AP FILE / OCTOBER 2005 Hawaii coach June Jones spoke to SJSU coach Dick Tomey after last year's game.

Spartans to keep their show at home more often

11TH IN A SERIES

Last year Dick Tomey brought credibility and hope to San Jose State. This year he brings seven home games to Spartan Stadium.

"Including Stanford," the former Hawaii and Arizona head man said. "A great home schedule, hopefully people will rally."

It's significant because San Jose State had been in the habit of selling off as many dates as possible in order to make financial ends meet. The rare toppling of a behemoth on the road notwithstanding, that's no way to establish a winning record or maintain a proud fan base.

The Spartans have not had a winning season since 2000, and only one in 13 years. Tomey wants to change that by going back to basics: running the ball, and stopping the run.

An offensive line with four of five starters returning and running back Yonus Davis give him a solid base for the first goal. Davis averaged 6.7 yards per carry, good for seventh nationally among the top 100 rushers. He gained 638 yards on the way to second-team All-WAC honors.

The depth at running back took a hit when talented Al Guidry was suspended. It is unknown when he will return.

Matt Cantu is the leader of the line. San Jose State averaged 200.4 yards per game on the ground after he moved to left tackle from center for the last five games of 2005 -- which included two of the Spartans' three wins.

At quarterback, returning starter Adam Tafralis will probably share time with Sean Flynn until one shows he is significantly better than the other.

James Jones and speedy John Broussard are the starting wideouts. Jones caught 30 passes, but for only a 9.3 average gain. Broussard counted five touchdowns among his 26 receptions.

The second goal of stopping opposing ground games might be more difficult, since No.1 tackle Freddy McCutcheon dislocated a kneecap last week, and there are only two returning starters on the entire defense. But middle linebacker Matt Castelo is one of them, and that helps the cause.

Castelo was in on 91 tackles in 2005 as an outside 'backer and is the heart of the defense. He plays a lot bigger than he is, according to Tomey.

"Tedy Bruschi (the New England Patriot whom he coached at Arizona) was undersized, too," Tomey said. "He's 212 (pounds) and that's plenty big to play. He was our best player last year as a sophomore. He'll be better this year in the middle because you can't run away from him."

Castelo will play a little farther back than most linebackers do, giving him a better chance of not getting tangled up with offensive linemen and allowing him to get good angles for tackles.

Christopher Vedder is the other returning starter on defense, and he is also changing position. Vedder moves from cornerback to strong safety. He made 56 tackles last fall.

Undersized Jerome Pulu (6-3, 260) replaces McCutcheon at tackle, joining Shane Lapka, who is also small for the position (6-3, 255).

Broussard and Davis are slated to return kickoffs and Dwight Lowry will handle the punt returns.

Jared Strubeck kicks and Waylon Prather punts.

Braden Storassli, a freshman walk-on from Damien Memorial School, is still deep on the chart as a linebacker but has worked his way onto several special teams.

San Jose State Spartans

Starters returning: 12

Head coach: Dick Tomey (3-8 in one season at San Jose State)

Last meeting with UH: Hawaii 45, San Jose State 38 on Oct. 22, 2005, at Spartan Stadium

2005 RESULTS

Date Opponent Result

Sept. 3 Eastern Washington W, 35-24

Sept. 10 at Illinois L, 40-19

Sept. 24 at San Diego State L, 52-21

Oct. 1 Nevada L, 30-23

Oct. 8 at Utah State L, 24-17

Oct. 15 at Boise State L, 38-21

Oct. 22 HAWAII L, 45-38

Oct. 29 at Louisiana Tech L, 31-14

Nov. 5 at Fresno State L, 45-7

Nov. 19 New Mexico State W, 27-10

Nov. 26 Idaho W, 26-18

2006 SCHEDULE

Date Opponent

Sept. 2 at Washington

Sept. 9 Stanford

Sept. 23 Cal Poly

Sept. 30 San Diego State

Oct. 14 Utah State

Oct. 21 at Nevada

Oct. 28 Louisiana Tech

Nov. 4 at New Mexico State

Nov. 11 Boise State

Nov. 18 at HAWAII

Nov. 25 at Idaho

Dec. 2 Fresno State