ESPN and ESPN2 as well as two games—the ones against Colorado State and UTSA—broadcast by ESPN3, the game against New Mexico State via New Mexico State's AggieVision network,[6][7] and the game against Utah State via ESPN Regional Television.[8]

KLIV in San Jose served as the flagship station for the San Jose State Spartans Football Radio Network, along with fellow affiliates KION in Salinas and newcomer KFIV in Modesto.[9] Michael Spero returned for his second season[10][11] as play-by-play announcer, with Kevin Richardson at color commentary.

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 317:00 pmat No. 21 Stanford*P12NL 17–2040,577
September 85:00 pmUC Davis*W 45–137,462
September 155:00 pmColorado State*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • San Jose, CA
ESPN3W 40–207,189
September 225:00 pmat San Diego State*KUSIW 38–3424,103
September 2912:30 pmat Navy*CBSSNW 12–032,375
October 131:00 pmUtah State 
  • Spartan Stadium
  • San Jose, CA
ESPN+, ESPN3L 27–4915,168
October 2011:00 amat UTSAESPN3W 52–2430,862
October 271:00 pmTexas State
  • Spartan Stadium
  • San Jose, CA
W 31–207,093
November 32:00 pmat IdahoKTRVW 42–1314,429
November 101:30 pmat New Mexico StateAggieVision, Altitude, ESPN3W 47–79,121
November 177:30 pmBYU*
  • Spartan Stadium
  • San Jose, CA
ESPN2W 20–1415,494
November 247:30 pmLouisiana Tech
  • Spartan Stadium
  • San Jose, CA
ESPN2W 52–4312,326
December 2712:00 pmvs. Bowling Green*No. 24ESPNW 29–2017,835
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[12]

 
The Spartans pose with the trophy at the 2012 Military Bowl

Game summaries edit

At Stanford edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 0 3 14 0 17
No. 18 Cardinal 14 3 0 3 20

Scoring for Stanford: S. Taylor 1-yard run, J. Nunes' 11-yard pass to D. Terrell, J. Williamson 46-yard and 20-yard field goal. Scoring for San Jose State: Austin Lopez 38-yard field goal, Blake Jurich 3-yard run, and David Fales' 21-yard pass to Noel Grigsby.

UC Davis edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 7 0 0 6 13
Spartans 0 14 21 10 45

Colorado State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 0 13 0 7 20
Spartans 14 3 7 16 40

At San Diego State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 3 14 0 21 38
Aztecs 0 17 7 10 34

At Navy edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 3 3 0 6 12
Midshipmen 0 0 0 0 0

Utah State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 14 14 14 7 49
Spartans 3 17 7 0 27

In San Jose State's homecoming game, San Jose State lost to eventual WAC champion Utah State. Although David Fales completed 38 of 50 passes for 467 yards and three touchdowns, Fales was sacked 13 times with a cumulative loss of 102 yards. Utah State also had a 212–4 advantage in rushing yards.[13]

At UTSA edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 28 10 14 0 52
Roadrunners 0 10 7 7 24

Texas State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Bobcats 7 13 0 0 20
Spartans 3 14 14 0 31

At Idaho edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 0 14 14 14 42
Vandals 7 0 6 0 13

At New Mexico State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 17 20 10 0 47
Aggies 0 0 0 7 7

BYU edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 7 0 0 7 14
Spartans 13 7 0 0 20

Louisiana Tech edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 6 21 10 6 43
Spartans 10 14 14 14 52

Bowling Green–Military Bowl edit

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 24 Spartans 7 3 9 10 29
Falcons 3 3 7 7 20

Ranking movements edit

On November 25, San Jose State made the No. 24 spot in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Top 25 rankings. This was San Jose State's first-ever BCS ranking and first national ranking since 1990.[14] The following week, both the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll ranked San Jose State No. 24. This ranking marked San Jose State's first top-25 AP ranking since 1975.[15] San Jose State also played its first bowl game since the 2006 New Mexico Bowl. On December 27, San Jose State defeated Bowling Green in the 2012 Military Bowl at Washington, D. C. by the score of 29–20. For the first time in school history, San Jose State made it into the final rankings in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls, earning a No. 21 ranking in both.

