Brent Brennan has\nreally turned it around at San Jose State. Brennan took one of the\nmost difficult jobs in football when he agreed to become the Spartans\nhead coach in December 2016, and he went just 3-22 in his first two\nseasons. In his pivotal third season, he has proved he was the right\nman for the job though, leading San Jose State to a 4-4 record and\nflirting with bowl eligibility. The Spartans could announce\nthemselves to the nation on Saturday night with an upset win against\nthe Boise State Broncos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The early action has\ngone against Brennan\u2019s bunch. Boise State was initially -16.5 per\nthe opening college\nfootball odds<\/a>, and the line has crept up by a\nhalf-point. I expect this line to fall once again closer to kickoff\nthough as San Jose State\u2019s biggest loss of the season was by 18\npoints, and the Spartans have been competitive in each of their eight\ngames. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n San Jose State has never beaten Boise State. These teams have met 13 times over the years when they played in first the WAC and then the Mountain West, but the Spartans have never been able topple the Broncos. Their closest loss was a 23-20 defeat in 2006, but 11 of the Spartans\u2019 13 losses were by at least two touchdowns. Boise State has scored at least 40 points in nine meetings, but this stands a good chance of being the closest game in over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Broncos are\nhoping that Hank Bachmeier will return to the field against San Jose\nState this weekend. Head coach Bryan Harsin has been quiet on the\navailability of the highly touted freshman, but the bye week gave\nBachmeier some extra time to get healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bachmeier was\ninjured against Hawaii a few weeks ago, and the Broncos are not the\nsame on offense without him in the lineup. Chase Cord doesn\u2019t have\nthe same arm talent, and that led to Boise State falling on the road\nto BYU in Provo to end its chances of an undefeated season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Bachmeier is\nhealthy and plays, he is one of the best young quarterbacks in the\nnation, so he makes this offense much better. He is completing 61.9\npercent of his passes and averaging 8.8 YPA, while Cord is not as\naccurate and doesn\u2019t have the same knack at throwing the deep ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boise State is averaging just 4.3 YPC on the ground, but the Broncos might have some success running on San Jose State. The Spartans\u2019 defense is outside the top 100 per SP+, and they are allowing 4.9 YPC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Broncos haven\u2019t\nbeen great on defense this season. Defensive coordinator Andy Avalos\nleft to take the same position at Oregon in the offseason, and Boise\nState\u2019s defense has regressed while the Ducks have thrived under\nAvalos\u2019 tutelage. They have conceded 5.3 yards per play, and this\nis no longer a top 40 unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Josh Love has been\ngreat for San Jose State this season. It\u2019s not easy to play\nquarterback for a team that is averaging just 3.3 YPC, but he has\ndone enough through the air to lead the Spartans to four wins. Love\nhas completed 59.4 percent of his passes, and he is averaging 8.0\nYPA. He has thrown 15 touchdowns against three interceptions, and he\nhas three pretty good receivers to throw to in Tre Walker, Bailey\nGaither, and Isaiah Hamilton. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n San Jose State\u2019s\noffensive line has done an excellent job of pass blocking. While the\nground game hasn\u2019t had much success, the tackles have kept opposing\ndefensive ends off of Love, allowing him to beat secondaries with his\narm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harsin\u2019s silence speaks volumes. It indicates to me that Bachmeier is not quite ready to go, and he will be much less than 100 percent if he does suit up on Saturday. That gives San Jose State a real chance of pulling off a major upset, and I like the Spartans chances of covering the CFB betting odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get the latest college football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\nRECENT HISTORY<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN BOISE STATE HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WHEN SAN JOSE STATE HAS THE BALL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
PREDICTION<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n