SJSU exceeds everyone's expectations except ours

Graham Watson is a believer. She likes WAC teams that play the Broncos.

Dave Southorn drank the Kool-Aid and went back for refills. Mmm, Kool-Aid.

Chadd Cripe and Brian Murphy have bought in, using the Praterbucks that are awarded in the Statesman newsroom. (What is the ration of Praterbucks to LaDustin nickels anyway? Discuss.)

OBNUG? We saw this coming a mile away.

San Jose State being a surprise 5-2 team at this point in the season is less of a surprise than it is a predictable inevitability. The Spartans are the Spartans - all defense and opportunity, and no offense or big wins. They are the same SJSU team that the Broncos face every year, only this season they have postponed their annual swoon until the end of the year, choosing instead to stock up early on cupcakes and bad WAC teams.

Observe their schedule:

• W 13-10 over UC Davis. UC Davis is a Division I-AA school.


• L 35-12 at Nebraska. Could have been worse.


• W 35-10 over San Diego State. One of the worst teams in Division I-A.


• L 23-10 at Stanford. One of the worst teams in the Pac-10.


• W 20-17 at Hawaii. The Warriors had six turnovers, five in the second half.


• W 30-7 over Utah State. Also one of the worst teams in Division I-A.


• W 31-14 over New Mexico State. Too much Chase Holbrook.

Shameless self-promotion time!

From our San Jose State preview in August:

The San Jose offense struggles with a new quarterback and porous offensive line, the defense guts out wins over San Diego State and Hawaii, the Spartans get to 6-3 before losing their final three games, and Dick Tomey’s lobbying for a New Mexico Bowl berth falls on deaf ears.

6-6 overall, 4-4 conference
We don't mean to get ahead of ourselves, but we're going to go ahead and get ahead of ourselves. The Spartans' remaining schedule features the Broncos, Wolf Pack, and both Bulldogs, as well as a game against the Vandals. It is entirely feasible that they lose four out of their last five and finish at .500 on the season. Even if they can get past LaTech, SJSU will still find themselves at third or fourth in the conference at best.

Sounds like typical San Jose State to us.

So when you're reading previews about a revitalized SJSU program and an up-and-coming challenger to Boise State's WAC dominance, stop. It's not exactly true.

And you might want to check your pumpkin spice latter for some of Dave Southorn's Kool-Aid.

Read more: San Jose State preview: fight the mediocrity! [OBNUG /self-promote'd!]