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRVRV2421
Coaches'RVRV2421
BCSNot released2524Not released

Personnel edit

Coaching staff edit

Head coach Mike MacIntyre returned for his third season with San Jose State. Under MacIntyre, San Jose State went 1–12 in its 2010 season and improved to 5–7 in 2011.

On December 10, the University of Colorado at Boulder hired MacIntyre to be the new head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team. With a five-year, $10 million contract, MacIntyre would annually earn nearly quadruple his annual salary at San Jose State.[16] The following day, San Jose State named defensive coordinator Kent Baer to be interim coach for the 2012 Military Bowl on December 27, in which they defeated Bowling Green 29–20.[17] The previous week, MacIntyre stated that although other schools had contacted him about potential job openings, MacIntyre was not actively seeking another job. During San Jose State's late-season win streak, speculation occurred that MacIntyre might become head coach at Cal or Kentucky in 2013.[18]

Name Position Seasons at
San Jose State
Alma Mater
Mike MacIntyre Head coach 3 Georgia Tech (1989)
Klayton Adams Tight ends 2 Boise State (2005)
Kent Baer Defensive coordinator, linebackers, interim head coach 5 Utah State (1973)
Gary Bernardi Offensive line 3 Cal State Northridge (1976)
Charles Clark Defensive backs 3 Mississippi (2007)
Fred Guidici Special teams, running backs 1 San Jose State (1989)
Jim Jeffcoat Defensive line 2 Arizona State (1982)
Andy LaRussa Cornerbacks, special teams 2 Southern Utah (2002)
Brian Lindgren Offensive coordinator, quarterbacks 1 Idaho (2004)
Terry Malley Receivers, recruiting coordinator 4 Santa Clara (1976)
Reference:[19]

Departing starters edit

San Jose State lost 12 starters from the 2011 season, including quarterback Matt Faulkner, running back Brandon Rutley, safety Duke Ihenacho, and placekicker Jens Alvernik. Ihenacho went on to play for the NFL's Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent.

Returning starters edit

Depth chart edit

Starters and backups from the final depth chart:[20]

Final roster edit

2012 San Jose State Spartans final roster

Quarterbacks

  • 10 David Fales  Junior
  • 16 Joe Gray –   Freshman
  • 13 Jason Habash – Freshman
  • 14 Blake Jurich – Sophomore

Running backs

  • 30 Josh Brown – Senior
  •   2 De'Leon Eskridge – Senior
  • 20 David Freeman –   Senior
  • 40 Jarrod Lawson – Freshman
  • 42 Ina Liaina –   Senior
  •   8 Jalynn McCain – Freshman
  • 46 Ray Rodriguez – Junior
  • 24 Cedric Simmons – Freshman
  • 32 Jason Simpson –   Junior
  • 27 Ben Thompson –   Sophomore

Wide receivers

  • 17 Daniel Bradbury –   Freshman
  •   1 Jabari Carr – Junior
  • 23 Noel Grigsby  Junior
  • 89 Chandler Jones –   Junior
  • 20 Chris Kearney –   Freshman
  • 84 Sean Linton –   Sophomore
  • 86 K.C. Pearce –   Freshman
  • 19 Kyle Nunn – Junior
  • 35 Hansell Wilson – Freshman
  • 81 Jake Wilson – Freshman

Tight ends

  • 85 Keenan Brown –   Senior
  • 38 Billy Freeman – Freshman
  • 88 Travis Lorius –   Senior
  • 80 Max Miller –   Junior
  • 82 Ryan Otten  Senior
  • 18 Dasmen Stewart – Junior
  • 83 Jordan Thiel – Freshman
  • 37 Sam Tomlitz –   Sophomore
  • 15 Peter Tuitupou – Senior
 

