San Jose State vs. Utah State: Three reasons why the Spartans can win

San Jose State makes the trip to Romey Stadium to take on Utah State Friday night. This will not be an easy game for the Spartans as the Aggies are playing extremely well despite being on their fourth-string quarterback. So, what does San Jose State have to do to pull off the huge upset against Utah State. In short, it will take a lot for the Spartans to rebound from being shutout at home against Hawaii to playing a defense that could easily be categorized as the best they have played all year.

1. San Jose State was embarrassed by Hawaii last week by scoring zero points, but the positive side of this is that the Spartans allowed just 13 points. Utah State's offense is not that great. Kent Myers is not being allowed to throw down field and the running game is suspect as Joe Hill is not a consistent runner. LaJuan Hunt has taken reps for the Aggies at running the ball and has improved slightly. The one big issue about banking on San Jose State's defense is that while they are good at stopping the pass they are just dreadful at stopping the run.

2. Limiting big special teams is another way for San Jose State to be in this game. The Aggies JoJo Natson has seven punt returns over 40 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Limiting Natson in punt returns will make the Utah State offense have to march down the field and beat this San Jose State defense. The Spartans needs to have a strategic punting strategy for this game to not allow any big returns, and force long fields.

3. Backup quarterback  Blake Jurich s likely to start over Joe Gray, due to an injury, and that is an advantage that the Spartans could have had. The Aggies pass defense is ninth in the Mountain West in yards per game, but that is somewhat misleading as they are third in yards per attempt and lead the Mountain West in interceptions. Whoever is at quarterback needs to have a great day and get Tyler Winston the ball in the passing game and attack the Utah State secondary.