San Jose State was predicted to finish in the middle of the pack in the Mountain West this season.
The Spartans have other ideas, especially after last week’s 42-18 win over rival Fresno State boosted the team within a game of first place in the conference.
Air Force (8-2, 5-1 MW) and UNLV (8-2, 5-1) are tied for first place. They play each other this weekend, however, so there will only be one one-loss team remaining.
That means San Jose State (5-5, 4-2) can move into a second-place tie with a victory this weekend over San Diego State (3-7, 1-5), which is tied for last place with New Mexico.
The top two teams in the Mountain West play for the conference championship Dec. 2.
SDSU has won four of the past five meetings between the teams and leads the overall series 24-20-2.
San Jose State is a 14 1/2-point favorite against the Aztecs in a game that kicks off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) at CEFCU Stadium.
About the Spartans
San Jose State opened the season with losses to USC and Oregon State, allowing 98 points in the two games. The Spartans then opened Mountain West play losses to Air Force and Boise State.
At 1-5 midway through the season, it looked like the Spartans were pretty much done.
Then they reeled off four straight victories — against New Mexico, Utah State, Hawaii and Fresno State — to vault themselves back into the conference race.
The Spartans still have their work cut out for them with SDSU and UNLV remaining on the schedule. They pretty much have to win both games to remain relevant.
A third loss would put them at a tie-breaker disadvantage with three of the other four teams that have a shot at the championship.
Even if San Jose State wins both games, it will need either Air Force to lose twice or Boise State to lose once in order to claim a spot in the title game.
The offense
San Jose State has averaged 43 points a game during its winning streak, boosting the Spartans to 24th in the nation in scoring average with 33.9 points per game.
Only Utah State (35.5 ppg) has been more productive offensively among Mountain West members.
Spartans senior quarterback Chevan Cordeiro (173-for-286, 2,135 yards, 16 TDs/3 INTs) has been especially effective while climbing several of the conference’s career categories.
Cordeiro has 13,102 career yards (11,553 passing), putting him 382 yards away from former Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien (13,484) for the all-time lead.
Limiting interceptions may be Cordeiro’s most impressive quality. Last year, he threw 170 times to start the season before throwing an interception.
He went 117 throws without a pick during one stretch this year, and he’s currently working on a streak of 102 consecutive attempts without being picked off.
San Jose State has two solid running backs in senior Kairee Robinson (130 carries, 919 yards, 15 TDs) and junior Quali Conley (95 carries, 592 yards, 7 TDs) and Cordeiro (69 carries, 201 yards, 3 TDs) also is a threat.
The quarterback has spread his passes among more than a dozen players, including seven with double-digits receptions.
Junior wide receiver Nick Nash (41 catches, 568 yards, 8 TDs) is far and away the biggest threat. He’s one touchdown catch away from matching everyone else on the team combined.
The defense
It’s amazing what happens when you start keeping opponents out of the end zone.
After giving up 70 points combined in the losses to Air Force and Boise State, the Spartans have allowed 63 points total during their four-game winning streak.
The streak includes a shutout three weeks ago at Hawaii.
There’s a standout at each line of defense.
Sophomore defensive end Tre Smith leads San Jose State with 5 1/2 sacks.
Junior linebacker Bryun Parham leads the team in tackles (77) and fumble recoveries (2).
Sophomore cornerback Jay’Vion Cole has a team-high three of the Spartans’ 10 interceptions and eight pass breakups.