Offensive linemen

  • 78 Oscar Barron – G – Freshman
  • 71 Keith Bendixen – RG –   Sophomore
  • 56 Doug Blacksill – LG – Freshman
  • 50 Nick Diaz – RG/C – Freshman
  • 54 Reuben Hasani – C –   Junior
  • 74 Ryan Jones – LG –   Junior
  • 75 Nicholas Kaspar – RG – Junior
  • 79 Jon Meyer – T –   Junior
  • 64 Nick Oreglia – Freshman
  • 61 Amar Pal – LT –   Junior
  • 51 David Peterson – C –   Sophomore
  • 76 David Quessenberry – LT –   Senior
  • 77 Evan Sarver – OT – Freshman
  • 72 Wes Schweitzer – RT – Freshman
  • 60 Michael Talafus – Freshman

Defensive linemen

  • 53 Vincent Abbott – LDE –   Senior
  • 95 Sean Bacon – RDE – Sophomore
  • 85 Keenan Brown – DE –   Junior
  • 92 David Catalano – LDT –   Freshman
  • 57 Nate Falo – DT –   Freshman
  • 86 Christian Hill – DE –   Freshman
  • 96 Marcus Howard – RDT – Sophomore
  • 43 Travis Johnson – RDE – Senior
  • 97 Anthony Larceval – LDT –   Junior
  • 45 Lemaki Musika – DE – Freshman
  • 91 Joe Nigos – RDT –   Senior
  • 98 Tony Popovich – LDE –   Freshman
  • 90 Travis Raciti – RDT – Sophomore
  • 49 Shane Smith – LB – Freshman
  • 94 Eugene Taylor – DE – Freshman
  • 41 David Tuitupou – LDE –   Senior
  • 93 Foloi Vae – RDT –   Sophomore
 

Linebackers

  • 99 Nick Brown – Freshman
  • 36 Vince Buhagiar – OLB – Junior
  • 11 Josh Fasavalu –   Freshman
  • 33 Brad Kuh – Freshman
  • 55 Ryan McAleenan – Freshman
  • 34 Derek Muaava –   Sophomore
  • 15 Doug Parrish  Sophomore
  • 22 Hector Roach – Freshman
  • 31 Keith Smith – ILB – Junior
  •   4 Christian Tago – Freshman
  • 94 Eugene Taylor – Freshman
  • 44 Tony Zizzo – Junior

Defensive backs

  • 21 Bené Benwikere – LCB – Sophomore
  • 28 Simon Connette – FS –   Freshman
  • 13 Tim Crawley – DB – Freshman
  •   7 Tyler Ervin – CB – Sophomore
  • 24 Rob Fiscalini III – S –   Junior
  •   5 Dasheon Frierson – CB – Junior
  • 40 Ryan Harper – S – Sophomore
  • 12 Forrest Hightower – LCB –   Sophomore
  • 29 Chris Hill – CB –   Junior
  • 87 Akeem King – S –   Sophomore
  • 16 Miles Milner – CB – Freshman
  • 39 Cullen Newsome – SS –   Senior
  •   6 Damon Ogburn, Jr. – LCB – Junior
  • 81 James Orth – FS – Senior
  •   8 Jimmy Pruitt – LCB – Freshman
  • 26 Travis Talianko – SS – Freshman
  • 25 Ronnie Yell – RCB – Senior

Special teams

  • 22 Alex Anastasi – PK –   Freshman
  • 59 Ryan DiSalvo – LS – Freshman
  • 39 Arthur Gilbreath – LS – Junior
  • 40 Ryan Harper – P – Sophomore
  • 12 Austin Lopez – PK – Freshman
  • 41 Jeffrey Telles – LS –   Sophomore
  • 10 Harrison Waid – P –   Junior
Reference:[21]

