5 Things to Watch: Aztecs at San Jose State

San Diego State has played San Jose State more times through the years than any school but Fresno State.

Saturday’s contest between SDSU (5-1, 2-1 Mountain West) and San Jose State (3-3, 1-2) is the 43rd meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1935.

It has been close overall — SDSU leads the series 21-19-2 — although the schools have taken turns dominating one another.

Early on, the Aztecs went 15 straight games without a win. SDSU has had the upper hand since the 1970s, winning 13 of 16 games.

That includes all six contests since 2013, when San Jose State joined the Mountain West. Four of those games were blowouts, with SDSU averaging 40 points while limiting the Spartans to a touchdown or field goal in the games.

Last year was different. The Aztecs prevailed 16-13, needing a 51-yard John Baron II field goal in the game’s final five minutes.

This year’s game has the potential to be close as well. SDSU is an 8-point favorite.

Here’s five things to watch:

1. Spartans passing game

San Jose State, which won just three games over the 2016-17 seasons, is competitive once again because of a passing attack that is among the best in the nation.

Senior quarterback Josh Love (135 of 226 passing for 1,823 yards with 10 TDs/2 INTs) is averaging 303.8 yards a game on an offense that ranks ninth in the nation in passing yardage per game.

San Jose State has passed for more than 400 yards in three of the past four games. Love has spread the ball among 14 different teammates, with touchdown passes to nine of them. Junior wide receiver Tre Walker (31 catches, 447 yards, TD) is Love’s top target.

San Jose State’s running game is as bad as the passing is good, ranking 126th in the nation with 89.8 yards a game.

SDSU head coach Rocky Long said that doesn’t automatically mean the Aztecs can be successful going after Love.

“He’s a guy that throws it on time and is very accurate with the football,” Long said. “He very seldom puts the ball in a spot that you can make a play on. You can bring pressure and a guy can be completely free on a blitz, and he will throw the ball on time and put it on the money. He doesn’t hold the ball, he doesn’t wait for things to open up, he reads coverages really well and throws the ball on time to the right guy most of the time.”

Last season, SDSU got a couple early licks on Boise State’s Brett Rypien and the quarterback, who was Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, seemed off the remainder of the game.

So how do you disrupt Love?

“I don’t know, since he’s throwing it on time,” Long said. “You always say when the quarterback is hot like that you get pressure on him, but since he is throwing it like that on time, you have to play great coverage.

“You have to change the coverages up and play really well in the secondary to give yourself a chance.”

2. Subs in the secondary

The focus on the secondary brings juniors Tayler Hawkins and Trenton Thompson into the discussion.

They are the players sharing the safety spot occupied by Kyree Woods before he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Colorado State.

Long said SDSU would have limited Wyoming to fewer than 100 yards rushing last week had it not been for missed tackles by Hawkins and Thompson that allowed the Cowboys to basically double their rushing total.

Now they — and their teammates — are tasked with stopping a prolific passing attack. Perhaps improvement comes with experience.

“You always hope that a player gets better,” Long said. “You always hope that when he’s given an opportunity to play that he responds the correct way and is just as good a player as the guy he replaced.

“That happens sometimes. It does not happen more than it does happen. Otherwise, they would have been starting.”

3. Aztecs run game

SDSU got a boost in the run game last week with the return of starter Juwan Washington, who told Long he was “97 percent” healthy for the Wyoming game.

Washington had 23 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown (along with four catches for 28 yards and a TD) against a Cowboys defense that presented much more of a challenge than might be expected from San Jose State.

The Spartans defense ranks 118th in the nation against the run, allowing 217.7 yards a game.

SDSU has had just one 200-yard rushing game this season (281 yards at New Mexico State).

4. Takeaways/giveaways

SDSU’s only loss this season was against Utah State, which is the only game in which the Aztecs didn’t get a turnover.

With turnovers being such a big part of winning and losing, there is added element of intrigue in this game because San Jose State and SDSU rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively, in turnover margin.

The Spartans are plus-2.0 in turnover margin with 18 takeaways (13 interceptions/5 fumble recoveries) against six giveaways (2 interceptions/4 fumbles).

The Aztecs are plus-1.67 with 13 takeaways (7 interceptions/6 fumble recoveries) against three giveaways (2 interceptions/1 fumble).

SDSU has gone 11 quarters without a turnover, dating back to a first-quarter interception thrown by Ryan Agnew against Utah State.

5. Getting bowl eligible

A victory would bring SDSU its sixth win of the season, making the Aztecs bowl-eligible for the school-record 10th straight year.

“I’m aware of that,” Long said. “I assume our team is aware of that when you win six games you are bowl-eligible.

“I would guess that is a very small motivating factor in our case. We are only halfway through the season and that’s not our No. 1 goal. Our No. 1 goal is to play for the conference championship. That means this game is really important since it’s a conference game.”

SDSU became bowl-eligible in its seventh game last season — with a win over San Jose State — although the Aztecs were still sweating going to a bowl game when the regular season ended.

A late-season swoon left the team at 7-5. With more bowl-eligible teams than bowl berths, SDSU was among the last schools to get an invitation.