Oregon State Football Opponent Preview: San Jose State

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With the start of the 2023 season just around the corner, BeaversEdge kicks off the first in an opponent preview series diving into all 12 of Oregon State's opponents in 2023...

Up first is the San Jose State Spartans, led by former Beaver Brent Brennan...

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Date: Sunday, September 3rd

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: CEFCU Stadium - San Jose Calif.

TV: CBS/Paramount+

Betting Line: Oregon State -18

Oregon State 2022 record: 10-3 (6-3 Pac-12)

San Jose State 2022 record: 7-5 (5-3 Mountain West)

Did you know? The Oregon State-San Jose State connections run deep as you could almost call the Spartans Corvallis South for how many former coaches/players call San Jose home...

Head coach Brent Brennan was the receivers coach for OSU from 2011-to-2016, while offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, defensive coordinator Derrick Odum, and offensive line coach Josh Ogelsby were all members of the Gary Andersen staff...

Additionally, Joe Seumalo (defensive line coach) and Lyle Moevao (analyst) are on staff, both with deep OSU connections... Last, but not least, former OSU linebacker Matthew Tago is on the Spartans' roster after spending the 2018 and '19 campaigns in Corvallis.

As far as win totals, the Spartans' seven wins in 2022 tied for the most wins in the Brent Brennan era, and in a spot like San Jose State, if you're able to do that consistently, you're doing something right.

The Spartans finished tied for second in the Mountain West "west" division, behind Fresno State, and tied with San Diego State. SJSU overall was tied for third overall with four other teams, as five total MW teams finished with a 5-3 mark in conference play.

SJSU nearly pulled off an impressive road win against the Auburn Tigers in week two, taking a 10-7 lead into the halftime break before ultimately falling 24-16.

The Spartans' best win of the season is likely Wyoming as that's the only team with a winning record that they knocked off, but it's worth noting they fell to Fresno State in Fresno by just seven points, and that's a tough place to come out victorious.

On the flip side of the coin, SJSU didn't really have any bad losses per say, but with how Auburn's season went off the rails, that was definitely a winnable matchup. Utah State is likely the worst "winnable" loss as the Aggies finished with a losing record.

SJSU fell to Eastern Michigan 41-27 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl...

Best Win: Wyoming (33-16)

Worst Loss: Utah State (35-31)

2022 Schedule

SJSU's opening start to the season is about as brutal as it can get for a non-power-five team as the Spartans open the season against two likely-ranked opponents out of the Pac-12 in USC and Oregon State.

Uniquely, the Spartans will be facing USC in LA during week zero, so they'll already have a game under their belts by the time they host Oregon State in their home opener a week later

Overall, I expect SJSU to have a very similar season to 2022, finishing somewhere in the neighborhood of six wins. The schedule has its tough matchups for sure, but there are several opponents on the schedule I'd expect the Spartans to handle.

Offensively, the Spartans return veteran quarterback Chevan Cordeiro who's under center for his sixth season. If the name sounds familiar, he was Hawaii's backup quarterback in 2019 when the Warriors knocked off the Beavers, while also serving as UH's QB in the loss to OSU at Reser Stadium in 2021.

Cordeiro is coming off a season where he threw for 3,250 yards and 23 touchdowns against six interceptions while completing 62% of his throws. He's also a threat in the ground game, having recorded over 250 rushing yards and nine scores in 2022... He lost a 1,000-yard receiver in Elijah Cooks, but returns junior wideout Justin Lockhart who was second on the team in yards with 578...

Leading rusher Kairee Robinson also returns after tallying 752 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground while also adding 26 receptions for 144 yards.

Defensively, the Spartans will be replacing some key playmakers as leading tackler Kyle Harmon and TFL leaders Junior Fehoko and Cade Hall graduate. Linebacker Bryan Parham is back after a 74-5-3 line in '22, and safety Tre Jenkins is a playmaker across the defense after tallying 60-7-2 with two interceptions.

Key Returnees: QB Chevan Cordeiro - WR Justin Lockhart - RB Kairee Robinson - LB Bryun Parham - S Tre Jenkins - LB Jordan Pollard - DL Soane Toia

SJSU 2023 Schedule

SJSU Season Projection - 6-6

While opening on the road is never easy, regardless of opponent, this should be a game Oregon State is able to handle without many issues. The early spread of OSU being an 18-point favorite on the road says a lot about how confident the oddsmakers are in the Beavers and I largely feel the same at this point in the summer.

In all likelihood, the Beavers will be breaking in new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei in this matchup and that could have its ups and downs in game one for both parties, but given the strength and experience of the offensive line (five guys returning with starting experience) and the depth of the running back room, I don't see the Spartans being able to keep the OSU offense at bay for very long.

Defensively, this should be a great early-season test to see how well the Beavers do with a fair amount of new playmakers in the secondary and inside linebacker. Those were key playmakers at their respective spots last season, so the Spartans' offensive attack should provide a great opening challenge for the new-look OSU defense.

This is a game that Oregon State should and will win...

Oregon State 38, San Jose State 17

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