After the season edit

Awards edit

Conference

Travis Johnson earned the WAC Defensive Player of the Year award. With 16 honorees, San Jose State led all WAC teams in 2012 for All-WAC honors. Named to the All-WAC first team were Noel Grigsby, Ryan Otten, Nicholas Kaspar, David Quessenberry, Travis Johnson, Travis Raciti, Vince Buhagiar, Keith Smith, and Bené Benwikere. Named to the All-WAC second team were Chandler Jones, David Fales, De'Leon Eskridge, Anthony Larceval, David Tuitupou, Austin Lopez, and Tyler Ervin.[22]

National

Travis Johnson was invited to the East-West Shrine Game and was named to the Academic All-America second team.[23][24] Johnson, Ryan Otten, and David Quessenberry all got Senior Bowl invitations.[25]

NFL Draft edit

In the 2013 NFL Draft, David Quessenberry was selected in the sixth round and 176th overall by the Houston Texans.

Conference change edit

On July 1, 2013, San Jose State officially became a member of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). San Jose State football followed fellow WAC school Utah State to the MWC and reunited with Hawaii in football only and Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, and several other fellow former WAC schools in football and many other sports.[26] The WAC stopped sponsoring football after the 2012 season.

References edit

General:

  • San Jose State University 2012 Football Media Guide (PDF), San Jose, California: San Jose State University Sports Information Office, 2012
  • San Jose State 2012 Football Military Bowl Postseason Guide (PDF), San Jose, California: San Jose State University Sports Information Office, 2012, p. 19, archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016

Specific:

  1. ^ Katz, Andy (May 2, 2012). "Sources: Utah St., SJSU joining MWC". ESPN. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  2. ^ "Six Home Football Games In 2012". San Jose State Spartans. March 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (November 4, 2012). "San Jose State beats Idaho 42-13". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (October 21, 2012). "San Jose State Spartans win 52-24". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Opener At Stanford Now Aug. 31; On Pac-12 TV". San Jose State Spartans. June 15, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  6. ^ "Spartans Can Go 8-2 At New Mexico State". San Jose State Spartans. November 9, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  7. ^ "AggieVision schedule set for fall season". Las Cruces Sun-News. August 22, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  8. ^ "WAC-ESPN Package Includes SJSU-CSU & SJSU-USU". San Jose State Spartans. June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "KFIV (1360 AM, Modesto) Joins Radio Network". San Jose State Spartans. August 31, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  10. ^ "Michael Spero Tapped to Call San Jose State Football".
  11. ^ "San Jose State Spartans Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  12. ^ "Football - Schedule/Results - SJSUSpartans.com". Official Web Site of San Jose State Athletics. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  13. ^ "Utah State runs all over SJSU in 49-27 romp". Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
  14. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (November 25, 2012). "San Jose State ranked No. 25 in BCS". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013.
  15. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (December 2, 2012). "San Jose State ranked No. 24 in BCS and both national polls". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013.
  16. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (December 11, 2012). "San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre leaves for Colorado job". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  17. ^ "Kent Baer Named Interim Head Football Coach". San Jose State Spartans. December 11, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  18. ^ Durkin, Jimmy (December 5, 2012). "Mike MacIntyre says he's received contact about coaching openings". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  19. ^ a b c d San Jose State University 2012 Football Media Guide, p. 28.
  20. ^ San Jose State 2012 Football Military Bowl Postseason Guide, p. 19.
  21. ^ San Jose State University 2012 Football Military Bowl Postseason Guide, pp. 16-17.
  22. ^ "16 Football Players Receive All-WAC Honors". San Jose State Spartans. December 3, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  23. ^ "Travis Johnson In The East-West Shrine Game". San Jose State Spartans. January 15, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  24. ^ "Travis Johnson Capital One Academic All-America". San Jose State Spartans. December 6, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  25. ^ "Travis Johnson In The Senior Bowl". San Jose State Spartans. January 23, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  26. ^ "San Jose State Joins The Mountain West Conference". San Jose State Spartans. July 1, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

External links edit

  Media related to 2012 San Jose State Spartans football team at Wikimedia Commons