San Jose State's brutal schedule could leave the team more than road weary by the time it gets to Hawaii
By Paul ArnettStar-Bulletin
The Spartans play four Western Athletic Conference and three Pac-10 teams on the road in one of the most ambitious schedules in the country.
Not only does fourth-year head coach John Ralston have to prepare for Air Force, Fresno State, two-time defending league champion Colorado State and Hawaii away from Spartan Stadium, he has to travel to Stanford, Washington State and Washington as well.
Not exactly a lot of soft touches for a team that also hosts the likes of San Diego State, Wyoming and California in its first season in the WAC.
"If we want to upgrade this program, then we needed to be in this league and competing in these kinds of games," said Ralston, who is the only active coach in the college football hall of fame.
Ralston welcomes back four starters on offense and five on defense from a team that finished only 3-8 last year. Among this group is talented senior quarterback Carl Dean.
The senior hit 182 of 302 passes for 2,214 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1995. He'll be handing off the football to returning halfback Patrick Walsh and throwing to speedy wide receiver Windrell Hayes.
Hayes finished second on the team in receptions last year with 39 for 535 yards and five touchdowns. Walsh was second for San Jose in rushing with 467 yards and two scores.
Those aren't eye-popping numbers for a team that also has just one returning starter up front. Center Harry Daniels is that man, but when he looks to his left and right, he won't see anyone from a year ago.
Quarterback Carl Dean passed for 2,414 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
"We've got a chance to be better on offense if we can find someone to replace (second team All-American) Brian Roche at tight end," Ralston said. "We made some big improvements over 1994, but we need to do it even more in order to be competitive in this league."
The Spartans also have to come up big defensively, and that was something of a problem a year ago. San Jose State yielded too many big plays and not enough stops on third down.
As on the offensive line, the Spartans are starting over up front on defense.
Defensive tackle Jerald Perry is the only experienced player. He was not among the top tacklers last year, but managed one sack and 18 tackles overall before going down with a knee injury.
Fortunately for Ralston, top tackler Jacob Malae is back at outside linebacker. The former University of Hawaii student made 100 tackles last year.
"We need Jacob to be our team leader on the defensive side of the football," Ralston said. "Because our defensive front is something of a mystery group, it's important for Jacob to come up big."
Eric Polk and Floyd Johnson return in the secondary. Polk had two interceptions last year, while Johnson finished among the team leaders in tackles with 36.
Fortunately for Ralston, he has his kicking game intact. Punter Jason Chapple averaged 36.9 yards a kick last season and place-kicker Joe Furlow hit 10 of 13 field goals and 29 of 31 extra points to lead the team in scoring.
"We've got a hell of a season in front of us," Ralston said. "We've got a good blend of the traditional rivals and some WAC teams that will develop into those as the years go by.
"We know it's going to be difficult, but if we wanted this program to survive, then we needed to make this move. It's an exciting moment for a lot of teams. And we're one of them."
Game day Nov. 9
Where Aloha Stadium
Starters back 11
Last meeting UH 35, SJSU 35
All-time vs. UH 11-7-1